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THE STORY STARTS ABOUT 10/1/07, WHEN I WENT OUT TO START IT ONE MORNING, IT STARTED RIGHT OFF, IN THE DRIVE WAY IT IDLED GOOD. PUT IT IN GEAR ,STARTED OUT GAVE IT A LITTLE GAS AND IT DIED ON ME . STARTED IT AGIN, IDLES GOOD,GAVE IT GAS AGIN AND SURE ENOUGH, IT DIED AGIN.
I HAD ABOUT 1 ½ MILES TO THE BACK-YARD MECHANIC I USE SO I STARTED THE TRUCK AGIN PUT IT IN DRIVE AND IT STARTED MOVING. I WENT THE BACK WAY AT ABOUT 10 MILES PER HOUR I GOT TO THE MECHANIC OK. HE SAID LET IT THERE AND HE WILL LOOK AT IT.
HE HAD IT A WEEK , WHEN I WENT BACK TO CHECK IN WITH HIM.
HE TOLD ME , HE PUT A USED MAF ON IT, THE CODE CHECK INDICATED IT WAS THE MAF. THAT DIDN’T HELP, ALSO EVEN PUT A USED BRAIN COMPUTER IN, WHICH DIDN,T HELP EITHER. HE CLEANED THE POINTS WITH A CONTACT CLEANER. WITH ALL THIS HE DID FIND OUT THAT IF YOU DISCONNECT THE MAF THE TRUCK RAN VERY GOOD, BUT RECONNECT THE MAF WRING IT WOULD RUN AT IDLE , BUT SHUT OFF WHEN YOU GIVE IT THE GAS.
SO I PAID HIM ACOUPLE HUNDRED BUCKS, HIS BILL FOR WHAT HE DID, WHICH WASN’T MUCH.I CHECKED THE MILES PER GALLON I WAS ONLY GETTING 11 MPG.
I DROVE THE TRUCK FOR 10 MONTHS LIKE THAT. I HAD IT AT A FORD DEALER THEY GAVE IT A CODE CHECK , THAT CAME UP WITH THE SAME THING, THE MAF SENSOR. THEY WANTED $ 280.00 FOR THE MAF.THAT WAS A LITTLE STEEP FOR ME , SO I SAID I WILL PUT UP WITH IT FOR A WHILE LONGER.
I DROVE IT ABOUT ANOTHER 9 MONTHS. THEN I FOUND A MAF ON THE INTERNET FOR 35.00 DOLLARS . WHEN I RECEIVED IT I HAD 2 THEN, 1 ON THE TRUCK AND ONE FROM THE INTERNET. SO I DECIDED TO EXPERIMET WITH THE ONE ON THE TRUCK , EVERY ONE I TALKED TO ABOUT THE MAF , THEY SAID TO BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT THE MAF YOU CAN DISTROY IT VERY EASY, THAT IS WHY I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WITH THE MAF BEFORE, I TOOK THE MAF OFF THE TRUCK LOOKED IT OVER AND ON THE BACK SIDE ,TOWARD THE ENGINE, THERE IS A LITTLE PLATE WITH 2 LITTLE SCREWS, THAT FASTENS IT TO THE MAF AIR CHANNEL. WHEN I TOOK THE PLATE OFF . THERE IT WAS,******* A SPIDER HAD SPUNG A WEB IN THE AIR PASSAGE ?????. I CLEANED THE WEB OUT , PUT IT BACK TOGETHER PUT IT ON THE TRUCK AND IT RUNS LIKE A NEW TRUCK
I CHECKED THE MPG AND NOW I AM GETTING ALMOST 15 MPG , SO AFTER ABOUT 10 MONTHS AND 6,000 MILES,I LOST A FEW DOLLARS THERE
I JUST WANTED TO SHARE MY STORY WITH THE REST OF THE MOTORING PUBLIC SO THAT IT MIGHT SAVE SOMEONE ELSE SOME TIME AND MONEY
BOB WEAVER
GETTYSBURG, PA
One of the downers in our new economy is that you have fewer and fewer of what I call brilliant tailors.
think back to before WWII where college was a privilage for an elite few. What did the kids do who today get a full scholarship to MIT? Probably what their fathers did.
The classroom has seen the most dramatic effects of our society's liberalization. Up until the 70s Yale and other major universities were ALL MALE! All the brilliant women who today become doctors, lawyers, engineers, investment bankers had little other option besides marriage and/or being a teacher.
Mark.
kcram - Pickups Host
The good news is that it looks like Ford intends to put a 4.4 V8 diesel in the 2009 F-150. It will apparently be the Lion diesel built mostly in the UK.
