Help. 2007 F150 5.4l

[CaFordDude]

So I got a call a few ago telling me my truck was ready and the problem has been resolved, or resolved itself.

They said all they did was an oil change and that corrected the condition. They ran it for a bit and did not get any codes. They said when they drained the old oil it came out brown and gritty...

I have not picked up the truck yet so I do not know what the paperwork says but I will let you know if it says any different when I get it.

I have taken a few things from this incident:
1) Rancho Ford in Temecula has horrible customer service. Stick with established dealership relationships like I have always preached in the past and these types of incidents can probably be avoided. Shame on me for not following my own advice.
2) As much as I have defended Wal-Mart's oil changes as being fine, because of this bad experience I will not take my truck back to them for service.
3) the 2009 Chrysler Sebring, while cute, has less guts then a 3 legged donkey.

 

[Skandocious]

As much as I have defended Wal-Mart's oil changes as being fine, because of this bad experience I will not take my truck back to them for service.

Aaron I know you don't do a lot of mechanical work but I'm fairly certain that you're capable of an oil change... With a nice truck like yours you shouldn't be letting ANYONE change your oil except yourself... These kinds of things don't just happen at Walmart-- they happen everywhere. It's really the luck of the draw whether you find a good shop or not, there's no way of knowing.

 

[blackhat620]

They said all they did was an oil change and that corrected the condition. They ran it for a bit and did not get any codes. They said when they drained the old oil it came out brown and gritty...

Sorry but this is pure BS. Oil is not going to come out "brown & gritty" unless someone is dumping handfulls of dirt in the oil fill port on the top of the engine. And Wal Mart is not going to be dumping used oil in your truck, as there is just not enough profit in it to do that and they have way to much to lose.

Furthermore even if the oil had not been changed in the last 10k miles it would not make your truck run the way it did period. Lack of lubrication will cause bearings & journals to wear prematurely and fail but that is it.

Sounds like basically they could not quickly find out what was wrong with your truck, if they even looked that hard (more than likely intermittent electrical/sendor) and so to make some money off of you they did and oil change and said they test drove it, plain and simple.

Unfortunately your problem has not been diagnosed and will reoccur. When it does take it to the dealership you have worked with for years.

As far as oil changes, there is nothing wrong with using Wal Mart or any other oil change facility. Do not let everyone scare you into thinking you must do this yourself.

 

[Skandocious]

After having friends in high school who used to work at Jiffy Lube, and witnessed other employees DEFECATING into the oil before using it in cars... I trust no one...

 

[blackhat620]

After having friends in high school who used to work at Jiffy Lube, and witnessed other employees DEFECATING into the oil before using it in cars... I trust no one...

Just because you trust no one and think all high school kids are dumb, lazy and/or mean does not mean this is the norm. Sorry but thousands of cars have there oil changed daily at quick lubes, Wal Mart's etc with no ill effects. Even if your friends know someone who used the bulk oil storage tank for a restroom, it is going to have little to no effect on the oil, most human waste is water based and will not mix into the oil. In addition the small amout they manages to mix in will be extremely diluted. We used quick lubes etc for over 30 years with our fleet of construction trucks never a problem and the driver just went to whichever one was close when it was time to change the oil.

If you sleep better changing your own oil fine but there is absolutely nothing wrong with using your local quick lube, Wal Mart etc. Oil related engine failures are extremely rare.

 

[Skandocious]

I understand that there are GOOD shop out there... But the problem is that there is no strict criteria which can be followed when trying to recognize which shops will play games with your oil change and which ones actually mean business. Even if the percentage of shops that don't take things seriously is something like 1%, that's still a gamble-- and I'm not willing to take that gamble on my truck.

 

[blackhat620]

I understand that there are GOOD shop out there... But the problem is that there is no strict criteria which can be followed when trying to recognize which shops will play games with your oil change and which ones actually mean business. Even if the percentage of shops that don't take things seriously is something like 1%, that's still a gamble-- and I'm not willing to take that gamble on my truck.

I understand this Chris, just remember not to throw the baby out with the bath water. In reality unless someone drains your oil and does not refill the crankcase and then you drive it, you are just not going to see an oil related engine failure (only exception is the oil sensitive 6.0 PSD with its high pressure oil fired injectors). If you really want to worry about something, worry about who rotates, balances & repairs your tires. Loose or broken lugs resulting in wheels falling off at speed on the highway is something that will cause serious problems and potentially death.

 

[Skandocious]

If you really want to worry about something, worry about who rotates, balances & repairs your tires. Loose or broken lugs resulting in wheels falling off at speed on the highway is something that will cause serious problems and potentially death.

I watch them do it every time

 

[CaFordDude]

OH YEAH ALL FIXED...I DIDN'T EVEN FREAKIN MAKE IT HOME BEFORE IT DID THE EXACT SAME THING AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FREAKIN IDIOTS AT THAT DEALERSHIP ALL THE WAY AROUND. I'M NOT A MECHANIC AND I CAN SEE AND HEAR IT AIN'T WORKING RIGHT

 

[Skandocious]

Thats a shame

 

[Blue Goose]

Did they say what they fixed, Aaron?

EDIT: Oops, I just read your previous post.....sorry.

 

[blackhat620]

OH YEAH ALL FIXED...I DIDN'T EVEN FREAKIN MAKE IT HOME BEFORE IT DID THE EXACT SAME THING AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FREAKIN IDIOTS AT THAT DEALERSHIP ALL THE WAY AROUND. I'M NOT A MECHANIC AND I CAN SEE AND HEAR IT AIN'T WORKING RIGHT

Sorry to hear that Aaron. It appears all you got was shafted for an oil change you did not need and they probably charged you for diagnostics that they didn't even perform. Just gotta love piss poor customer service

 

[CaFordDude]

These are their notes word for word.


