11 months after the first occurrence and engine replacement it HAPPENED AGAIN!!! I've only had it for 14 months at this point. The engine light came on when i was leaving the driveway going ~ 5-8mph.

i said to myself "oh $^#&# it better not be a blown piston again.." But sure enough it was... i checked the ODB reader and got P0303 (cursing loudly) I took the plug out and put in a scope I borrowed and sure enough it was cracked on the head. A compression test I did resulted in 35psi in Cylinder #3. The plug was covered in carbon and oil...

At this point the warranty would only cover the $575 for a replacement engine and $450 in labor. I would have to pay $2200+ fluids & seals out of pocket. Which I would have to give them every dollar I had and max out my credit card. NOPE NOPE... I picked up the car and replacement engine with an option to bring back the old engine for a full refund on the replacements cost, (heck yes I will) and hauled them away to a reliable relative who just started his own auto shop. Total cost for this will be a bit over $1,000 for labor & fluids.

The car almost isn't worth the effort if its going to blow a piston every year. A new engine has about 80k miles 20k less than the 100k now and I drive about ~7k/yr.

This happened 2 months(!!!) after I bought it used from a legit Ford dealer.

I was driving down the road as usual when i heard a bang in the engine compartment and the check engine light came on. I pulled over at a carpool lot confused as anyone would be to see if i hit something or anything broke free. There was no visual damage. I was only a few miles from home so I drove it the rest of the way then checked the code with a ODB2 reader P0303.

Swapping the coils had no improvement. I took the #3 plug out and it was pitch black, covered in carbon and oil.

I hauled it to to a dealer and had them do their thing. It took a whole month for them to get the engine and replace it. I could only get a loaner for 7 days.

Most of it was covered under my repair contract but I had to pay $760 which was everything I had saved after I bought it and I had to borrow gas money. The total cost without the contract would have been $3200. I'm glad I signed that paper...

The dealer I took to repair it showed me the piston and there was 2 chunks missing from the side of it. The cylinder walls were a bit damaged, and shrapnel littered the oil pan.

Apparently these engines build up carbon because of the turbo and it wears out the piston. Eventually it causes catastrophic failure.