Those of us who own an early '05 model have all heard about the infamous Speedy Sleeve (sometimes spelled Speedi Sleeve) repair that everyone complained was a quick fix and wouldn't last. Some people have even warned against buying an early car for this reason. While at Indy I was fortunate enough to meet Mike Eller, whose official title was Niche Line Manager I believe. He worked for Ford overseeing the actual assembly of our motors. Since I own an early '05 model, I asked him about the infamous "Speedy Sleeve repair" that we've all heard about. This is the official story from a man who knows all the details and actually came up with the Speedy Sleeve solution.
Ford did not make the cranks themselves but farmed it out to another company and it came to light early on that some of the early crankshafts did not have the final finishing steps applied properly. The final polishing was being done individually by one man who would sometimes rotate the shaft in one direction and then do the next in the opposite direction. The result is that on some of the shafts, the microscopic polish grooves would sometimes cause the oil to migrate under the seal as the shaft spun.
Mike had previous experience with the Speedy Sleeve made by Chicago Rawhide Seal (the same people who made the crank seal) and suggested to management that they try one out before trashing or redoing all their cranks.
It was extensively tested on an engine dyno and found to cure the problem as well as having a life span equivalent to a regular crankshaft.
Not all the early cars had to have this done, only the ones they determined had been polished in the wrong direction. They also did not keep records of which serial numbers got the fix and which did not, at least not for public information. After about the first 400 cranks the finishing process was standardized and the Speedy Sleeve was no longer needed.
Mike was very confident that the cars that had the sleeve would never have any problems with the it since Chicago Rawhide made both the sleeve and the seal so they were fitted perfectly. If you do a google search on "Speedy Sleeve" you'll see that it is a very common repair used on all sorts of shafts.
I have no way of knowing if my car has the fix or not but now I don't really care. Mike's confidence in the fix was very evident and that's good enough for me.:biggrin
Ford did not make the cranks themselves but farmed it out to another company and it came to light early on that some of the early crankshafts did not have the final finishing steps applied properly. The final polishing was being done individually by one man who would sometimes rotate the shaft in one direction and then do the next in the opposite direction. The result is that on some of the shafts, the microscopic polish grooves would sometimes cause the oil to migrate under the seal as the shaft spun.
Mike had previous experience with the Speedy Sleeve made by Chicago Rawhide Seal (the same people who made the crank seal) and suggested to management that they try one out before trashing or redoing all their cranks.
It was extensively tested on an engine dyno and found to cure the problem as well as having a life span equivalent to a regular crankshaft.
Not all the early cars had to have this done, only the ones they determined had been polished in the wrong direction. They also did not keep records of which serial numbers got the fix and which did not, at least not for public information. After about the first 400 cranks the finishing process was standardized and the Speedy Sleeve was no longer needed.
Mike was very confident that the cars that had the sleeve would never have any problems with the it since Chicago Rawhide made both the sleeve and the seal so they were fitted perfectly. If you do a google search on "Speedy Sleeve" you'll see that it is a very common repair used on all sorts of shafts.
I have no way of knowing if my car has the fix or not but now I don't really care. Mike's confidence in the fix was very evident and that's good enough for me.:biggrin
