So recently I bought a 97 F250 with the 7.5L and 76,000 miles. Less than 1000 miles later it starts pouring oil out the rear main seal. I took it back to the dealership and they replaced it, but it still leaked bad. Thinking it may have been the bearing, the dealership brought it in again and replaced both the rear main seal and the bearing. Oil still poured out of it. They had 2 certified ford mechanics look at it and couldn't figure out what the problem was so they decided to put a "new" motor in it for me. They thought the crank may have been somehow bent.

I went and picked it up yesterday with my "new" motor. I popped the hood and it looked a bit different, almost like it was either smaller or sitting lower.

I went in and talked with the service manager and he told me what they did was bought a used 460 out of a wrecked 91 with 50,000 miles. Pulled it apart, replaced seals/gaskets, bearings, and rings. They transferred over all my 97 accessories, fuel injection, etc. and installed that. There are a few obvious differences, like it just looks a bit different, different dip stick, etc.

Even though the dealership did all the work for free, including parts, it still has cost me nearly $2500 in rental cars, hotel bills (dealership is 350 miles from work and 250 from home) gas going back and forth dealing with it, and lost time from work. I had finished a 12 hour shift, drove 350 miles to pick it up and had to drive back and do another 12 hour shift so I didn't have much time to deal with it. The dealership offered to cover my next payment and gave me a free detail and full tank of gas to help with make up for my troubles.

Before they replaced the motor they did offer to transfer my down payment and stuff over to a different vehicle on the lot, but I figured I could be buying a different truck with its own problems and was under the impression that I would have a new motor so I declined.

I haven't noticed any differences in power and it almost seems to shift smoother (don't know how, unless somehow related to the suspected bent crank).

So now to my questions.

Any ideas on what could have been wrong with the old motor?

What are the main differences between what is in my truck now and what was in it? Basically 91 long block vs. 97.

I'm not pissed at the dealer, they have probably gone far and above what many other dealerships would have. I just feel slightly misled about what I was going to get, but since it was done on their dime I don't know how much room I have to complain. After all, they could have theoretically found this problem and put the different motor in it before I bought it and just said they had put the rebuilt motor in it and I would not have ever known the difference and would have probably thought I was getting a good deal. So good deal or not?

 

I think the dealer went way beyond what could be expected with a 15 year old vehicle.

 

x2

 

Sounds like an unusually good dealership to me

 

The engines are pretty much the same 460=7.5L I guess the only thing you can think is they fixed your broken truck and all. I would question there 50k mile claim on a 91 engine.. seems very low. I'd have to see the odometer of the truck it came out of to believe that one.. They should have gave you the option of kicking in some money for an overhaul..

 

They essentially DID do an overhaul....

 

If they would have had the crank in the old engine reconditioned they could have just used that. I've had cranks reconditioned and its not that expensive Lets not forget this is a CAR LOT they SAID they put that stuff in they also said the engine only had 50k miles.Why did it need it? I'm skeptical he's getting all they say. I'm betting the engine came out of a truck with 175k miles on it and they just did a straight up swap..

 

As I said - 15 year old truck - they "fixed" it at no charge. You can't really expect more than that.

Decent offer.