After they put the new engine in the truck and started it up, they discovered that it was running on only 7 of 8 cylinders. They had considered ordering another new engine, but after doing some checking and removing the valve cover from the defective cylinder they discovered that the rocker arm was out of adjustment. Problem solved.
I had talked to the diesel mechanic (Leo) when they towed the truck in and told him that I had experienced problems with the turbo not having the boost pressure that it had originally. I took the truck into a Ford dealer in Colorado and they could not find any problems other than a dirty air cleaner. When we left Colorado my boost was still low towing up the hills but as we got to lower elevations it got back to about 27-28 pounds.
While they were cleaning the turbo and checking things out prior to reinstalling it, they discovered that there were some worn parts, one being a shaft that cannot be repaired. So they started another warranty claim to replace the turbo! The one on the engine was too expensive already (my cost about $22,000, if I had to pay it, their cost about $15,000). The turbo was another $3000 or so, my cost again $100 plus $8.30 in taxes.
I picked up the truck last Saturday morning and drove it back to Yakima, about 50 miles. I stopped at a grocery store in town and when I came out there was a big puddle of coolant on the ground. I drove back to where we are staying (1 mile) and called the Ford dealer. They sent a tow truck to get the truck and after fixing the hose that had come loose, sent some one back Sunday morning with the truck.
I had planned to replace the tires when we got to Yuma, AZ which would be about 2-3000 miles but decided to have that done at the Ford dealer in Prosser who did all of the repairs as we were very impressed with their service. Plus they gave us a real good price on the tires and alignment.
I took the truck in this morning to have the tires put on, and asked them to do a front end alignment and check the brakes. The pads are all in need of replacement which I told them to do, this will be at our expense. When they started to work on the alignment They called me back to the garage and showed me that both upper ball joints were bad!!!!
Mark went back and checked and they are covered under the Ford extended warranty.
THANK GOD FOR FORD EXTENDED WARRANTY!!!!
They said that was about a 5 hour job and said they would give me a car to drive. I was kidding with them that they should give me a Mustang Salien to drive. Mark smiled and said he had to get the car. He called me outside and said my car was ready and handed me the key. I asked where it is and he pointed to a 2010 Mustang GT convertable!!!! I said you got to be shitting me Mark....he just smiled and said be careful with it!!!! Since it was raining all day, I did have to be careful, kind of!!!
I will drive back down in the morning and pick up the truck and we will head out with Jim and Bobbie to drive down to the Columbia river gorge for a couple of nights at a COE park right on the river(about 100 miles) before heading to Astoria, Oregon to begin our trip on hwy. 101 down the Oregon and California coast to San Francisco.
Hopefully this is the last post on truck problems
Love to all of you
Jim and LInda
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