However, Navistar is suing Ford becasue they say that the new engine is one that they were designing for ford and are suing Ford for 11 million if the engine is built in the USA. Ford apparently is going to build it in Mexico(!) to keep Navistar from getting the $
Is this news to you guys? If so,I am sorry for the repitition
long story.
short version .
Had problems with 1995 F150 302.
At about 1year ago problems , ended up replacing ox and both air sensors.
also replaced valve cover gasket ($1500).
Did OK (did not act like full power) for about 10 mo.
IN less than 1 week NO POWER, "3 miles to get to 50mph + 30% more gas".
Ford (brenham texas) (APPLE)" said "IT IS WORN OUT, GET ANOTHER"
Replaced the cats and got the muffler checked.
Independent can find nothing wrong.
No codes, and compression is 120 to 90 , not bad for 360k.
After 4 weeks and many tests, the truck stopped talking to his computer.
I do not know now, but when I took it in, It ran good until the choke release.
Now the independent is going to send it to ford in Conroe texas.
All comments welcome.
OLD100
Brianna
replaced harmonic balancer $600., was about 35 deg late.
After 2 days 200 miles.
RUNS GREAT,SMOOTH , POWER, GAS OK.
Showes what a real mech can do.
OLD100
My other horror story.
1979 351M
THIS ONE TOOK 2 YEARS TO FIND. I drive 50 miles to work at 50 to 70 mph.
Would run eratic (sometimes good or bad), start good go bad, start bad go good.
Clasic computer problem for this time period, (comp good about 3years).
Started carrying digonostic equiptment.
One day noticed the timing was eratic, (patteren not the same) not on #1 but on some of the others.
Replaced sensor (no points). Good for about 20 miles, then problems.
Replaced computer, good for under 40mph.
Replaced carb fuel filter, TWICE, added big filter the third time. (GOOD AT ANY SPEED).
This is a real story, I am giving it as an example of what can happen.
There is another story about a 1989 302, which is on going.
I hope this helps someone, (NOTHING LIKE A REAL MECH).
OLD100
If I remember right Ford related to it in their maintenance section for much older models. (If necessary, rough or eratic or loss of power).
Being a driver of an F150 302 1995 with 370k miles:
1) get your gas from other than a convience store, (a national gas station).
2) see if there is infomation on gas providers web sites, or and, on
the makers of the injector cleaners.Go to your auto center and find
the names.
3) Personal comment ;
If you realy needed this at 15k, you need a new "motor" at 60k.
4) If I remember right 10 to 15 years ago "CONSUMER REPORTS"
did a thing for 100k miles, all of the big oil passed, (the test was for
carbon deposits, (clean engine).
If your performance had changed????
In other words (HYPE)
I will not question if they did the work, only that it was not necessary at 15k.
I would like the monitor to respond.
old100
Can anyone please give me any heads up on purchasing this Ford Truck, I have had my eye on it for awhile but was told the the Ford F150 has much trouble with the engine and tranny. The truck has 48,000 miles on it and the dealer is giving me 6 months warranty on the engine and tranny. I like the body because it has a really big bed which is what i need and the truck looks just great! Please let me know if there is any know problems with this year and type of truck and if there is how to avoid any serious damage or repairs. Here is a link to the truck http://www.sunshineautosalesltd.net/f1502006.html Please help!!!
Thanks,
FD
The main thing with the F-150 is to get the service records. You need to know if the trans service was done at 30k.
Mark
I recently found oil in my coolant. the truck is still running great no pings, no knocks. Do I need to replace the head gasket?
A common mistake by even fellow mechanics is a leak in the oil cooler for the transmission. Transmission fluid looks just like engine oil when aggitated and mixed with coolant. Here is a simple test; disconect both transmission lines to the radiator. Hold your finger over one of the holes and put some compressed air through the other port for about five minuts. During this test, look for some small air bubbles coming up into the radiator. This test can be inconclusive, the leak may only occur when hot. If no bubbles, I would still install an after market oil cooler for the transmission, blow out excess fluid from the internal cooler, and drain/flush the radiator and fill it with water. Then run the engine for a good amount of time and look for any oil in the radiator.
After all this testing if there is still oil getting into radiator, I would suspect a leak in the lower manifold gasket first, and not the head gaskets, (more common with the 5.0). While head gaskets can introduce oil into the cooling system, it is very rare. I would be very interested in what you find out on a repost. Good luck.
"In the interest of customer satisfaction, Ford Motor Company is extending the limited warranty on the Fuel Injectors to a total of 11 years or 120,000 miles from the warranty start date, whichever occurs first. Coverage is automatically transferred to subsequent owners. This coverage exceeds the original warranty coverage provisions of your vehicle for this part"
They say, "This is customer satisfaction program 07M08 which is being extended to owners of certain 2005 Model year F150, F Super Duty, Expedition, and Navigator Vehicles equipped with 5.4L 3Valve Engines."
