Tired of dealing with this frickin truck and my extended warrenty company. My 04 f150 with 65000 miles on it just broke a rocker arm and scored up the cam pretty bad and 2 bad coils. I dont know what to do anymore with this thing.

Put 1300 miles on it since the last time it was in the shop back in dec. It was in for new cam phasers, rear main seal leak,and 2 coils out. Took 5 weeks to get the warrenty company to finally get there **** together and make the ok for the shop to fix it. Now im back in the same boat with them........said they wont cover it because of lack of maint. Even though I have all the recipts for my oil changes but 2 and every recipt for ALL work that was ever done to it. All they tell the dealership is lack of maint is the reason why they deny the work.

Here the truck sits 90 miles away from my house at a ford garage. The dealership spent 1.5 hours on the phone telling them this was Bull **** they wont cover it because they say there is no reason for them to deny this claim and they will back me up 100%.

Guess Im gonna have to get an Attorney and fight this crap *** warrenty company.

But getting an attorney isnt gonna permantly fix all the damn issues I have had with this thing. 4 coils now, replaced the cam phasers, axel seals, 4 wheel drive actuator, new hubs, broken rocker arm, bad cam now in result of the rocker arm, and Fords brilliant design on shark plugs (replaced).

Im so confussed as to why this would happen. How often do you hear of a broken rocker arm and what would cause that?

I have own 16 fords now in the last 20 yrs , 2 chevys and 1 pontiac. I have been a die hard ford guy and never gave it a thought about venturing away from ford until now. But I really dont see there being any option. Not interested in Toyota, Dodge.......only thing going for them is the 100000 mile warrenty, but theres a reason for that, and really not sure if I want a stimulas / government owned chevy sitting in my driveway.

Just sick to my stomache about this whole situation. Fords not making me happy these days.

Plus to top it off my windstars been in the shop for 7 weeks because of a recall they cant get parts for. WTF ?

 

Did you buy your truck new? Sounds like it may have had a rough childhood before you got it. I think you need to find a new warranty service or go down in person and starting kickin ... until you get the issue resolved. Sorry to hear about your truck.

No matter who's make it is; When it runs great, Its the best brand truck in town. When its broke, Its the biggest piece of crap there is.

 

Bought the Truck new. And I can assure you I NEVER abused it. Not once. Im not one to spend $35,000 to see how short of a life I cant give it. I am first now looking for new tires after 65000 on the originals, and thats with pulling a 3000lb boat 200 miles round trip everyother weekend in the summer. Dont get me wrong, they are pretty bad, but Im not throttle happy. I just drive normal

By the way The Warrenty companys called "The Mechanic" . Stay clear of them Jag Offs

 

I have found that most aftermarket warrantys are the next best thing to worthless. Most of the better shops in my area will not accept them b/c they want to cut what the going rate for the repair is in order for the shop to be 'blessed" with their business.
I used to work for a good Ford dealer and once I had an "adjuster" come and question me about " why" we gave an estimate for replacing the a/c compressor on a van. He had me run the van and show him the leaks. He took pictures of the pressures on the guages and accused me of trying to "sell" parts because the needles were not shaking when running. I looked the dude in the face and told him to be sure and get a recording of the compressor sounding like a cement truck, because I'd fix it the way he wanted to [cheap ] and in a month or so he could pay me to do the whole job again when the compressor died.
Some people like the insurance or warranty companies, [ peace of mind I guess] but they MAKE money on those policies, not loose money. I'm sorry you got burned with that warranty, but the factory warranty policies are the better ones to get, especially if your going to a dealer for your repairs. If you had a Ford warranty you can normally make enough noise to Ford and they will have the dealer satisfy you. They could care less if it is an aftermarket warrany.

 

I did get my money back I spent on this warrenty on the repairs stuck into this thing, Back in dec was a $3700 bill, last summer was a $900 bill, and I also had a $1100 and $550 bill. was all covered by the warrenty company but each time they send out these useless adjusters like you said, and wasted alot of service guys, the dealers, and my time waiting for them to show up 2 and 3 days later then sched. But each time I had to fight with them and each time they say lack of maint it why they wont cover it, but after throwing my mouth around they covered it. I think they feel they can use this as a loop hole to get out of paying, but this time they are pretty persistant they wont fix it. The Dealer which I have never delt with before said they will fight this with me and I really need to find an attorney. Makes you feel good to see there are buisiness and people that do care.

Im gonna try to contact ford too , just to see what they have to say about this. Sure nothing will be done but I have nothing to loose.

Any ideas what would have caused this though?

 

The rocker arm, did the arm brake? or did the roller on the rocker arm brake? I have found where a roller with stop turning and the cam will wear it flat on one side until the roler brakes, then the cam will hook the rocker and spit it out from under the cam. This usually results in a briken lifter and a dropped valve.
I think that the trouble starts when the engine fails to oil the valvetrain propperly. Then the roller stops turning and the problems escalate from there. These 3 valve engines are notorious for not oiling the top end if the oil is too thick or allowed to stay dirty. All that said, it is still possible to have a valvetrain failure with perfect maintenence and the right oil. But the warranty company will still try to cut their losses, especially after they have already paid out more than you paid in.
I have a truck at my house right now that has had perfect maintenence done by the owner himself and had a valvetrain failure. No sludge, just varnish inside. But he had to put heads on a 145k mile engine.
So don't let them get off the hook with the poor maintenence lie.

