I've got a 2005 F150 Lariat with a hair over 30k miles.

A few months ago I noticed that the motor ran rough and kind of stumbled when I accelerated at around 40-45mph. Occasionally it would backfire a bit through the exhaust. It was only when I accelerated hard enough to make the motor downshift.

A couple weeks after it started the check engine light started flashing when I passed someone. The motor started running very poorly. I think it was in "safe mode." I pulled over and killed the engine, waited a min or two and restarted it. The engine ran like normal and the light turned off.

I hooked up a SnapOn MOBIS. It read a misfire on the #3 cyl. By the time I drove home (Southern VA to I live near DC) and into the dealership I had had driven over 300 miles. The dealer couldn't read any codes.

They were unable to recreate the symptoms (complete BS...go 40 and floor it...and it does it...). The problems continued but I didn't have a chance to go to the dealer, wait until a tech was free, and drive the truck to show him the symptoms.

So, 2 or so months passed by. The issue started getting a bit worse with the cold weather (not sure if there's a cause/effect). When the motor was cold it would stumble and back fire under hard acceleration. I've been busy and wasn't going to go back in without a check engine light.

___________________________________________

Yesterday it did it again and the light started flashing. I headed straight to the dealer. This time it was cyl #8. They did a coil pack and plug. I picked up the truck that night and it ran like crap.

I grabbed a service writer and took her a 2 min ride. The motor ran like crap, back fired, and the check engine light came on.

I dropped it back off this AM. I called to check on it around 3pm and the list included:

5 injectors
3 more plugs
at least more 3 coil packs
2 broken plugs (not sure if they're part of the 3 above) that were unable to be removed from the head. They have to pull the head.

They gave me a rental car. From what I've read the injector problems have destroyed cats and in some cases entire motors.

What should I be on the look out for when I get the truck back?

I'm going to try to insist that they do ALL injectors, ALL coil packs, and ALL the plugs.

From what I can tell they have to pull the entire motor to do the heads on this...

all this at only 30,000 miles on a 2005

 

to me it sounds like they dont quite know what they are doing and they are just guessing at the problem but hey those are just that many things you wont have to worry about later in life but just make sure nothings broke and everything is plugged in because i dont know the dealer your using but the ones near where i live just have half *** mechanics.

 

You should be ok after the work they are performing but 2 things I would keep a eye on would be any engine knock sounds and the engine temp. Hopefully there was no lower engine damage done.

 

The inturnal components of the engine are more than likely trashed, How can the heads be any good, when some of the cy are firing and some not, if the flue/air mixture is out of wack, thies going to be a lot of carbon build up on the pistons and how are the rings going to seat properly on the piston with all the varances in operating temp in the cy.

I may have missed how manny miles were driven on thie engine, But atempt at repairing on the first go arround is typical of ( some ) ford service departments.

I whish you the best ... and can releat this to my last Dodge service expierance


I had really had to fight to get my dodge dealer to replace the front dif on my 06 2500, Had the front axel fluid changed, And the sons of a bitchs cross threaded the diff cover bolts, got 50 km before all the fluid was gone in the front diff ( on the dodge 2500 like ford super dutys, the front axels turn when not in 4x4 ) So, I share your missery with dealers ,...

 

Well I talked to a mechanic I'm friends with about what Ford is doing. He's a pretty good mechanic and very familure with the motor and dealership. He said pulling a head on the truck can be done with the motor still in. Last set he did took about 12 hours.

However, he also said that he's never seen the plugs freeze/break on one of these with less then 75k miles (I only have 30k). He said it's also incredibly rare that they wouldn't be able to remove the broken plugs. So, it looks like either they were incredibly careless or they're just milking Ford for some warrenty work.

Also, if the injectors were really sticking open (especially 5 of them) I'd be smoking like crazy and I wasn't. More then likely I had a bad coil pack or two or three that was causing the motor to miss every once in a while or causing an incomplete burn. The motor picked up the extra O2 that wasn't burnt and thought it was running lean. It would then dump extra fuel, decreasing my gas milage, and causing an improper mixture. This would explain the backfiring, poor running, and occasional gas smell. It would also explain the 1-1.5mpg drop.

