Ok...I'm already reading about the arbitration board process and lemon laws.

First 5,000 miles of my truck, i had the Throttle Body replaced. I do have the Airaid intake installed, but the dealer changed it, gave me no fluff about it at all. (dealer kicks butt).

Now i am at 15,000 miles, My transmission went kaput! Had it towed in (Thanks to ford for covering the tow)..they said 1st, 2nd gears were totally out. 2 clutches burned really bad, 3rd clutch was frozen. They ordered a brand new transmission from St. Paul and installed it. Shop had my truck for 5 days. (didn't give me a rental cuz i am under 25, thats crap!).

200 Miles after the new transmission was installed, i lost reverse! It happend friday afternoon, i called the same shop, alittle (ok, a Lot) disappointed. Shop said they could get it in on Monday. To drop it off at 7am, and they would get back to me monday to let me know the issues. (I drove it still since i still had forward gears. Finding a parking spot where you don't need reverse is a pain!). Putting the truck in reverse was like neutral. Got rev, no unexplainable noses or anything..just wouldn't back up.

7am monday the truck went in, no call back monday at all. Tuesday at 4pm i called the shop asked whats up. Said a band and clutch went out. They thought the tranny shipped to them was just bad all together. They said they had already ordered parts for it, and it should be done Wednesday. Called the shop at 430pm wednesday...shop told me the parts they ordered from Ford were not in stock. How do you order out of stock parts? I thought thats what computers were for. ok. They said they ordered parts from another shop and would have it done Friday afternoon.

Well, you can see what's coming. Called the shop friday at 430. They said the parts they orderen. They ordered a brand new transmission from St. Paul and installed it. Shop had my truck for 5 days. (didn't give me a rental cuz i am under 25, thats crap!).

200 Miles after the new transmission was installed, i lost reverse! It happend friday afternoon, i called the same shop, alittle (ok, a Lot) disappointed. Shop said they could get it in on Monday. To drop it off at 7am, and they would get back to me monday to let me know the issues. (I drove it still since i still had forward gears. Finding a parking spot where you don't need reverse is a pain!). Putting the truck in reverse was like neutral. Got rev, no unexplainable noses or anything..just wouldn't back up.

7am monday the truck went in, no call back monday at all. Tuesday at 4pm i called the shop asked whats up. Said a band and clutch went out. They thought the tranny shipped to them was just bad all together. They said they had already ordered parts for it, and it should be done Wednesday. Called the shop at 430pm wednesday...shop told me the parts they ordered from Ford were not in stock. How do you order out of stock parts? I thought thats what computers were for. ok. They said they ordered parts from another shop and would have it done Friday afternoon.

Well, you can see what's coming. Called the shop friday at 430. They said the parts they ordered were damaged in shipping. They reordered the parts, and may have it done wednesday of next week.

if i get this thing back Wednesday, that means the truck has been in the shop a total of 17 days this month. That is crap! Very frustrated wtih this shop. (not the same shop that i bought the vehicle from). This shop has had a bad name for service, and i knew it. Just couldn't drive the 50 miles to the shop i bought the vehicle at...

I hear on mn lemon laws that if you vehicle is in the shop for a total of 30 days or longer for the same issue within 2 years of purchase date, it would qualify for the arbitration board, and a possible buy back under the lemon law...


Comments/Suggestion on this?

I called ford customer service about the dealership not letting me loan a vehicle, because i am under 25. They said they had to support the dealership. I called them kindly asking them to refund me for a rental vehicle. Well, renting a vehicel for under 25 adults locally would run roughtly 60 bucks a day, and they didn't want to reimburse me for that...

So, feet it is. 2nd attempt on the transmission. has anyone else had tranny issues like this? Just so happens that they tranny has to go out when we get 2 feet of snow in 1 day.... What a pain!

 

Did they install an inline trans filter and flush (or replace) the tranny cooler and lines? You can just about guarantee repeat failures if the lines and cooler aren't flushed. If your truck has the tow package, it has an external cooler that must be replaced with a new transmission.

 

I don't have the sales receipt with me for work done (its in the truck, in the shop)...but i do remember hearing them say they replaced all lines going to the cooler. (inspection showed metal shavings in the tranny fluid).

Not sure about the flush, but i would only assume if they changed lines, they would flush....but some dealers are shady to...

