So...I take my truck to get the oil changed last week and they advise me there is an oil leak near the front of the engine and I should schedule it for repair. Looks pretty minor, more of a seep than a leak from what I could see, it has never even accumulated on my garage floor so it can't be too bad!.

Anyway I take it back in Monday morning at 7:30 (Mel Hambelton Ford, same place that I bought it and who does all my service) and they tell me should be done by the following day.

Still no truck 4 days later and I call to ask what's the hold up and get
this information: Leak was deeper in engine than originally expected from
visual inspection, had to do complete engine tear down to discover head
gasket is bad, truck completely tore down (cab off chassis..yikes).

Now to make matters worse, they can only locate one head gasket at the shop parts room, nationwide they are on back-order with Ford, and there are only 7 in the country... floating around at various dealerships. He tells me they are trying to get one from one of these 7 dealership? If he can't than they have no idea how long it will take to get in.

In the mean while my truck is in hundreds of pieces in the mechanic's bay
(actually 2 bays), and I have a great deal of concern that it will be put
back together properly, we all know the story of Humpty Dumpty.

Wish me luck, I pity them if there is even a scratch, rattle or new leak
when I finally get this thing back.

Frustrating, maybe it is time to trade (liking those new GMs), this with NEVER getting better than 17 MPG has got me pissed!

 

just out of curiosity what year? what engine? Good luck with that GM garbage!

 

2012 F150 Crew cab FX4 Ecoboost, bought it new about 2 years ago...it now has 40K.

 

The Eco boost is a new technology engine. Scares me. You might have better luck with a GM engine because the tech they use is very old tried and all. The rest of the truck will give you fits.

 

This is why I never buy the first year of any engine/body line-up. YOU guys are the Beta testers. After a year, Ford usually switches a few things around and tidies up the design. I learned my lesson (97 4.2L).

 

Would normal procedure not been to have pulled the engine? Yanking a cab off the frame seems pretty extreme to me just to find an oil leak...

If my dealer ever did that to me they could keep it!

 

pulling the cab actually cuts the labor costs instead of having to.fight pulling the motor...imo

 

2014 is the 4th year the ecoboost engine has been in trucks. That doesn't qualify as new.

Did you make this post on an Apple IIe because you hate "new" tech?

 

Stay far away from the later model Diesels, just about anything outside of changing the Oil & Filters requires lifting the Cab off the frame.

 

Did they even tell you anything about where the oil leak (seep) was coming from???

There aren't to many places on the front of the engine for leaks to happen??? front of

valve covers?? Timing chain cover??? and if that its the seal around the crankshaft.?????

 

the leak is coming from the right side (passenger) head gasket. Just a bad gasket they believe, showed me where the oil had been leaking and accumlated on to the AC unit and other surrounding components and pooling under the manifold.

As for lifting the cab..I was of the opinion that it was a major undertaking, but according to the shop; it is the recommened procedure for any work deeper in the engine bay. I was explained that they simply undo about 8 bolts and disconnect the wiring harness and lift it off (I'm sure I left off a few minor things).

So, at this point they have located a 2nd gasket (arrives today) and are supposed to be wrapping it up by later this afternoon. I took some pictures of it dismantled in case I need it to support issues that might arrise later.

Hopefuly all will end well and I'm not chasing back to the dealership every month for a new found problem. It would only take one or two and I'd be working a trade deal somewhere.

Up to now It has been a great truck (excluding the MPG), but that may be partially my fault as I have a heavy right foot and rarely drive at 55... where they tell me the 17/21 rating is achieved. In retrospect I'm averaging 16-17mpg, which is better than I've got from any other 4wd truck I've owned. Regardless, seems to be a little false advertising to me.

 

Same thing happened to my 11' but i found the leak myself when changing the oil. Took it in and they did a dye test and found it was a head gasket but had to change all the other gaskets that went with it. Kept it for a couple of days but i don't think they took the cab off.

 

Pulling the cab has been standard procedure for some time no for major engine work or replacement on these trucks.

Odds are you'd never know the cab had been lifted off after the truck was fixed.

-Steve

 

I guess my question is, how do they get it off the truck without damage? That just bothers me for some reason, but it may be just fine. I hope they didnt take mine off. If they did I would have preferred them at least telling me so I could have something else to worry about

 

Hard to say really and in most cases you'd never, ever know that they did it.

It makes working on the engine a lot easier and it's not as tough as you might think, they just leave the truck sitting on it's tires, unbolt the cab and disconnect the steering shaft, any wiring and plumbing and lift the cab with their hoist.

Very straight forward procedure really.