Keith Browning

I am wondering if there are any official labor times for installing these things. What do shops charge?

I like where the forecast lists "Condition: Not Observed" Does that mean it's to cold to go outside to look?

Most Excellent! We love to hear feedback on what you find!!!

Ditto, I have seen both of these. The EGR gasket under the manifold drove me absolutely nuts. Don't forget about a cracked y-pipe... may have just started to leak.

Motorcraft Copper Spray?

I wonder how you rebuild an EGR valve. Shitcan the electrical parts and slap new stuff on the valve?

IF POSSIBLE is the key...

I guess they needed to do something with all of those failed engines and cylinder heads. It seems like in the last year we have seen a sharp increase in V-8 gas engine failures. Oil starvation due to oil being sucked up through the PCV. On all the one's we have seen the cams were wiped out. I just finished one in a bus that actually had one cam seized in the head.

That is pretty stupid if it's accurate. You could still have a collision that does not shut the engine off and have a fuel leak somewhere. The purpose of a fuel pump shut off switch is to disable the pump after a collision that could cause a leak and result in a fire... not necessarily shut the engine down though I think that is desirable as well.

A sticking turbo or a worn unison ring will do exactly that. Remember that sitting is what allows these turbos to rust however since this is a recent replacement the turbo should be treated to minimize this. Doesn't mean it's good nor does that mean it was properly diagnosed in the first place. Personally, I would TRY a new VGT solenoid and if that is not the problem SPW the turbo... you will still need to take it apart and determine the cause.Strange things can happen. I worked on a truck that was missing one of the turbo mount bolts. So I dutifully dug one up and installed it. Apparently the turbo was not seated or something when it was replaced some time ago and I actually distorted it causing it to seize. Truck had no performance issues when it came in. That's what I got for "fixing" it.

Ahhhh damn fat fingers. Typo. "SOME people..." Isn't this fun!

Nice tip Mike!

You do realize, or maybe you don't, that those plastic "tops" are actually dipstick tube opening plugs used in production because the transmissions were pre-filled. When the vehicle was assembled the dipstick tube was inserted into the trans pushing the plug into the pan with no spillage, nice and quick. Caused no harm being in the pan and you were supposed to discard them when you find them. If I had a nickle for every customer that came in asking what that thing was that he found in his transmission after servicing it in his driveway on the weekend. Dome people were quite worried! Oh the fun you could have with those people if you reacted as if it was a big problem!

Those are TR sensor codes... Shifter/linkage adjustment is suspect and electrical testing of the TR-P sensor and vehicle harness. I found no relative TSB's for the condition or codes.

Any time I have had surging like that the turbo or the EGR was at fault and typically either one sticking could do it. After verifying your pressure sensors and EGRVP @ KOEO carefully running through pinpoint tests KA should help you diagnose this. Did you replace the turbo assembly or just the center rotating housing? If you did a CRH did you carefully inspect the unison ring control slot for wear? This will also cause havoc with your air management system.

Second hole in your theory...and it is a big one. If the strap is connected to the wedge... and the wedge is not secured... how will the strap secure the battery?

Coming from a guy that has to pronounce his liking for boobies in his signature that's kind of a trivial question in itself Mike. Haven't you ever looked at something Ford has done and said WTF? I for one would like to know the purpose of the redundancy as it relates to a battery clamp and strap.. on just one of two batteries and on certain trucks and only certain years. Men liking boobies is a given. This battery strap thing? It is kind of an enigma.

Maybe it is a tether... Maybe it is like, "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?" The World may never know!

I think this mystery strap is something that had a very short run in production. Over the years I recall seeing this strap on less than a handful of trucks to the best of my recollection. It might also be related to where the truck was built as well - the first digit of the VIN: 1, 2 or 3.

Wow. I don't recall ever coming across a transmission problem with an LCF personally. The closest thing for me would have been wiring problems under the front of the cab - harness shorting out on brackets and such. I wrote an article on it ---> http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/articles/article-05-18.php which is something to take a quick look at as your erratic symptoms might be caused by a harness issue. I also agree that engine performance problems can show up with poor transmission operation. The info Bruce posted should help you if you can access a code - just remember that the LCF trucks being diagnosed at a Ford dealer require IDS to communicate with the TCM which is separate from the engine PCM on these trucks. This means connect to the 16 pin DLC... not the 9-pin diagnostic connector. The International diagnostic software we have won't connect to the TCM at all.

When I have the oportunity and remember to perform this little experiment I will. Of course, don't let me discourage anyone else from doing this and reporting back!

Labor times for rears suck on a normal basis to begin with.

Every time a crush collar in my shop has been subjected to re-use or an "adjustment" requiring backing off and re-tightening pinion bearing repairs followed. Ford gives us a specification range to shoot for and it is not hard to hit it. On these rears that are shimmed I see guys fail to pick up a torque wrench and just whack the pinion nuts with an impact gun. After all, it is shimmed right? What could go wrong? I am failing to make a distinction here. Again, in my opinion Ford knows what happened on the affected vehicles and has made a calculated repair. Since the majority of our fellow technicians choose to make flat-rate repairs it should be no surprise to us that Ford gives us flat-rate fixes and technical service bulletins.