Sitting at a stoplight and the truck begins to shutter. A shutter like it is missing on a couple cylinders. It stops the shaking and runs normal again but the CEL is on. I take the truck into the dealer the next day and ask them to find out what is wrong with it. The truck has 17K miles on it and is 9 months old.

The dealer calls me up and tells me that they found a code about a miss on the #4 cylinder. I tell them to figure it out. They call me back later and tell me that they did a compression test and the whole right bank of cylinders has low compression. Then they tell me that the head needs to come off and I have to pay for it because I have a K&N filter and no air silencer. They say dirt caused the problem. I tell them if it were dirt it would be more than just the one bank of cylinders. The air filter is clean it does its job, the intake is clean and there is no sign of dirt in the intake.

Then the ******* threaten to report it to ford and tell me ford will deny my warranty as soon as they see the filter/airbox. They have had my truck since Thursday and still have it. The truck runs too good to have low compression numbers. When we went down to look at the truck and talk with them they changed their story as soon as we started asking questions. NOW it only has low compression on one cylinder. They are going into it tommorow with a bore scope to see if the cylinder walls are damaged. They refused to do a leakdown test on it, which is easy to see if it has blowby due to a bad ring or messed up cylinder wall etc.

These guys are crooks. They basically want me to pay for a new motor to be swapped in and I dont think there is anything wrong with the truck the way it is. If it were as tore up as they say, it would run like ****. It runs perfect. I think they are trying to screw me over. I think I might call up Ford and get them involved in it. If anything it may have a bent/burnt valve since it is just one cylinder with low compression, 85psi vs. 130psi on the rest.

Any input from you guys is appreciated...

 

report them to corporate?

 

Find another dealer? 2nd opinions rarely hurt. Although in the age of computers their 'notes' will probably follow you and your trucks VIN. However if you can find a reputable tech that is able to run their own tests and finds the real problem, then you'd have a helluva letter to write to corprate eh?

 

Also....they would have to PROVE that the K&N filter caused the problem. And tell them the ******* air silencer doesn't have **** to do with anything. They can't just say...oops the filter let dirt through and ruined your engine.

http://knfilter.com/warrantyletter.htm

 

The ******** threatened me. Told me if I took my truck without letting them fix it and pay for it myself he is going to report me to Ford and they will screw me over... I told him, keep the truck and I'll report YOU to Ford...

 

damn, want me to anonymously kick thier ***?

 

Wow! They outright threatened you like that? Or was it slightly more underhanded. Like "If you elect not to have us do the work, I will have to report the case to Ford, it's policy." I've had this sort of thing done to me, but never an outright threat. I'd say go get the truck right now and get it the hell out of their shop ASAP!

 

Tell them to put it into writing, and they may change their story.

 

I think what they mean is, if there is probable engine damage already, and he won't let them fix it and continues to drive the truck, he could possibly damage the engine further.

Another reason to leave your truck alone. Even though what you did most likely had nothing to do with the problem, it gives them ammunition to deny your claim.

 

They basically told me that they KNOW the damage is caused by dirt getting into the motor, yet when they stuck a bore scope in it they found NO DAMAGE. They still say they dont have a reason its messed up but want me to pay for the diagnosis (pull the head, etc) I think its bullshit, they need to atleast find the problem...

 

Sounds like you need to get someone from Ford involved.

Make sure you keep a paper trail of everything that happens from this point on so you can explain everything in great detail.

I'm sure the dealer's service manager can tell you who to talk to at Ford about it. In the mean time I wouldn't do anything further until someone else looks at the situation.

 

I got a number from the service manager at the dealership and called Ford. The guy at Ford told me "we let the dealers handle it, and if they deem it non-warranty we go with it" ... I argued with him for a while but never got him to help me. I went down and picked up the truck. They cleared the CEL code and it runs like a champ. No problems at all. I dont know what to do. The truck is parked right now.

 

I did a compression test a couple hours ago. The right bank of cylinders is around 170/190 (throttle shut/throttle open) While the left side bank seems to be around 130/150... I am of the opinion it is some sort of valvetrain problem...

 

Have you tried a running compression test? It would tell you if it was valvetrain related.

 

Hmm...

 

A running compression test is not what he did, he did a cranking compression test. Apparently Downsouth you have not tried to diagnose a engine problem before.

 

Dont agrue with Bill this is what he does for a living. he knows his ****

 

Truck has been sitting in the driveway for the past 3-4 days. I have come to the conclusion that Ford sucks and isn't interested in helping me so I am taking over on this deal. I'm going to go ahead and pull the head off and take a look. Its alot of work, but I can't just let the truck sit there and rot away. Hopefully it is valve train as I suspect and can be fixed for a few hundred dollars. If the cylinder walls are tore back or rings are shot then I am really screwed...

 

As soon as you take it apart any hope of warranty arbitration will fly out the window. Make sure you have exhausted all your Ford options before you take it apart yourself.

 

I definitely think that you are getting hosed on this deal. The only problem I have seen from a K&N filter is MAF issues but after customers oil them way to much after cleaning. I would try another dealer, do NOT go into it yourself like Dave said.

 

Please tell me why you cannot to a running compression test please. I really would like to know.

 

I wonder if the dealer ran a relative compression test, or took a look at power balance. That would be an easy place to start.