Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
so as many of you know i sold was considering and then did sell my 97 cummins. also many of you may know that i was/am looking at a newer ford f150. now for the story ya'll are gonna love.
so i found an 06 f150 with everything i wanted. i have been doing my research and know of some potential issues that can come up. the engine does seem to be pretty good and solid when taken care of (this is key).
so i fly up to portland to look at this truck that is at a ford dealer there. carfax showed the truck as a 1 owner, had a couple of maintence reports of regular maintence. truck has 160k and was owned by an outside sales man. this all adds up to lots of highway miles which is a good thing. the engine is rated to 300k by ford and i have read that many go that far and farther, again, with good maintence.
the salesman picks me up at the airport and lets me drive back to the dealer. as he pulls up i can hear the engine making a slight knocking noise at idle, but goes away at higher rpm. this is recognize as a fairly common problem and not too much to fix. on our way to the dealer the oil pressure gauge and warning light kick on and off saying low pressure then all fine.
get to the dealer, pop the hood, check the oil, oil is clean and looks good, and its up right at full. we go inside and tell service to look at the truck for the two issues.
meanwhile we start working on the paper work (im not committed to it yet), i had to run to the bank and get a check. do that, get back, deal with some proof of insurance issues and other things. finally go talk to service. talked to the service manager about the issues, first off truck ran fine pulling it into the shop. issue one, the kocking noise, i thought was cam phaser related, manager tended to agree but said it ususally throws a check engine light (hes about half right). second issue, oil pressure, there is a tsb out for it, obviously check with manual guage and then replace sensor. i asked him how often it was electrical and how often it was mechanical. response was that he had never seen it as a mechanical issue. i tend to believe this even now since when is the last time you heard about a modern/newer engine losing oil pressure? not to mention the switching between pressure and no pressure made me think it was electrical. so papers signed i get in the truck fuel up and begin my 12hr drive home.
i made it about 45 mi out of town and the engine didnt want to run anymore. severe knocking, shaking, missing, the works. no power, check engine light, and low oil pressure. grab an exit, pull into a truck stop, shut down, and called the dealer. they send a tow truck and haul me back to the shop.
this all happened saturday, that night and the next day we talked about various things. most important thing i said was that i would no longer be willing to take the truck unless it had a new engine in it. they didnt back away from either fixing the truck or scrubbing the deal. i want to say that the whole time the dealer has been very helpful and has stepped up and accepted responsiblity even though the truck was sold as is with no warrenty express written or implied.
so been in contact with them the last couple of days and the final word is that the engine is toast and has to be replaced. cost of engine and labor is about 5200 thats the dealers cost not a customer. the deal offered to me today was either scrub the deal or pay half of the cost of the new engine. i decided to take it since that puts me at 16500 (with new engine) for the truck which is still way below kelly blue book value, its also cheaper than some of the other trucks i have been looking at, and finally this truck will have a new engine in it which is better than the others have. oh, and they are shipping the truck to me so i dont have to fly back to pick it up.
in all i really like the truck and with the new engine i feel it will be mechanically solid, especially since i will have the chance to maintain it my way with no other i. d. 10t's having damaged it first.
anyways with all the discussion that went on about these trucks, i thought everyone might get a good laugh at this. also, yes i do miss the diesel, missed it before i even sold it, but i do like these trucks and i think i will be able to survive with one.
lets the flaming begin
so i found an 06 f150 with everything i wanted. i have been doing my research and know of some potential issues that can come up. the engine does seem to be pretty good and solid when taken care of (this is key).
so i fly up to portland to look at this truck that is at a ford dealer there. carfax showed the truck as a 1 owner, had a couple of maintence reports of regular maintence. truck has 160k and was owned by an outside sales man. this all adds up to lots of highway miles which is a good thing. the engine is rated to 300k by ford and i have read that many go that far and farther, again, with good maintence.
the salesman picks me up at the airport and lets me drive back to the dealer. as he pulls up i can hear the engine making a slight knocking noise at idle, but goes away at higher rpm. this is recognize as a fairly common problem and not too much to fix. on our way to the dealer the oil pressure gauge and warning light kick on and off saying low pressure then all fine.
get to the dealer, pop the hood, check the oil, oil is clean and looks good, and its up right at full. we go inside and tell service to look at the truck for the two issues.
meanwhile we start working on the paper work (im not committed to it yet), i had to run to the bank and get a check. do that, get back, deal with some proof of insurance issues and other things. finally go talk to service. talked to the service manager about the issues, first off truck ran fine pulling it into the shop. issue one, the kocking noise, i thought was cam phaser related, manager tended to agree but said it ususally throws a check engine light (hes about half right). second issue, oil pressure, there is a tsb out for it, obviously check with manual guage and then replace sensor. i asked him how often it was electrical and how often it was mechanical. response was that he had never seen it as a mechanical issue. i tend to believe this even now since when is the last time you heard about a modern/newer engine losing oil pressure? not to mention the switching between pressure and no pressure made me think it was electrical. so papers signed i get in the truck fuel up and begin my 12hr drive home.
i made it about 45 mi out of town and the engine didnt want to run anymore. severe knocking, shaking, missing, the works. no power, check engine light, and low oil pressure. grab an exit, pull into a truck stop, shut down, and called the dealer. they send a tow truck and haul me back to the shop.
this all happened saturday, that night and the next day we talked about various things. most important thing i said was that i would no longer be willing to take the truck unless it had a new engine in it. they didnt back away from either fixing the truck or scrubbing the deal. i want to say that the whole time the dealer has been very helpful and has stepped up and accepted responsiblity even though the truck was sold as is with no warrenty express written or implied.
so been in contact with them the last couple of days and the final word is that the engine is toast and has to be replaced. cost of engine and labor is about 5200 thats the dealers cost not a customer. the deal offered to me today was either scrub the deal or pay half of the cost of the new engine. i decided to take it since that puts me at 16500 (with new engine) for the truck which is still way below kelly blue book value, its also cheaper than some of the other trucks i have been looking at, and finally this truck will have a new engine in it which is better than the others have. oh, and they are shipping the truck to me so i dont have to fly back to pick it up.
in all i really like the truck and with the new engine i feel it will be mechanically solid, especially since i will have the chance to maintain it my way with no other i. d. 10t's having damaged it first.
anyways with all the discussion that went on about these trucks, i thought everyone might get a good laugh at this. also, yes i do miss the diesel, missed it before i even sold it, but i do like these trucks and i think i will be able to survive with one.
lets the flaming begin
