So my dads out plowing with his 2011 F-350 Lariat a week ago during are New England blizzard, when half way thru the storm he relizes his motor is wrapping. He calls the owner of the company that he plowes for telling him " think I just blew my motor". He says bring it to the shop so we can take a look at it. So he gets back to the shop and they pop the hood, loud knocking coming from motor. Well the company owner checks the oil for my father ....Empty!!! They had to add 7 quarts!! Well after they started it up and found a pin hole leak in the oil filter. The oil was changed and motorcraft filter put on it about a week before at the Ford dealer. Motor is running still but not sure how long it will last....truck only has 12,000 on it. Still under factory warranty so i guess he is sort of safe.. He saved the filter for proof but has yet to go to the dealership to state his case.I think he might be afraid that they will blame him for not watching low oil warning, thus making him resposible for the engine damage. I think because of the manufacturing defect of the motorcraft filter it should fall on the resposibility of Ford.....your guys thoughts on this ?

 

I have not seen it on my truck but I imagine that there is a low oil level light that would come on......if there he may run into an issue with the dealer they are gonna know why he did not address it when the light came on.

 

I've always wondered if this truck had a 'low oil' sensor. I change my own oil, but I'm bad about checking my oil level. I just keep an eye on the 'oil pressure' gauge.

I would appreciate it if you can confirm your father's situation on whether a 'low oil' warning does exist on these trucks.

 

ditto on "RAPR" comment

 

Well, he is 70 and is compleatly confused with this truck because of all the options. He has always had XL's. If a "LOW" oil light does indeed exist i'm sure he would probally missed it. Plus with it being a blizzard out trying to watch your plow and where your backing up will defenately distract you. With the oil pissing out at a fast rate, you might have to be pretty quick to catch it. I know oil pressure gauges show pressure right to the end.

Ok... looks like they have a "low" oil pressure warning indicator light, not "low" level. In this case probally not helpfull. You will have oil pressure probally till it runs out in the pump, to late then. Strange they have a built in limp mode for the motor if it runs low on coolant, but not if it runs low on oil.

Update : My father told me the "low" oil pressure light indeed did come on, but he said the motor was already making noise, said it was all top end noise. He told me the hole in the filter was just below the top ring of the filter. Said it had a dimple there and looked like the paint on the filter had covered it over during the manufacturing process. After a few hundred miles it pushed thru the paint and started the leak. He said he will be heading to the dealer end of next week and tell them what happed. On a good note he said the motor is running fine and is not making any noise.

 

Man I feel bad for your dad. I once blew the o-ring on my 2008 6.4 psd and it lost a lot of oil but I caught it right away. Left a big pool of oil under the truck. My advise to you is to not tell Ford anything at all. Just top it off with oil and drive it as long as possible. Start taking it to Ford for all the future oil changes and maint. Then right before the warranty expires, tell Ford whatever(it's smoking,using oil,knocking,vibrating,whatever), and hope that they fix/replace the motor. It may last a long time. Just depends how long he ran the motor after the oil was gone. Worst case is you will have to buy another motor. They can be found for as little as $2600 in some junkyards. Just my opinion.

 

yeah you are correct low oil pressure is not gonna help you.....you would have to catch it right away. I dont know for sure but I imagine these are roller motors and if you caught it fast enough they will run dry momentary without damage. The top end noise was a dead giveaway of the lifters being pumped down...but as you say your dad being focused on the plow in a blizzard it was not a concern.

I used to work at a Chrysler dealer.....one day a Jeep came in for an oil change...the quick lube guy brings it back around to the service drive and it was knocking like hell. Before the customer came back to pick it up I checked the oil it was bone dry....the lube guy drained the oil but did not refill. We topped it off and it was fine. Those 4.0 liters are tough I cant speak for these 6.2's they have not been out long enough and I have never had one apart.

Best of luck to your dad hopefully Ford takes care of him...post up the news when you get it.

 

LOL thats why I do all of my own oil changes. I have to ask was the customer ever informed that someone tried a new thing run his Jeep without any oil?

 

Agreed, that's the same exact reason why I change my own oil. When I got my brand new 2001 F250, I got the second oil change done at a local shop. While installing a new stereo in the truck 2 days later, I noticed some oil on the ground. After further inspection, I noticed the oil filter was holding on by a thread. I can't image what I would have done to the service station if it ended up frying my new truck.

I have determined that I can not trust someone that makes minimum wage with my $50,000 investment.

 

I would hang onto that filter. Are you sure it is a mfg defect? If there is any evidence that it was punctured from the outside, you may have a tough argument.

Also, not sure where the truck are parked when not on the road but it seems to me there would be some spotting of oil with 7 quarts gone.

 

I have not seen the filter myself yet, but those who have said it is pretty obvious it was a defect. I do agree it could be a tuff argument. As for missing the oil on the ground, just bad timing. Truck had been plowing for 10 hours in a blizzard. Plowinig over the area your driving and it snowing at 2 inches an hour hides alot.

 

I have always done my own work on everything I own unless its a new vehicle with a warranty......this is my second brand new vehicle I have ever owned. I dont plan on fixing it when it breaks but I will service it.

I have worked for sevreal dealers and independant shops....it would scare the crap outt most people if they knew what was really going on and who was working on their rides.

I got stories for days......same dealer same Lube guy did another oil change this time he changed the filter and topped it off with a fresh 6 quarts of oil......but he never drained it. The customer picked it up and went down the road.....obviuosly coming right back complaining it was smoking......and it was.....another tech drove it to see the issue he went down the street and it looked like a James Bond smoke screen LMAO!

he pulled in the shop and found it had 12 quarts of oil in it.....a quick drain and refill and it was fine....the customer was not real happy but the engine was ok.

 

Well, as predicted the dealership is not going with a defective filter, they say something must have kicked up and hit the filter putting the pin hole in it. I'm thinking the tech dropped the filter prior to the install and possibly damaged it, and had not noticed it. They did a oil change on the truck (no charge) and checked the motor over. They said ther motor seemed fine. I guess we will find out how tuff these 6.2 motors are. Only time will tell.