 

Unfortunately, sometimes Motorcraft reman or new units can be of dubious quality. I had a 4R100 new in the box where the banjo bolts for the cross over tube connecting the cooler lines were blatantly cross threaded. Of course, I didn't realize this until I had the transmission installed in the truck and it poured fresh fluid all over the floor as soon as I cranked it up.

Can you post your VIN or E-mail it to me? I wanna do a little background checking on it, just out of curiousity.

 

1FTPX14564NB88361

 

Okay, hang tight, lemme see what I can find.

 

Okay...at first glance, it looks like they tore down your transmission to see what blowed up in it, did a cost cap, and ordered a unit for it. Then when that unit blowed up, they tore it down and inspected it again, but I can't see what else was done besides that. They did replace the external cooler. There are no clutches or bands billed on the original warranty ticket, dated Jan. 13, 2005, only a complete transmission assembly, part number 3L3Z-7000-LA, the cooler, 5L3Z-7A095-BA, some kind of valve assembly, 4L3Z-7H322-BA, and the extension housing gasket, E7TZ-7086-A. I don't know how to take on the DSB; it's still a very real possibility that they just got a lame transmission. Sorry I couldn't be of anymore help.

 

So, it appears as though the install was done completely and fully? parts ordered sound like they are consistent with what is needed to get this job done the best it could be?

You must be a man of ford somehow....impressive knowledge!

 

Looks like it...but they haven't completed or filed the paperwork for this go-around with your transmission, so I don't know what they're doing to it this time.

Stop in and holler sometime if you're in the neighborhood.

 

I appreciate you checking into this...thats excellent. When the truck is completed...hopefully before wednesday (I am really itching to go ice fishing)...i will either scan the paperwork and post it, or let you know.

See if anything on the new paperwork seems "fishy" or out of whack. This dealer i have it at is known for poor customer service in the service and sales floor. I was thinking of purchasing from them, to give them a chance, but when i walked in, 21 years old, looking to purchase a 36,000 vehicle, they turned the other way and basically gave me no attention. So, i drove 50 miles to buy where i was treated excellent.

To bad tow truck drivers wouldn't tow it to the origional shop....They have been really good.

What is your affiliation with Ford (how did you get that info?)

 

Sounds like we're in the same boat...when I went to a local Ford dealer in town to buy my truck, which I saw had just been delivered the previous Sunday while they were closed, they told me it was sold and basically wouldn't bargain with me or search for another one like it, gave me the cold shoulder more or less. I went to a dealer in Auburn, they searched through their system and found the exact same truck that the local dealer told me was sold and was still on their lot, did a dealer transfer, beat their price by $1500 and I drove off. Went to the local dealer and asked the sales manager who bought this truck before I did. Needless to say, I don't deal with them anymore.

I'm a technician at a Lincoln-Mercury dealership.

 

If by chance the tranny fails one more time, do you think there is something possible to check out that is causing the tranny to go out?

I just dont want to be in the middle of a lake, 4x4ing through 4' of snow, and have my reverse of 1st, 2nd gears go out. Sure wouldn't be fun to walk through that till i foudn someone to help me.

Also, i have BFG Hummer tires on my truck. P315/75R17 tires on my truck. I confirmed with my dealership they are ok to install and wouldn't casue any issue. Do you think this could be an issue? Along with these tires, i have the daystar 3 in leveling kit installed. (looks excellent by the way).

as a second opinion, do you see issues with this?

 

The only thing I could think of causing repeat failures is trash in the lines, although if they replaced the external cooler (which they did), flushed the lines (I can't tell, because I can only see the first couple sentences of what they wrote up on the ticket) and installed the inline filter (again, I can't tell, but they must have, since Ford will not warranty new units without an inline filter), there shouldn't be any concerns with that.

 

I thought that kind of stuff only happened to me. Sorry for the bad luck. It sounds like you're getting the run-around. I hope the problem is fixed for good after this 2nd new transmission.

I'm running Toyo 35" M/T's and I hope it doesn't cause any transmission problems. It's always a little scary when you take it to the dealer and they take several looks at all the modifications we do to our trucks.

I just installed the Rancho 4" kit to get the truck up off the 35" tires. So far so good.

What type of fish are you ice fishing for? That is one method of fishing I've never been able to try. Being on the West Coast doesn't allow for too much ice fishing.

I want to do two things before I kick the bucket.

1. Catch a BIG A$$ Pea**** Bass.
2. Drive my F-150 out onto a frozen lake and do some ice fishing!!

Good luck with the trans....