G. Bedford

And nothing Ford will say at this point speaks louder than the fact they paid for the entire claim. They shot themselves in the foot, big time, when they did so. I feel this was their only failure in this debacle.

This is a confusing article in many ways. The customer states that Ford is responsible because they issued the bulletin and made a special tool. The customer and shop were aware of the information on the spark plug concerns it seems. So, I don't see lack of information as the problem. In one of the pictures on the link I had seen before, the Ford extraction tool is seen laying on the work bench. So, lack of tooling seems to be knocked out, too. My feeling is the shop simply preferred to do the job cab off for their own reasons. And the customer bought in. If the customer had done his homework he would have found other shops willing to do the repair differently and cheaper/quicker.

Webmaster, along with removing the double post, it may be wise to move the spark plug issue to its own subject header. That topic was highly responded to on the Ford site and will likely hi-jack this thread. Thank you.

Jim, my feeling is within the next 5 years Ford products coming in the door will not be enough to keep up your car count. You will need to take on this work or scale down the number of techs. We don't see alot of 7.3 work anymore because the indies are pretty good with them. The 6.0l will be the same. Good instructors and the available tooling and information available to them will make them a force to be reckoned with. That and the fact many top dealer techs are leaving to the aftermarket makes it hard for me to brag to customers that the dealer is the better option. The dealer service dept. of tomorrow will be more like a independent repair shop in order to survive. I am seeing more brand x vehicles in my bay lately and am starting on the learning curve needed to be profitable. Frankly, if my dealer would lose their franchise tomorrow and become a used vehicle dealer/repair facility I wouldn't care. I make my living fixing cars, not selling them.

I did a Ranger today so read through the instructions. Pickups are to be done, but cars will have the harness disconnected until enough repair kits are available in the 4th quarter of 2007. Didn't we do that crap before? That is just really convenient for the owner. Also leaking switches are not replaced. The harness is blown out and dielectric grease is applied. That doesn't seem right.

Interestingly, last year dealer council and Ford bandied about a proposal to increase diesel rates for the techs. Well, that would be an automatic increase that would be a hard to control cost. So we got the "heat is on" gimmick instead. They knew up front the pay out limit so there was some security. Salesman just love their little contests. By the way, if I wanted another leather jacket, I'd just go out to the Buffalo Chip and roll a drunk biker. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Two articles worth reading. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070716/AUTO01/707160355/1001/BIZ http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070520_Wheels_Falling_Off.html

Ford has lost almost one-half the market share they used to have. They are laying off over 40 thousand employees and closing up to 16 plants by 2012. Ford wants to become profitable at their new market share. The reality is Ford is not growing but pulling back. Toyota has more market share than Ford now and has 1700 dealers. Ford at its old share had 4300 dealers. Do the math. The dealer body will need to lose around 2000 dealers. As Ford makes fewer vehicles the dealers will starve on the small slice available. As dealers close techs will have fewer options. Large dealers(Autonation,Lithia,Penske,UAG) will buy up the smaller points leading to the same pay plans and benefit packages at multiple "dealers". As the smaller points fall away there will be a glut of techs looking for jobs so the dealers will pick and choose the better techs. No question the vehicles are getting better. A few years ago the PSMAC approached Ford because they wanted more maintenance. They barely got out alive. It is hard to convince the motoring public that quality has improved when at every visit to the dealer they are pounced on to be "flushed". Ford's numbers showed 9-12% of the past customers would not buy another Ford product because they felt the cost of ownership was too high. The future holds extended intervals, so eventually maintenance work will dry up. Lifetime air filter(Focus), fuel filters in tank, no trans. dipsticks, electric steering assist,extended life coolants/fluids, timing chains instead of belts and sealed hub bearings all drain away the old services. "Streamlined diagnostics" on warranty repairs will become more common on pattern failures. Throw on a part aka the Focus fuel pump recall. Customer satisfaction programs will become more prevelant and take away more tech gravy. I simply see very tough times ahead and am glad my time is short. I am a second generation automotive tech, but there will not be a third. I want my kids to choose a field that has growth potential. The auto repair field is full of people looking for a niche to survive in. I do not suggest to youngsters to enter the field.

http://www.dealer-magazine.com/index.asp?article=1448

No offense, but asking a service manager about technician pay is akin to asking a car salesman what your fuel mileage is gonna be. I make very good money where I am at but the lack of parts on hand, tool situation and shop politics make it a hard trade-off for the cash. You know what I mean?

