The dealer tells me:

That it is normal for these to idle at 1500 RPM for 3 miunutes after a cold start.

That it is normal that the engine sounds like a diesel after you first start it for like 20 minutes.

That it is normal that the motor bogs during a moderate throttle down-shift.

Is the dealer full of it, or is it normal like they say?


The first time I brought it in with these same complaints, they replaced the intake. The fuel mileage came up 3 MPG (to 14MPG). They never even attempted to tell me any of these things are normal. Now they don't seem to want to deal with it. Their warranty is up in 200 miles and I have 59k miles on it, so Ford is done in another 1000 miles.

I just bought the truck 20 days ago, and I'm not real happy with the motor or transmission. 1-2 shifts are clunky and I could swear that it slipped on a hill after idling for 10 minutes the other day. I think it went to about 2,000 RPM before moving.

 

up idle is normal on these trucks on a cold start for about 15 seconds.
diesel noise is most likely the cam phasers going bad.
motor hesitates a little during exceleration due to the drive by wire technology. Should not do it on down shift.
slipping tranny is definately not normal. I have to really stomp both of my 07s to get them to go ver 2000 rpm up to 70 mph.
Take warranty action on it until they fix it.

 

This is irritating to me. They said these were all standard 5.5L operation parameters when I picked it up tonight. I have had this truck for 2 weeks and I feel like it is 2 weeks too long.

 

None of these are normal, based on the 2 F150's I own. Get it documented first with a dealer so if it fails right out of warranty you have proof the condition existed prior to warranty expiration then get them to fix it while you still have coverage. If they are the ones that sold it to you, then they should fix it. If they aren't then talk to another dealer.

My opinion

Paul