Nothin' Left To Replace

[madkaw]

Let me start with what the problem...
While towing in the mountains (6K trailer), I'd occaisionally get bucking, surging, and blow coolant back into degaus bottle. After reading posts on this fine web-site I decided it was time to talk to the dealership about head gaskets.

Three weeks later (under warranty ) the dealership...
-Removed/cleaned EGR and Turbo
-Replaced warped heads, head gaskets, head bolts, exhaust manifold gaskets, fan clutch, injector o-rings, EGR cooler, and oil cooler.

-Oh yeah, and it had all "current reflashes loaded."
-no break down of flashes

-The truck seemed to run fine before, minus the bucking, but now it seems like I've got more turbo lag than before. The mech said before he cleaned it, the psi would go up to 17, down to 10, then "snap" to 26. I miss the snap

Any way I've got 91k on this truck and the $5600 bill came out of Ford/Internationals pocket, not mine. But I'm gettin nervous about hanging on to this one. What else could go wrong? What you guys think?

 

[bushpilot]

sounds to me like an EGR issue...i had same symptoms (towing about
the same weight)...i had no symptoms when i was not towing or under
load.

I checked for codes and discovered the EGR Valve was bad...I had the
egr replaced and havent had a problem since.

I didnt have the blowing coolant issue...I would be concerned if they hadnt
replaced the oil cooler and egr cooler...I think youre in good shape.

the problem w/ the lack of performance is probably because they
flashed (aka: reprogramed) your truck.

 

[madkaw]

Thanks BushPilot
I asked the mechanic, if this was his truck, would he keep it? He said this time around for me covered the last of the major things that can go wrong. He said after they do the heads, they rarely see these trucks again.

This is the second time the EGR valve has been pulled and cleaned. As far as I know this is the original valve. Sounds like you think they should have replaced one more item ($325 the last time I checked)??

 

[bushpilot]

all that and they DIDNT replace the egr valve !?! sounds like their heads
are up their arses !

the egr valve retails for about $150, ive seen 'em NIB on ebay for $40 ($70
is the average).

when mine was bucking and puffing (w/ erratic boost even at steady throttle)
i was able to pull the plug on the egr valve itself and the problem instantly
went away...its how i completed the rest of my tow/trip home (600mi +
w/ it disconnected)

at the time i was still w/in the 3/36k...so i let a dealer do the work....
they took 3.5 days to diagnose the problem & replace the part...billed
for well over 500 bucks for their time ! (it only takes about 20min to
check for codes, run tests that exercise the valve, and install a new
replacement).

it sound to me like youve got a dealer thats into replacing parts rather
than diagnosing a problem...

make sure youre not filling that coolant degas bottle higher than the
minimum mark (there is a TSB for it)

its good that they replaced the oil cooler.

i would suggest that you get a coolant filter on that thing...its cheap
insurance and although youve got some miles on that truck it could
extend the life of your water pump and the oil cooler along w/ the egr
cooler.

if youre still worried about it...and who could blame you for not being
worried....i would also suggest that you send oil samples to blackstone-labs
again its good SCIENTIFIC peace of mind...and for 20 bucks its worth
not worrying or being able to catch any issues EARLY.

 

[madkaw]

Has anyone had problems with the heads after the stock ones were replaced, using chip/tuners?

I've stayed away from them till I get past warranty concerns.

 

[bushpilot]

huh ??? you concerned about the reliablity of the truck and now you
wanna MOD it !?!

 

[madkaw]

It was just something I've stayed away from, for the vary reasons I just had it in the shop for with no mods. That, plus not giving the stealership any wiggle room on warranty issues. I was hoping that the group's experience would verify whether the new heads can handle the changes a tuner may introduce to the engine for future 100K+ reference.

 

[jvencius]

IMO you'd be foolish to mod a truck that doesn't run reliably with stock programming.

 

[bushpilot]

OR one that youre concerned about the cost to repair !