If you can't get good service at Raceway, I'd suggest Citrus in Ontario. I've heard nothing but good stuff from them. I work on equipment for a living, and I can say, fwiw, if equipment went down and somebody started leaving me paperwork with what they wanted to check, I'd view it as they didn't trust me or think I was competent. I'd be a little tweaked.

 

Usually customers only bring in TSB's if the tech denies any problem exists, or has never "heard" of the problem existing. I'd say 90% of issues I have had have been dismisses as "cannot duplicate". Let me tell you how frustrating that is. One of the times I took my truck in to diagnose the rough idle, the tech said nothing was wrong. I had the service manager sit in the truck while it was idling rough, and even though he acknoledged the fact he could feel vibration, he dismissed it by saying that its a truck, and they're supposed to idle rough. I then told him to start up a new F150, and low and behold it idled smooth. Keep in mind my truck is less than 6 months old at that point.

Its a game, and anything you can bring to the game to help you get satisfaction is fair. Now if someone wants to play dumb and act like nothing is wrong, than I am more than willing to bring in something to "jog" their memory.

 

Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I wouldn't respond that way to a customer. I'd start calling Ford if you're not getting satisfaction. Talk to the tech. personally. It's a lot harder for them to run you around face to face. What my point was is this: if the initial contact is with a list of TSB's , I would view it as somewhat confrontational. We have TSB's for the semiconductor equipment I work on as well. Usually, they're actually pretty helpful. I still do my own diagnosis, regardless of what a customer tries to direct me to. Sometimes, I know how much customers hate it, I truly cannot duplicate a problem. But I always tell them, that doesn't mean I think there isn't one. It's just intermittant, and those are some of the toughest ones.

 

I get a call this evening that my truck is done. I pick it up. I then proceed with reading the invoice/work order... Now remember, on Friday they told me that it was the camshaft and 3 rocker arms that needed to be replaced, and they needed to order them... Ok, so looking at the invoice, all they did was replace a spark plug (#4), add coolant, and change the oil. Of course, everyone was gone at 6pm, so I couldn't ask what the heck happened. I'm really stumped at the repair. Ok, if it was just a bad plug, then why the oil and coolant??? I assume that they'd have to replace the oil after changing out the camshaft, but if so then why no mention of the camshaft at all?? I'm really confused. I'm putting in a call to them 1st thing tomorrow morning to find out what happened.

 

So after I picked up my truck last night, I went for a drive for a while just to make sure that it ran on... Well the good news is that there haven't been anymore misfires... The bad new is that there's now a loud knock or grumble sound. It sounds like it coming through the firewall, right around the vicinity of cylinder #4. It only happens when idling in gear and when you just BARELY tap on the accelerator.

So again, on my way to work this morning, I took it back into Raceway Ford. The SA drives around the parking lot with me, and he hears what I'm talking about...

Ok, so I get a call this afternoon saying that it has absolutely nothing to do with the repairs that they've done over the past 2 weeks. They "think" it's the heater core! They say that tomorrow they'll tear out my entire dash. I tell them no way, don't lay another finger on my truck. So I race down there and picked it up (still knocking/rattling of course)... Anyway, as we speak, my wife is in route to Fritts Ford for a 2nd opinion.

I just find it very suspicious that this new noise appeared exactly after they "fixed" the other issues... It seems like they fix one thing, only to break another.

But I'm telling you, if neither of the dealerships can fix it, then the truck will be history. What truck it'll be replaced with is completely unknown. This is SOOOO agrevating, I'm pulling my hear out.

Whatever happened to taking pride in your work (I'm talking about the techs that have been working on my truck, not Ford). It's painfully obvious that they didn't do a very good job of verifying their work (even though the invoice says "verified repair with shop foreman"... And what "coincidence" is it that when replacing the cam phaser, the #4 cylinder "just happens" to misfire. And then when they fix the misfire, the new knock/noise "just happens" to show up at that exact time. Give me a freaking break!!!!

 

Well, I can't justify or rationalize anymore what your dealer is doing - they ain't worth a flying f@#$. No real nice way to say it.

Sorry for all the crap you're having to go through.

 

keep us posted on this Bam.

 

Yeah I will... It's still at Fritts Ford right now. They called me last night and said that they have their "heavy line" tech looking at it now. Everyone there agrees that it has absolutely nothing to do with the heater core, and that the noise is coming from the engine area... to be continued...

 

bump.

 

if you win the lemon law and you buy a new truck Ford has to either pay to transfer your aftermarket stuff or buy new for the new truck if they can't reuse it or give the money you spent on it! atleast thats the way it works here in Florida.

 

I was finally able to pick up my truck from Fritt's Ford last night. They had it since last Tuesday night. But I was out of town Thursday-Sunday... Anyway, they basically found 2 things wrong with my truck. First, they said there was no pressure in the engine cooling system. They replaced the pressure cap, and it's good to go. Secondly, when Raceway Ford put the motor back together, they bent the heck out of the A/C lines. That was causing the severe rattling noise. So they replaced those. I picked up the truck last night, and overall I'm happy. Looking at my initial/opening post, I knew that some things weren't going to be fixed, such as the humming noise when cold. And it wasn't fixed... But the major issues are fixed, and that's all I was really expecting.

Another plus for Fritts Ford is that they actually give you a rental car that you can drive, not some tiny Focus. They gave me a brand-spanking new Mustang. Nice!



I didn't notice it this morning, so it "may" be fixed. If not, it wasn't a big deal to begin with.

Fixed!

Fixed.

Not fixed, but I wasn't expecting it to be fixed.

I need new brakes, which I'll get sooner or later.



Remember, this all started basically with me wanting them to replace the Cam Phaser. The other issues were just because it would already be in the shop, so might as well have them look at them... And after Raceway Ford botched the repairs, it led to me being without a truck for a few weeks.

 

thanks for the update...glad you got your major issues resolved.