So, I think Ford has discovered a problem where injectors from a certain supplier stick in the open or closed position on some vehicles, so perhaps your dealer is trying to prevent the problem by proactively using injector cleaner...
BTW, I've had zero problems with my injectors over the last 38,000 miles. I get 14 to 16 mpg city, and 17 to 19 mpg highway. :shades:
1988 f150 XLT Lariat
50.l Auto 3 speed with overdrive
fully loaded.
It seems to me that this happened after i got stuck in the snow and almost overheated the motor. When this happened my temp gauge went up close to the redline and a litle dark blue smoke came up from the passenger side of the hood. I shut it down right away and waited about 20 minutes. The truck started up fine and seemed ok. This was two weeks after I put in a new water pump and radiator. I drove the truck for about a week when I decided to check the fluids, this is when I noticed oil floating at the top of my coolant tank. I checked the radiator and sure enough same thing. My oil pressure is a little lower than it should be but not much, my temp is good too. When I had the waterpump off the coolant was clean. I brought it home and parked it until I get it sorted out.
Hope this helps.
In addition, you can get the new cool backup-video-in-the-rear-view-mirror option that Ford is coming out with this year. Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3duZVs7ARaU
Good luck!
You cut one of your heater hoses and put the tee in there at the cut with hose clamps. Unscrew the cap on the tee and connect your garden hose to it. Take your radiator cap off. Turn your garden hose on to desired flow. Start the engine and turn on your heater. Everything will flush out through your radiator cap you removed. Run the engine and your garden hose until crystal clear water is coming out of the radiator. Here's a hint. Turn your heater on full blast to clear that out also. If you have done your own water pump and radiator, you will breez through this. Connecting the tee take about 2 minuts. Run the car at least 10-15 minuts during the flush. When your all done, don't forget to put the cap back on the tee you installed, and the cap on the radiator. The flush kit has a deflector nossle that sticks into the opening of your radiator cap. This helps control the direction of the flow of water away from eloectrical components and the fan. Driving arround with just water for a while isn't going to hurt anything, your doing your test for the oil thing. You can add coolant later by draining the petcock or removing the lower hose. Drive it for a while and see if the oil comes back. If it does, repeat flush and bypass the oil cooler with an after market air cooled oil cooler.
Quick question. I cannot find a reference to an oil cooler in my haynes manual, my rad did not have one attached, just the upper lower rad hoses and the tranny lines. Is there somewhere else I should be looking or my model doesn't have one. I find reference to 7.5l and 5.8l lightning only.
I
am going to do the flush today and see how it goes.
I have been working on my 1988 f150 xlt lariat for quite sometime now and have big plans to turn this truck into a speed demon in the the spring. I am primarily concentrating on the motor at the moment. I have upgraded to a dual intake with seperate k&n filters (lucky this model's throttle body has seperate ports for intake tubes) I have installed bosch ultimate and Accel spiro high temp wires. I installed a throttle body spacer, new rad, water pump, hoses, egr valve, o2 sensor, starter, alternator, solenoid, upgraded to true dual 3' exhaust with magnaflow cats and cherry bomb mufflers (not to happy with these, not the sound I was expecting) custom made tailpipes 4 feet long at 3.5" diametre, cut to 45' at the tip. I have flushed and cleaned every system that has fuid in it. I switched to castrol syntec.
The truck moves pretty good now from when I pulled it out of a 15 year storage.
I am not getting the thottle response I would like of the line and if I catch 3rd gear in a lower rpm while coasting through town it sounds like an old farm truck. When I stomp on it it screams though. I have noticed the old crappy gas pedal is not very good and seems to stick a little. I have heard that I could install an aftermarket gas pedal and flip it upside down to get a little more response out of the old girl.
I am planning on having the computer, heads, headers, and possibly a MAF conversion done in the spring, if I am brave enough to tackle it. Are there any other tricks I could try to get more throttle response out of my lower gears at lower rpms?
When I installed my throttle body spacer I noticed gunk on the inside of the plenum what would you suggest using to clean and maybe polish up the upper intake? I might as well do everything while i'm in there.
As for the spacers. Yes they do work. In a nut shell it increases the velocity and volume of air going into the manifold. Some will add turbulence to the air so when it is addimised with fuel and drawn into a cylinder, you get a more complete burn or combustion. The makers have it down to a science as to which size you should use. Sometimes it depends what other applications you have added or are planning to add. Even if your not going to get one through summit racing, at least talk with them about it, they are very helpful about it.
I dont know how far you want to go with your upgrades. One thing would be to replace your radiator fan with an electric one. That adds about 3-5 extra horses. Heck, some people even replace their water pump with an electric driven one to add extra horse power.
Mark