I own a 98 F-150 extended cab with 92,000 miles on it. And I need lots of help and suggestions, PLEASE.

I've posted a couple times and read and read other posts regarding my issues. Would greatly, greatly appreciate some input from any of you. Dealership (commonly referred to as stealership I noticed) has taken alot of my money to only leave me with more problems and charge me more money every d**m time I have an issue. Initially they had the truck one day to do the diagnosis and ten days for the issues that were wrong and didn't fix all of them.

Under $100 got me a diagnosis
Oil leak-----Head gasket $$$$$$$$$$$4
Radio sometimes not coming on when truck started and bed and cab lights staying on-----fuse panel and GEM. $$$
Flushed Cooling system---$$$
Changed fuel and air filters---$$$
Speedometer being intermittent after truck warms up----Didn't fix
Right signal not working when cold out---Didn't fix
No start conditions---cleaned starter terminal and put dialectric grease on them--- at my request

When I picked the truck up it took me four tries to get it started. Each and every time the battery and starter attempted to turn the engine over but the truck wouldn't stay running and idled so low it shut off. No problems when warm, never. Only on cold starts. It did it again when I left work that day and I was so mad that I headed for the dealership. The head mechanic was "in a meeting" to which I said then someone needs to get him out of the meeting. My truck was here for ten days and two things weren't fixed and now it is not starting". Realizing I was beyond angry the young man did as I asked. I was offered a loaner if I didn't trust the truck to start. My response was that I wanted to keep it the weekend to see if there were any other issues.

So far it ended up back for two days more to change the VSS (at my request) and the multifunction switch, also requested the door switches be cleaned or changed ( I had asked for this to be done previously. Now the signal works fine. The speedometer is better but still shuts off now and again and then kicks. Truck still doesn't always start.

I asked for a break in the cost of labor since they had my rig so long the first time and didn't do all the work and of course was told they couldn't do anything.

My truck started fine before all this. Please any suggestions on how to deal with the dealership and what may still be the issue with the speedometer and the starting issue would be so appreciated.

I can do carpenter work, plumbing and have in my day changed oil and alternators. But this is beyond me.

 

For the cold stall and low idle, replace your Iac (idle air control). For the speedo problem maybe a loose connection on the back of it or a bad cluster? Not a VSS, it would cause the abs lamp to come on and also store a memory code. As for the fuse panel and GEM replacement, i wander if you windshield leaked causing that problem? (kinda common)

NO CHARGE for this info, stright from a stealership tech.

 

Thanks for the quick response Danny.

Repalacing the VSS did change the way the speedometer worked. It works better now, it only sometimes shuts off when the engine gets warm. Before you could guarantee it would stop after a couple miles down the road. Now it's more sporadic and will all of a sudden jump where it should be and not bother again. Where previously when it shut down it usually stayed down. Yesterday it was fine and never shut down when the engine warmed up.

I bought the rig from the corner used dealership where the mechanics are very questionable. So when the issues with the truck started my regular mechanic suggested taking it to the dealership. But the speedo problem was an issue that started when the truck was still under warranty. I had left it there three times and the first time the mechanic (who was pretty good and isn't there anymore) said he cleaned some chip and that if it acted up again they would replace it. It was fine for months afterwards. The next two times I had an appointment and it was never looked at.

With this info I will drop it off there and have the obvious changed, the IAC and the cluster.

Thanks again.

 

Several years ago I had a dealership problem,,, Very long story made short: My Cougar would do a funny (not Ha Ha funny) thing by studdering at a certain speed. I'd tell the service advisor he/she would write it up and assure me that all was ok,,, I'd pay for it, pick it up and sure enuough the problem wasen't fixed. Many times , On and on. Finally, I raised hell and demanded that the mechanic go for a ride with me,,,Them, "well sir that is very irregular, our service advisers are trained to diagnose problems." Me, "horse feathers, get the mechanic and put him in the care with me!" Five minutes into the ride, the mechanic anilized the problem, replaced some minor part, and the problem was solved. Moral of the story, don't talk to the idiot that is doing the paperwork, talk to the guy that is swinging the wrenches.