"Eng runs really rough and the ck eng light is not on

Check engine light on eec test codes p0012 p0022 p0340 pinpoint test. log data. found vct errors of -53 deg. recommend change oil and filter then retest. road test after service. retest pass."

Both of their test drives combined were 6 miles. My drive home from the dealership is 6 miles. problem happened about 4 miles into drive for me.

 

[Skandocious]

So I hate to state the obvious but if they did 2 test drives totaling 6 miles-- that's 3 miles per test. If you didn't experience it in the first 4 miles then they might not have either...

 

[CaFordDude]

I agree it sounds like they didn't do their job.

 

[blackhat620]

These are their notes word for word.

Check engine light on eec test codes p0012 p0022 p0340

P0012 = "A" Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Retarded (Bank 1)
P0022 = "A" Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Retarded (Bank 2)
P0340 = Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction

If the cam timing exceeds a maximum calibrated limit or is stuck in a retarded position, will set codes P0012 or P0022 or both. dealer recorded your VCT at -53 degrees.

Possible causes are:
Incorrect camshaft timing
VCT solenoid valve stuck open or continuous oil flow to piston chamber
Camshaft advance mechanism binding, or faulty VCT unit

P0012 & P0022 codes are caused by a mechanical fault of the VCT unit or related components.

Symptoms may include:
rough idle
stall or hard start.

Perform specific component tests for the VCT unit outlined by FMC.

P0340 indicates that a problem was detected in the camshaft position sensor circuit. This means the problem could lie in any part of the circuit - the sensor itself, the wiring, or the PCM.

Symptoms may include:
Hard starting or no start
Rough running / misfiring
Loss of engine power

A code P0340 could mean one or more of the following has happened:
- wire or connector in the circuit could be grounded/shorted/broken
- camshaft position sensor may have failed
- PCM may have failed
- open circuit exists
- crankshaft position sensor failed

Generic diagnostics for P0340:
Visually inspect all the wiring and connectors in the circuit
Check for continuity in the circuit wiring
Check the operation (voltage) of the camshaft position sensor
Replace the camshaft position sensor as required
Check the crankshaft position circuit
Replace circuit wiring and/or connectors as required
Diagnose/replace the PCM as required

IMO once the P0340 code is fixed and elimnated the other two codes will go away on there own. I believe the P0012 & P0022 are only showing up because of the problem from the P0340 code. An oil change isn't going to fix this problem.

Hope this helps

 

[blacksnapon]

We used quick lubes .............................. Oil related engine failures are extremely rare.

Ah, yes, Jiffy lube, Walmart, and quick lubes are a few names specifically used in Ford's memorandums to us when talking about cheap oil filters breaking down plugging oil passages in 5.4 and 4.6 modular engines.

 

[blackhat620]

Ah, yes, Jiffy lube, Walmart, and quick lubes are a few names specifically used in Ford's memorandums to us when talking about cheap oil filters breaking down plugging oil passages in 5.4 and 4.6 modular engines.

I am very skeptical of FMC's recommendation to only use their dealers and parts especially after the 6.0 train wreck. Not to mention, for way to many years the auto manufactures have been more driven by greed than factual warranty repairs and recalls. Also let's not forget that the majority of dealers use whatever brand oil & filters they can purchase the cheapest from their local suppliers and have the kid who washes the cars also change the oil. Many many dealers do not use Motorcraft branded oil and they definitely do not have exprienced techs like you doing the oil change. In addition 99.9% of the time any name brand filter and oil will be just fine. If you talk with the companies that do UOA they rarely find an oil failure, and even more rarely a filter failure.

There are only a few filter manufactures, and they label them with any label the customer wants, the internals are the same except for a few of the new "premium filters. There are a very limited number of exceptions were there is a special filter that is under patent with limited distribution but otherwise the brand name means nothing. All filters have to undergo SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) J806 test to verify that they meet the vehicle manufacturer's specifications.

Oil filter manufactures:
Champion Labs (a division of STP)= AC Delco, STP, Car and Driver, Champ, Deutsch, K&N, Mobil 1, Motorcraft (Note they used to also make Bosch filters until Bosch purchased part of Purlator).

Dana/Wix = Carquest, NAPA, WIX, Castrol, Penske

Honeywell = Pennzoil, Quaker State, Fram, Motormaster

Purolator = Bosch, Motorcraft, PowerFlo, ProLine, Purolator, Powerflo, Quaker State

Baldwin/ Hastings = Baldwin, Hastings

Donaldson = Donaldson, Hard Driver (discontinued Branded "Peak")

ALL oil filters are made of paper. The few premium filters [Purolator - Pure One only, Hastings (marketed as AMS, ie Amsoil), and Champion (marketed as Mobil 1 & Bosch)] also have cellulose & fiberglass added to the paper to reduce the micron size passed. These filters are commonly marketed as "synthetic" filters since they contain small amounts of fiberglass in the paper - cellulose matrix.

Note: Motorcraft sources their filters from both Champion Labs & Purolator. It has been rumored that many of the Motorcraft filters used at the factory are not available to the dealers.

 

[CaFordDude]

This is rapidly turning from a problem to a nightmare

 

[john112deere]

More bad news, Aaron? Or just nothing new and more time elapsed?