Howdy all—I just bought a 2014 f150EB 3.5L xlt. I took it up a mountain pass about two days after I bought it and it went into limp mode/flashing CEL. Immediately took it home to change plugs and COPs, took it up the same pass the next day, couldn’t replicate.

took it to the dealer I bought from (also bought the extended warranty) and had em take a look. The tech found 25% compression loss on cylinder 6 and a leak down test at 8% and wants 12 hours to do a diagnostic teardown—the service advisor couldn’t tell me what the tech would be looking for, and also, the 12 hours is just the teardown and not the reconstruction or repair itself. On top of that, the service advisor indicated that the extended warranty may not cover diagnostics or repairs, and I may very well be on the hook for all of it--engine disassembly, repair, and rebuild, some 24 hours labor (AT LEAST) and parts for whatever they find wrong.

The truck has a very noticeable shudder during idle and braking (coming from the engine), so there's definitely something up, but I couldn't replicate the misfire.

I feel like I’m getting fleeced for billable hours... I don’t really want to be on the hook for a two day fact finding mission when I could just bring it back home and try weep hole/pcv/Maf solutions.

does 12 hours sound right to any service techs in here? Might anyone have any input to my situation?

 

How long has it been since you purchased the vehicle? Perhaps, start with a firm demand for a refund of your money since they sold you a truck with a defective engine.

 

What kind of extended warranty?

Was it the Ford ESP?

 

This was purchased on August 30th.

On account of it being beyond original warranty (its at ~106,000mi) and purchased in as-is condition (albeit with an extended warranty), I'm not sure what recourse I have to really back up that demand.

That said, though, I'm not a mechanic, but I dont think a simple trip up the mountain would have resulted in this issue, which exactly as you state, means they sold me a defective vehicle.

 

Its via Ethos (EG Assurance) bumper to bumper. But I'm assuming that since they're determining the engine was sold with the defect, they dont want to cover it, and of course, the dealer wants to put me on the hook for it.

 

Not surprised.

My coworker bought a Chevy Trailblazer used, the used car dealer swindled him into getting it from that exact same company. Long story short the transmission died about 6 months out from his purchase, and they weaseled out of it stating that it was sold to him with a defective transmission. They even went as far as to saying that my coworker was a con-artist.

After my Ford ESP runs out, I was thinking of going aftermarket with a warranty, but eh, these are the problems I hear. The Ford ESP has covered so far everything that has broken on my truck. But I'm the only owner of it. I think by then, I'll have a new truck. lol

 

Yeah so far I'm not too impressed by extended warranty. Short of an engine hoist and stand and pneumatic readers, I am pretty well equipped to handle most repairs. I bought the warranty for peace of mind but I've been nothing but extraordinarily anxious and stressed out since I drove it into the shop.

 

I don't blame you one bit - you bought a warranty so you didn't have to mess with major repairs.

I'm more than competent to wrench on my own vehicles and do all the time (along with for other people!), but I like to have one vehicle that I don't want to have to mess with too much -- other than routine maintenance.

Heck, this past weekend I needed to replace hydraulic steering hoses on my Kubota tractor, and it requires taking half the tractor apart. I did that, and I also changed the hydraulic fluid, front axle fluid, engine valve lash adjustment, coolant flush, fuel filters, oil change, air filter, front axle pivot adjustment, and last but not least thoroughly clean the tractor from dust and debris. Probably sunk about ~15 hours into it.

If I brought it to the dealer, ha, probably a $2-3k bill if not more.

After that, I went through and replaced plugs, PCV valve and swapped transmission fluid in my '07 Jeep Compass...

Did a lot of wrench turning this weekend... LOL

 

i went into the dealership and had them cancel the teardown. They had the sense to call the service director over and he agreed to cover the cost of the teardown regardless of the findings.

tech suspected piston rings or head gasket leak.

i feel a bit better, but well see!