Alex Bruene

This guy even had the 8 year diesel care warranty. Not covered by that either.

I just assumed it was covered. I ran the prior approval tool (without first checking for parts coverage). This was the response... Alex, While we agree that a failed DPF will cause sooty build up on the exhaust tips, the DPF is out of base warranty coverage by distance on this vehicle. Please note that DPF coverage changed starting with the 2009 Model Year, and is: 5 years/80,000 KM (50,000 miles). In the future this information can be found by running the VIN in OASIS and selecting the Parts Coverage Tool using the DPF base part# (5H221).

I haven't heard. I imagine not too many people take on new jobs this time of year. I saw the Shanahan ad too. I don't know how busy they are there. It's a pretty small dealership. Too bad, it's only 10 minutes from my house.

The right side is more accessible than the left side is. You're not trying it without removing the evaporator case, are you?

I recall reading somewhere (I'll have to look deeper) that you CAN enable the feature if the vehicle was ordered without it, but you CAN'T disable it if the vehicle was ordered with it.

Touchy subject. I do them in chassis. Easy as pie. I do recommend letting the engine sit overnight with the pan removed to allow most of the oil to run out of the block so it doesn't run on to the silicone when you're reinstalling the pan. When you say "pan reseal"... Does that mean replace the pan, or clean and reseal it? I'm not comfortable reusing a pan. They normally deform considerably when you break them free of the block. And, while on the topic of 7.3 rear main seals... Have you made sure the rear main seal is the actual cause of your leak? I've only ever seen one 7.3 rear main seal leak in my life. Just make sure that the oil leak you are repairing isn't coming from the top of the engine and running down the drain hole into the bell housing.

But aren't EGR housings less than $100?

I remember when the LCF first came out. The oil filter (can't remember the number off hand) was $80 through Ford. We purchased them from IH for $20. The sick part was, you would open the red Motor-Craft box to find a white IH box inside it, with the filter inside of that. I heard at one time our prices were so much higher to help keep up with soaring warranty prices on 6.0s...

What's that?

I find most of the vehicles with full set injector failures are usually the ones running on long oil drain intervals. I am not a big fan of the "flush queens", but I have seen hot oil flushes alleviate some hard start issues.

It's getting to be that time of year that injector sets come rolling in. Nobody wants to believe it. Everybody automatically assumes the glow-plugs aren't working because the engines will start perfectly fine with the block heater plugged in. Don't forget how useful our ears can be for narrowing down possible injector issues by listening to them while running a buzz test.

Last night I had a 2009 F-350 6.4 at just over 100,000 km with the typical signs of a DPF failure... Will not regenerate, blows lots of black smoke, black tail pipes... yada, yada, yada... So, I submitted a prior approval to get it declined. Turns out that in 2009, DPF coverage dropped to 5 years/80K. So, the vehicle is still under diesel engine and powertrain warranty, AND this poor guy bought the 7 year Diesel Care warranty. Nothing covers it. I kind of felt sorry for the guy. Not ranting. Just a heads up to those of you that haven't dealt with too many DPF failures after 2008 model year. Cheers!!

Yup. Saw that one too. I guess being an SM at an IAG dealer isn't a long term career choice.

It's not a bad job.

FWIW, you can slip the wire behind the a-pillar trim without removing it... Making the IDS connection the most time consuming part of the whole job. We get 1.5 for this starter, and nobody has caught on.

Sounds like it could be headgaskets. Have you checked the cooling system pressure under load? Is the cap venting? Aren't you in my area, Greg? It's certainly not -20 here. Maybe +20 today.

I just saw the ad on TADA. That's all. You should go for the job!

You guys are looking for another Service Manager? What gives?

It was a very common thing at my last dealership to have things sit around that long. It wasn't that it was THAT busy, but they did priorty service, so some very low priorty jobs (i.e. warranty hunters) would keep getting bumped out of line by vehicle that did regular service. I guess we're kind of doing the same thing with this bus. It is very long. It will down 2 out of our 3 bays, and we've been crazy busy. Now it's slowing down a little, so I'm almost ready to do it... as soon as Ford lets us know they'll pay the bill. I suppose it's only a matter of time until we follow you guys to the 30 day limit.

Doesn't really matter anymore, Chan. We've turned down anymore they want to send our way. We're even having a difficult time getting prior approval for the one I have yet to do. It sat on our lot for 45 days without us even opening the hood. We closed the RO and reopened it so we didn't have any issues with the 60 day time submission law... now they won't give me prior approval on the new RO because (according to hotline) time submission issues are not worthy of a new prior approval. Oh well.

I did mention that Ford should be more concerned about who is violating the terms of service of their website, rather than a few technicians expressing their opinions on what is without a doubt an overly modified vehicle. They seem to be more concerned about keeping the fleet happy than the techs.

Somebody from Ford warranty was going to come by and have a look at what it's like to work on one of these, as they can't understand what the big deal is. We're still waiting.

Somebody from Ford called my boss about it. Apparently, somebody on INFORD printed off the thread and gave it to somebody from "the fleet". Somebody from "the fleet" contacted Ford and complained.

I replaced a turbo on a chassis cab last week too. Couldn't identify a root cause for the failure. Oil supply was good. Air supply was good.

We can't really get them into the shop either... We can, but it disables 2 work bays. We've done a bit of investigating, trying to determine why these things are going through HPFPs so often. One might suggest it has something to do with the modifications to the fuel supply system? Perhaps the fuel source? Who knows... I think I might have figured something out. We opened up the HFCMs on both buses we have here, and they both look like this... Either way, we're turning them away now. Too much of a hassle from the fleet, from Ford and especially from warranty for trying to get the claim paid. I was also "cautioned" about vocalizing my opinion about these buses on INFORD.