This would in turn burn up my plugs over time, causing the situation to grow worse. The injectors are probably fine and the dealer is trying to make some money....

 

Make sure they give you all of the "broken/Bad" parts when they are done and then test them (cops and injectors anyway). They sound like a bunch of half assed pillow biters if you ask me. If you had 5 bad injectors and 3 bad COPs that thing would have been to bad to drive, I dont buy a word of it, they have to be milking the warrenty.

 

Talked to the service writer today. They have to replace a head. I tried to get why out of him...wondering if there could be damage to a piston, rod, etc...

He said he wasn't sure and thought the tech messed something up taking the plugs out...

Great, this inspires confidence...

 

Sounds like they did not follow the TSB on how to remove the plugs and subsequently broke them.
Remember when you are talking about injector failure the pulse width is hundreds of a second. A failed injector can stick open for a fraction of a second too long and cause problems that would not lead to you seeing anything out the tailpipe. Especially if you are running on the highway and the cats are burning up any raw fuel. Also backfiring is nothing more than unburnt fuel igniting in the exhaust system.
Sounds to me like you have textbook injector failure that has now escalated into a larger issue because of the dealer's inability to stay up to speed on working with these trucks. ...but what the hell do I know.

Hope you get it worked out so you can enjoy your truck. A factory extended service plan may not be a bad idea...
-G

edit- typo

 

I have an after market one that's pretty comprehensive through my bank, Pentagon Federal Credit Union. I just find it odd that they have 5 bad injectors on the truck right after the warrenty thing is announced.

I'm going to try to get the cause for the head damage in writing from the dealer. I basically want a guarantee that there's no damage to my pistons. During the last conversation he couldn't tell me what the total count was for the plugs and COPs nor which cylinders they were done on. I want to make sure that if there's a bad injector then the plug is replaced on that cylinder. I've also stressed to him that if at any time in the future the plugs seize when being changed I'm bringing it right back as they should have put some anti-seize on them.

 

Just talked to him again and he said it was 4 plugs, COPs, and injectors, and a head. He can't tell me for certain why the head needed to be replaced and which plugs were replaced. When asked how much it would be to replace the remaining four he said $150 even though they have the motor all torn down and the head off.....

Yeah, I hope I get a survery for this visit....hahaha

 

You have the letter extending the warranty on your injectors correct? Between that any your pentagon federal service plan you may as well let them get it back together and see how she runs.

What dealer do you have it at again?

 

Ourisman Ford. If the NOVA in your profile means NoVA stay away from them. I spoke to a service advisor I know at another Ford (out of the NoVA area so they're not a competitor and shouldn't give biased info) and he thinks they're milking the warrenty as well.

 

Yes, it is NoVA.
You actually know who I am, just not on this board. E-mail inbound.

 

Hey buddy, just got the email. The other dealer was Richmond Ford near my Dad's place.

 

Finally got my truck back today:

notes:

Performed EEC test, pin point test, relative compression test. Found 4 bad injectors, low compression on #7 cyl. Found Burnt valve. Replace left hand cyl head. Retest. Replaced spark plugs 1, 3, 4, and 7.

7 Spark P 237942
4 Injector 215555
1 Gasket 823104
10 Bolt 867031
1 Gasket 887600
1 Gasket 887611
1 Gasket 822953
1 Gasket 822955
1 Gasket 822956
1 Gasket 836680
1 Gasket 836625
1 Cylinder 250613
-1 Core Return
2 Gasket 249731
10 Bolt 867031
1 Oil Change
5 Oil
1 Filter 865034
2 Anti-freeze 719565

...the fact that he had to take the head off again isn't exactly reassuring. Neither is the fact that he told me they'd do all 8 plugs...looks like he didn't want to deal with that last one.....