One of our techs went to do mechanical at the oil field shop this past year. Loves it. The stress of flat rate and the worry of work load was forever on his mind. He comes in on his time off and chats with us and he looks bright as he talks about his family. The load of being a provider to his wife and child is more secure with a steady paycheck. He says he went to the head of the line since his background in diagnostics put him above the parts throwers they have already. The work is heavy, but there is an emphasis on safety so the pace is not rushed. The powers that be say there is a 17 year lifespan to the site. I don't know if Ford will be here 17 years from now. If you are so valuable at your dealer, why can't you get better pay and benefits to stay? If your dealer were to get a good offer on his business today, do you think he would worry about how that would leave you after the sale? Do you honestly believe that if the new job tanked you couldn't return to the dealership system with the certs you hold? Best to you in your decision.

Maybe that would warrant its own thread, Keith. I would welcome an adult dicussion on the topic.

I think many of the old timers aren't fearful of the technology as much as they can see that there may not be any money in it. As an example,I was offered the first go at being the hybrid trained tech for our shop. I declined. I already had a full plate of warranty work with the 6.0 at the time that really had little efficency gains on flat-rate. I think the hybrid technology is interesting, but the extended warranty on major components and little maintenance requirements leads me to believe there will little monetary reward. The tech that became certified has already had to have the shop cover his lost hours on each major repair(always warranty) he has encountered so far. Frankly, passing on the chance at this time was a sound business decision. I'm no longer a starry- eyed newbie that has to prove something.

I had another truck today that the seal on the regulator valve was installed backwards. I know the first one I had it took me a good minute to realize the valve is "back-cut" to accept the taper of the seal. I wish the instructions pointed this out better. Anybody else seeing this?

I would check the lower o ring on the oil dipstick. First truck I had with it rolled had oil underneath from the engine to the rear bumper. What a dripping mess and the customer was just sick.

I have watched some of the taped broadcasts and find it painful. It's like watching the early auditions of American Idol. Ford should just pay actors to do the shows since they are so scripted anyway. There is some good info at times but the cost can be too dear.

Heard some news that Ford may be considering extending the warranty to 7 years/200k. Seems there was a Ford message posted today mentioning the possibility is being knocked around at high levels . Anybody seen it?

Well, the harness side tester is easy enough to aquire with all the scrap FICM harnesses that were replaced early on. Since this picture was taken I lengthened the wires to about a foot long to make it easy to hook up my DVOM out of the way. The injector side came from a vehicle that blew the top off the injector due to low fuel pressure. The injector top moved enough the wires got caught by the rocker arm and sawed through. Since I had a couple bulb sockets from some pickup take-off bumpers I simply paired up the circuits. The use of an orange and clear bulb helps my weak eyes tell whether each open/closed signal is sent by the FICM. These testers sure work better than the test light procedure in the TSB.

I don't know how to add it to this post, but I re-submitted my picture of the test leads I made to my PhotoPost. Are these what you remember?

I removed the drivers side cylinder head to find why 2 holes had no, as in 0, compression. I have some pictures and will try to put together a post on the repair later. It may be a few days till the vehicle is back on the road, though.

Got a 6.4 in last Thursday that sounded just like that video. Brand new engine just arrived for the truck today.

Boy, that 1.0 labor time sounds dang generous to do anything with exhaust. Doesn't it?

Man, there is just so much available at this point for the indies. The information online like iATN, technical trainers like Bruce and Mike, and printed publications make their life much easier than the Ford techs had it when the first 6.0l equipped vehicles came off the transport. Frankly, if they used the "tools" readily available to them they would rarely need the advice of a Ford dealer tech.

Did you ever stop to think maybe those guys were "smart" enough to fail the class? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Not many Econolines are sold and of those even fewer have the diesel engine. Most of the diesel equipped rides are probably bought by municipalities(ambulances,fire,transport) at cut rate pricing with little profit margin. Knowing the extra cost of warranty repairs on the E- series due to accessibility, versus the pickups, I doubt there is any profit in the market when all is said and done. One of our techs is an EMT and said going to the F-series would make them have to also buy a system to lower/raise the rear for easy access for the gurney.