Thread: Truck Drama (long winded but funny)
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Old 04-13-2004, 11:00 PM
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Jenners
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Talking Truck Drama (long winded but funny)
Hi there-

I am actually in Alabama, but this loser state doesn't seem to have its own "chapter" plus I am near GA, being in Auburn. So I thought, why the heck not, right??

OK, so here I go: I just bought a 1995 F350 Powerstroke Diesel. Four wheel drive, off-road, all that. Big momma-jomma. It's been rednecked a little bit (I bought it in Texas, there ya go), has like a lift kit shocks kinda thing (not sure on terminology, but know what they are). Also has had a CB radio put in very poorly, as in they cut the bottom of the dashboard off, the ijits, and there are a ton of wires that seem to just...well...end. No where.

Anyways! I am having a whole barrel of issues, especially seeing I have only had it about a month. My story you ask? OK, bought the truck off eBay. Mistake numero uno, I know, but was a good deal! Still is, really. Was under blue book, and the seller had good feedback (I know why now, will get to that in a minute). OK, so I fly in. He picks me up from the airport in the truck, and while driving to the dealership the O/D light starts flashing and the truck goes out of O/D doing like 55+. He tries to say it is something about a speed sensor (unless you can't tell, I am a girl under 30 and look it), but I kinda look at him like "I'm not stupid" and he gives me a 30-day auto transmission warrenty only. I am good to go, I drive it the 600 some odd miles back to Sweet Home Alabama *gag gag* with minimal issues and tranny only acted up once on Interstate 12 (O/D light flashed) and once on Interstate 65 (O/D light and shifted out of O/D, chug chug then was OK). So I get it home, go to bed and call Carl Gregory Ford in the AM to set up an appointment for it get the diagnostic run on it and non-tranny stuff fixed (the Texan said he wouldn't pay dealership costs). So, I go out Monday to start it to take it to CG Ford, and it's a no go. Not starting. Not a dead battery, though the idea crosses my mind that one of them is just not spinning the cylinders fast enough to get the fuel in there. Sooo...it gets towed in. Prognosis: water in fuel, the water seperator element needs to be replaced and that whole thing cleaned out; then when they take that out, they see that the fuel heater is broken and call for that to be replaced which I give a . When it got towed in, I asked the wrecker who he recommended for tranny stuff. I can't remember the name of the wrecker company, it is in Opelika and is something starts with a T and sounds like Triphasic (but I think that is actually a brand of birth control, ha). He recommends a place in Opelika called Metro Transmission, so when I get trucky-poo back I run it over there. Meanwhile, I am fighting with Texan about him paying AND sending me the darn title. He blackmails me into giving him good feedback before he agrees to pay (grrr), I was going to give neutral because he was hard to deal with (hung up on me once on the phone). Anyways...get the truck back and am so happy! Tickled pink, all listening to music and grinning and seat dancing, you get the picture. I run home to AU (about 10 miles) and then down I-85 to Montgomery (about 40 miles) and get off at my exit and BAM, tranny slips big time and sets a code (hard shift, like whiplash). Light goes flashy-flashy and Jenny is not a happy camper. I call Metro Tran, guy is shocked and tells me to bring it in Monday. Roger that. I drive it that weekend, it shifts hard the whole time. Blah. Monday comes and we have a frost warning Sunday night. Gets down to about 35. Riiiight...trucky no start again. Sounds like the same problem to me, so I sit out in the truck and cry and read the book and cry on the phone to Dad, dealership, Dad again, dealership again, Mom and towing service. It was pitiful. Dad tells me to "pick a tire, any tire, and kick the "poop" outta it." Dealership tells me sit back "have a Coke" and wait an hour. Um, I bought the truck to drive myself, my 16 foot horse trailer with horsey and worldy belongings (well, some of them) to WA State. So I wait. Nope, still a cranky truck (Pun not intended until I re-read, tee hee). So I cry some more and wait for wrecker. He finally gets there at 5PM (he had a blown tire on a truck he was hauling to Columbus). I wave my hands and gripe and moan, which changes to calling my truck sexist when it started right up for him. So I drive it to CG Ford, and it shifts fine the whole way. I get there, they promise to do their thing and I go home and cry some more. Hey, I was hormonal. They call me the next morning asking if I am delusional because it started right up for them, but then I get them to fess up that they parked inside the garage the night before. So they keep el trucko for another night. Call me the next morning and tell me the glow plugs are "marginal" and want $1500 to replace glow plugs, relay and pigtail Yeah right. I tell them I will be there to pick it up, and I call around Montgomery and find a place that will do it for much less. So I pick it up and drive to bank in Auburn, tranny still fine (Ford place said tran didn't code, either, so I am like, OK, possessed tranny fixed itself, right?) and drive down interstate back to Montgomery. Everything is hunky-dory until I get off at the same exit. Tran slips, RPMs go way high (like 3.3 on tach) but shifts smooth as a baby's bottom. Does this while I run errands around town, but gets better and better until you would never know there is a problem when I drop it off at the place to fix glow plug stuff. Never flashed light either. Whatever. Will be picking it up tomorrow (Wed) hopefully. Meanwhile, I had called the tranny guy and told him the deal about the glow plugs, and he said no problem and to bring it in whenever, because there is a 6 mos, 6K mile warrenty on the transmission he put in. OH! Shoot, before I forget, some need-to-know. The truck now has 200K miles on it, and I found paperwork in the glovebox for a tranny rebuild at 143K miles at Some Guy's Transmission Shop in Orange, Texas (not actual name of shop).

Any random thoughts would be appreciated. Even if they are just "Hey, you got ripped off, dumb girl" stuff, though I might return the favor. My current plan of action is to get my trucky-poo back (by the way, I had a F150 that I loved and adored and had for six years and I called it trucky-poo, but I totalled it last summer, and yes I have pictures if you're interested they are great, just email me) and drive it around for a week or so, replace tires and that kind of stuff and see what the transmission does. I don't know if it could be the high speeds or cruise control (doubtful, but...), so when I drive interstate I am going to alternate using and not using cruise.

Hit me with comments, I am just kinda...in the Trucky-Poo Twilight Zone or something...*snicker*
 
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