Here is the story:

I purchased my 04 f150 screw fx4 a few months ago.

The very day I brought it home, I stopped by a good friend's house.
He liked the truck, but could hear a tapping sound coming from the engine area. Once I listened, I heard it as well. But dismissed it as being injector noise.
Over the next few weeks, the sound seemed to get louder.
It was louder when cold and sounded like a lifter to me.

I took the truck to my local dealer, and the service advisor agreed it sounded like a lifter coming from the passenger side. Once it was pulled into the garage, this was confirmed by a mechanic.

The advisor contacted Ford for instructions and was told due to the fact this was a new engine, not enough data had been collected from the market, as a whole, regarding a problem of this nature to allow them to do the repair at this time.

The advisor was a nice guy and explained that his hands are tied. Of course the dealership would like to do the repair, but they must go by what Ford says.

I took the truck home and pondered the fact that I have a $48,000 (Canadian), 2 month old, 2600 km truck in my garage with an engine problem which Ford won't repair.

I contacted the advisor, expressing my concerns that I want my truck repaired and he suggested I call Ford Customer Service of Canada.

When I called, they were nice enough, and understood my concerns. I was told someone from Ford research would call me back within 3 days.
Research called back on the third day. At which point I went through the entire issue with him again, (though it was already on their computer from the dealership). I asked him what needs to be done to get my truck repaired, he said he cannot make any decisions, but will be upgrading my concern to the regional authority and would have my dealership call me back within 3 days.
Why I talked to this guy, I still don't know.

Anyway, almost 2 weeks had passed and I didn't receive a call, so I called customer service back and was told to call the dealership and see if they were contacted.
So, I called the Service Manager at my dealership, who of course was never contacted by Ford and I explained the situation to him. He said he would call Ford and find out more information and call me back by the next day at the latest.

Well, here I am the day after the next day and have not been called back yet.
My truck still sounds like a diesel when I start it, and everytime I stop at a light I am reminded of my engine issue.

As a customer who has spent alot of money on a Ford product, I would expect to be treated in a better fashion.
If I have a warranty issue, I should take my vehicle to my dealership and it should be repaired. My responsibility should be complete at that point.
I shouldn't have to make ongoing phone calls and wait for calls that never come in order to have my truck fixed.

I am still trying to give Ford the benefit of the dought and have faith they will correct my problem. It would be nice if someone in the organization would step forward and could see an unhappy customer and what it takes to make this customer happy again. Not continually pass the problem onto another facet of the Ford organiazation.

I love my truck, but this experience is starting to cause me to lose faith in the motor company I chose.

Glenn

 

Talk to the CRM at your local dealership, he should be able to hook you up with whatever your needs demand; if you are nice enough to him.

 

This reminds me of the exact same issue I had with a 2001 Super Duty with the V-10. The truck ran fine a few weeks then it started tapping like you described. I am a perfectionist and needless to say, it drove me crazy driving a $38k truck with a POS engine. I took it back to the dealer and he said everything was fine. I drove the truck a few weeks longer and the tick got louder, to the point you could hear it in the cab. Took the truck back, service manager didn't like it because I returned the truck again with the same problem. I left the truck running OUTSIDE the dealership and you could hear it ticking over the mechanics INSIDE. I got a salesman to bring another Super Duty with a NEW V10 up beside my truck with both engines running and you could hear my truck drowning out the other with the engine noise. This convinced the service manager that I definitely had something wrong. He said he could tear the engine down but there aren't any parts available since the engine was so "new" and could be six to eight months before they could have any parts for repair. So I got in my truck, drove to the nearest dealership and traded that POS and never looked back. I feel your pain, but Ford is like any business out there. They have their politics and persuasions like any other. Good luck and I hope they do you right.

 

I have the same problem I beleive only mine has a rattle on startup goes away in seconds , not all the time , every second or third start hot or cold doesn't matter. The dealer told me the 5.4 3-valve do that , Anyone else???

 

what's wrong with taking parts from the truck that was parked right beside it?

sometimes these people WILL NOT go above and beyond the bare minimum to servie you.

 

Sounds to me like a case for the "Dispute Settlement Board" or whatever it is called.

 

Hold it top the floor until it blows then they have no choice but to fix it!

 

I agree with SR89racer - if the noise is the problem, it is obvious that something isn't right in the engine... Deal with the noise and drive the hell out of it until the lifter or whatever it is causing the noise "FAILS". If the engine blows because of a problem they couldn't fix - guess what, New Engine!

I feel your pain though - I've only had my truck for 3 weeks, I would hate for something to go wrong so soon.

 

IronmanSTL

try this link.www.cvma.ca/Programs/CAMVAP.html


Good Luck.

 

I had a similar problem. My rocker arm seized at 7500 mi. The dealer I went to (Lighthouse Ford: Falmouth, MA) took my truck in the next day. It took a week for them to get parts in due to backorder issues, and they repaired it promptly. However, as I was picking it up, the shop foreman noticed another clicking noise. (I heard nothing)

Anyway, they ended up replacing the entire motor with a brand new one. And pushed for an extended warranty to boot.

I could not be more appreciative of their attention to customer service, and they have a customer for life. (I bought the truck from another dealer) The gist of this story is that the dealer has the ability to make something happen. If they aren't willing to play ball ,you probably will have to go to the dispute settlement board, or contact the BBB.

I really hope you find a satisfactory resolution to your problem. I know what you're going through.

 

The only potential problem with blowing the motor up on purpose is that the engine management system records rpm's and other information about the engine when a failure occurred.
Dealer service is required to send this data to Ford before a final decision is made.

They could rule that the engine was damaged on purpose.

 

The dealer is full of crap. Take him out in the lot and have him start another new one and listen to it. This is assuming the noise you are talking about is not the injectors.

My FX4 is as quiet as a sewing machine except for the injectors which I can hear while idling in fast food drive thru's when there is a wall next to me.

Also note, and somebody here posted it a while back that some of these trucks (small number) had the heads assembled incorrectly by the company that supplies them and that was causing failure of the VVT system (the way I remember). I am pretty sure there is a TSB on that one.

 

Well my service manager called me after calling Ford himself.
Told me to bring the truck in so they could take the top end off to see what parts need to be ordered to fix the engine.

I won't feel good until I roll out of there with a quiet truck, but things are looking up.

I'll keep you guys informed.

 

Here is an update.
Took my truck in and they replaced some parts called phasors, which is somthing to do with the variable timing in the 5.4.

Didn't help at all.
At that point my dealer submitted a request to Ford for a new engine.

Ford gave the go ahead and 10 days later had the motor. It came complete with injectors, etc, even a new airbox.
2 days to put the motor in and I received it back a week ago.

Problem solved.
No more lifter or ticking sound.
I am happy how it turned out, but perhaps Ford could have been more accepting of the problem to begin with.

Iron

btw, there was another truck with the same problem at my dealer waiting to see how my problem was resolved...

 

Iron..glad to hear you go t the new motor and your trouble free now. I t was unfortunate that Ford delayed the process and ticked you off along the way. But look at it this way...If every guy that walked in and said I hear a noise gets a new engine, Ford would be out of business in a heartbeat. They need to take the time and make sure they are doing the right thing, although you may not see it that way as the customer.

In any event, you got what you wanted and deserved. I hope you are once again a happy Ford owner