 

C F Industries, I really appreciate your help. I was told the rocker arm was broke. The service manager said the inside of the engine was spotless. But after you mention about the valvetrain not getting the sufficiant oil, Im currious to see for myself the color of the parts. I would think I would see some discoloring from lack of oil heating up the parts. I will be making the 1.5 hour trek up to visit my truck and take pictures for my own records incase I need to persue this with an attorney.

I am just totally sick to my stomache about this. Almost makes me want to cry........... Between maint, and cleaning, I put atleast 15 hrs a month into care of this thing. 7 yr old truck that looks and smells new yet. Im told I am the most **** person they have ever met, I say im just proud that im able to have and keep things nice. " You Lose, When you Abuse"

Thanks for your help again

 

I went through a similar situation with a pontiac that my wife and I bought. The whole extended warranty thing is a joke and we'll never do that again. The warranty wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

Hope you get some resolution with your truck though. Seems like every car company turns out a turd once in awhile, stick with what you like and just unload the one you've got. Surely there is a different year or model that would suit you. If nothing else you've found a good service department to work with, that alone is worth it's weight in gold in my opinion.

Best wishes to you.

 

Thanks, Like I said I have been a die hard ford guy for over 20 yrs. And never really had issues with any of them but this one. I have been hashing over my options pretty hard here these last 4 days. Dont plan to leave ford, because I dont see any other options out there to replace my truck, So plan to fight and get this thing back on the road (on the warrantys responsability) So Im going to really strip down and put on paper everything that might be wrong with this thing from top to bottom of this motor and document, what could be wrong and damaged in result of the rocker arm,I need to make sure every thing has been checked and not overlooked so nothing kicks me later down the road

Im sure the valves are junk and need replacing, heads will need work ( I would Think) Like C F indicated the valvetrain might not be getting oil, Cam is junk, and poss might have score cylinder or piston, but not really sure,and push this warranty comp, as far as I can, and I will bet they might be better off plopping a new motor in almost the same cost as the repairs to fix this one.I did some research on this company and found 77 pages with almost 5 complaints on each page about these loosers. They also seem to have many many diff names for this one company. Heres the link if your intersted on reading all this garbage they pull. Makes a guy want to just puke.

Consumer complaints about Automotive Warranty Services, Inc.

 

let us know how you get on! and good luck!

 

Hey bud, feel your pain...

The cam phasers went out in my '04 in early February. I did the research and opted to replace the entire engine and most of the other pumps etc. Runs perfect now... of course to the tune of $5,200.00, but to me that is money well spent, I'd love to have one of these new fangled 2010, 2011 or 2012's but, the price tag and economy made this an easy choice for me. This is my 6th Ford truck since 1992 and I've had it since '05, I will never leave Ford, but '04 was a bad year for the F-150.

Hope you make it through this strong!

 

Just got back from the 3 hour round trip to visit my truck and see the damage. Hill Automotive in Portage Wis is awesome, I couldnt believe how super cool and caring these folks there are.

I spent alot of time asking questions on the phone today and meet with them for an hour in the shop hashing this all over with them. They took me back there and showed me everything they did, had all the parts layed out to show the damage. Not what I expected them to do, by pulling me in the shop and showing everything that was tore up.

Mark The Service Manager, has spent 1.5 hrs on the phone with the warranty comp friday chewing some a$$ about how they treat thier customers, and how it is obvious they had no intentions to pay for the repairs by looking for every reason they can ponder up ways to screw me over. He let them know that he has my back and will stand with me if I was to persue this further. By the end of the call the warranty comp said they will send an adjuster over to take pictures and write up the report for the comp to make thier decision. Mark told me when the adjuster got there, The adjuster said " I really have no clue why I am here, and its clear this owner took the best care of this truck lack of maint was not an issue here". 1 hour later the warranty comp called and said "Do What You Gotta Do" Totally made my day

Besides the fact after calling them 3 times friday, the first time they said they had to talk with the supervisor and would call me back, but never did, the other 2 times they never answered or called back after leaving messages, and called twice today with the same results.

The damages to the motor resulted in a new cam, valves, 2 new coils, rocker arm,and bearings, head work and a few other things I couldnt remember. But they told me by friday it will be done.

Only issue I have now is the warranty company wants to put in aftermarket coils, but thats not gonna happen. Left a message for them stating I didnt have aftermarket parts before and wont have them now, and if they have issues with it they can return one of my calls I made and explain to me and the dealer as to why they need aftermarket and they would prob be replacing them again within the next yr because the dealership has had bad luck with them.

Sure hope this is it and wont need to deal with these strokers of a warranty comp anymore ( fingeres crossed)

Thank you Hill Automotive

 

I would certainly try to find a new warranty company. Sometimes these Fat Cats think they rule the world, but a good Lawyer can certainly take care of that.

 

CONGRATS! i know it must have been a huge headache, but at least you have won! hopefully you wont have any further problems from your truck and never have to deal with those asses again! One for the little guy me thinks!

 

Really glad this is coming together for you. Especially for someone who takes care of their truck. Keep us posted on how shes running for you when you pick it up and in the future! Smaller shops are awesome and usually take that extra step.