What is the REAL problem here?

Keith Browning · March 9, 2014

A 2003 F450 comes in - lacks power after driving 10-15 minutes. No mention of the rough idle and white smoke emissions. The engine started okay but there was a miss from the get go. I drive the truck around for about 20 minutes and then it starts smoking and loses all top end power. Sounds like it is losing fuel pressure. I don't recall the codes off hand but they were related to ICP pressure - no surprise.History: another dealer replaced the HPOP three times (twice 'cuz they was defective) Owner replaced the filters as he always does. :thumbup: (sarcasm)

Since its already hooked up I go for another road test and make some data recordings. IPR going way too high - settles in around 28% at idle after driving. I dutifully check fuel pressure. It's 11 PSI and the pump is audibly protesting. Time for some inspections. The fuel tank, despite being replaced in the 2007/2008 date range is rusted so badly it has chunks of rust breaking off and congregating on the bottom of the tank. The fuel filter was fairly clean. A fine Chinese no-name brand with a hole in the top and the bottom but of quite different dimension. The large hole that was supposed to fit over the nub under the filter cap was facing down. I guestimate a 1/4' gap between the standpipe and the seal which was allowing water, dirt and you guessed it, rust particles to head straight for the injectors.

So what's the real problem here? Who do we point to with a failure like this? Ford for continuing to put steel tanks in trucks that rust for well over a decade? Other technicians who can't properly diagnose drivability concerns and have no clue what a fuel pressure gauge is? Vehicle owners who have no clue what they are doing and, despite their applaudable attempts to take care of their trucks, fail miserably?

The owner approved over 6K of repairs, Titan fuel tank, 8 injectors, a proper service and some front end work to replace the rotted brakes and the ball joints with what looks like 1/2 of movement. Some stories are just too pathetic to believe but this shit happens every day. You would think that after 27 years I would still find these instances amusing. Even amazing. It pisses me off actually because it doesn't have to happen.

66glide · March 9, 2014

The root cause of the problem aside, there are far too many "technicians" out there who really should not be in this industry.

Brad Clayton · March 9, 2014

So what's the real problem here? Who do we point to with a failure like this? Ford for continuing to put steel tanks in trucks that rust for well over a decade? Other technicians who can't properly diagnose drivability concerns and have no clue what a fuel pressure gauge is? Vehicle owners who have no clue what they are doing and, despite their applaudable attempts to take care of their trucks, fail miserably?

The owner approved over 6K of repairs, Titan fuel tank, 8 injectors, a proper service and some front end work to replace the rotted brakes and the ball joints with what looks like 1/2 of movement. Some stories are just too pathetic to believe but this shit happens every day. You would think that after 27 years I would still find these instances amusing. Even amazing. It pisses me off actually because it doesn't have to happen.

*The fuel tank issue Ford definitely knows about. I don't think customers have complained to Ford about it enough so that a change will be made. The voice of the customer and their spending habits will indeed make them change.

*That is a good one. We are all expected to know how these things operate and thus how to repair them in a proper and timely manner. How do you go about that? It doesn't come naturally at least not for me. So that requires homework, reading on my own time, tinkering with trucks that aren't broken to see how they respond to real world failures, ect. A lot of guys will let their ego get in the way of trying to repair trucks. There is so much info available to customers now compared to pre internet days that its not hard to find an educated customer that could be one step ahead of a lazy tech who thinks he knows it all but in fact is just muddling through it all with "wag and swag". These are the same guys that are going to work just to pull a paycheck and have no interest in it as a career. They sleep just fine at night and the comebacks are never their fault. There again I blame management for enabling these types of techs. Well we will split the fault 50/50 on that one.

*Yes, definitely some blame to be put there. STEP AWAY FROM THE HOOD AND PUT THE WRENCH ON THE GROUND! :haha2:

I though things were ruff in Vermont, but I have never seen 6.0 liter engines in such disarray and a sad state of affair as here in NC. I regrettably have grown accustomed to it now and callosed over.

Jim Warman · March 9, 2014

I've said it before, Brad. Some guys have jobs and some guys have careers.

The public often don't see their vehicles as the machines they are and usually drive from one breakdown to the next calling this "normal service procedure".

Parts suppliers often don't care that they are selling substandard parts built in off-shore sweatshops by workers that are little better than slaves. They don't seem to worry that many of the parts they sell to unqualified purchasers have the chance that they might turn a truck into a deadly missile with one or more of their loved ones in the crosshairs.

The cure would have technicians become a self-regulating body, something I feel is probably too late in the making.

< Sunday morning rant mode = !OFF! >

ktmlew · March 9, 2014

I've said it before, Brad. Some guys have jobs and some guys have careers.

The public often don't see their vehicles as the machines they are and usually drive from one breakdown to the next calling this "normal service procedure".

Parts suppliers often don't care that they are selling substandard parts built in off-shore sweatshops by workers that are little better than slaves. They don't seem to worry that many of the parts they sell to unqualified purchasers have the chance that they might turn a truck into a deadly missile with one or more of their loved ones in the crosshairs.

The cure would have technicians become a self-regulating body, something I feel is probably too late in the making.

< Sunday morning rant mode = !OFF! >

It's rare I agree with 100% of what you write...but you NAILED this one. The biggest thing I see now is what another tech said to me the other day when we were discussing the state of the repair industry. He said people now seem to feel the have "the right" to free automotive repair.

People don't put VALUE on having their vehicle maintained or repaired. It's strictly an expense when it should be viewed as an investment in their continued employment...if they miss work enough times due to a broken down vehicle, they will be unemployed.

The real problem is greed.

Across the board greed.

The manufacturers sell vehicles based on them being "maintenance free" knowing their service recommendations will likely just get the vehicle out-of-warranty. They don't care if the vehicle breaks in half 2 days after the warranty ends. not their problem.

100K mile spark plugs/coolant/trans fluid? WTF?

The parts seller/builders are all about profit. Could care less if it fits or works equal to the original. Max profit is all the matters.

Most techs are the same. Don't know how many times I've heard "i'm not gonna do all that" when told they had to remove something to access the part they are changing. Get a bigger pry bar or just throw a half-dozen parts at it. One of them HAS to fix it, right?

forddieseldoctor · March 16, 2014

There's an ecoboost F-150 sitting at another local dealership that is missing half of one of the cam shafts due to lack of maintence to the tune of 30K miles on the factory oil and filter. They guy is crying warranty (of course). People whine like hell when stuff breaks cause THEY DON'T TAKE CARE OF IT.

But crappy "techicians" don't help anything either. I'm not gonna say I'm perfect cause I'm far from it, but I'd say that about half of the asset students are a joke and always will be. I saw one of my co-workers put an intake manifold on a 4.2 in a F-150 and then it came back about 2500 miles later for a burning oil smell. I found the center gasket hanging out from under the back of the intake at a 45 degree angle. Oh but it wasn't his fault. It was almost 3000 miles since he worked on it and my service manager don't have the balls to tell him that he screwed up. :banghead: