Hi everyone, I have a new 2009 F250 6.4L King Ranch with only 9,700 miles. I recently 22 days ago was driving when my low fuel light came on. The engine started loosing power but still had 50 miles to empty. I drove about 2 miles to fill up with diesel. Filled up and started home only 3 miles to go and still no power and the engine was missing. Made it home, next morning got into the truck started it up and everything was fine but my engine lights was on. Drove to work called my Ford dealership and could not get an appointment for 5 days. So I took the truck in on apointment day and the mechanic started looking at it right away. He hooked up his computer and said you have fuel delivery problem. So left the truck after 5 days they called me and said my fuel was contaminated. They said the whole fuel system would have to be replaced, so they called Ford for approval then after 5 more days Ford told them it was not covered under warranty. So by this time I was getting pretty mad. I went to the dealership and had the service dept show me what was going on , by this time thay had the chasis off the frame and the engine was all exposed, they showed me a fuel sample and it has very little water in it and just a little dirt in the bottom. Well I demanded a Ford rep to come in and 5 days later I met the rep and all he said was he was just here to look and take pics. So 5 days later Ford came back and u know now what Ford's answer was (we will not cover it under warranty). Well my now I was ready to burn down the service dept, but then my wife got involved she called Ford headquarters in Michigan and about 3 hours later the dealership got a call from Ford telling the dealership to take a fuel sample and sent it to the lab. Well today Oct 27th my wife said they called her and told her the fuel sample was GOOD no contamination. So now the dealership is getting back with Ford to see what Ford tells the dealership either to fix under warranty or not.
Just to let averyone know, I bought my truck last OCT 2009, it has only 9,700 miles and I have drained the fuel seperator at least 10 times and I have always used fuel treatment with every fill up. Sorry for being long winded but anyone got or had this problem with a truck so new?
Thanks

 

Sounds like FORD looking for any way out...

 

^ I agree.
I'd be pretty upset ad well, that's alot of 5 days at a time to be without your truck. You better be their priority. Best of luck to you.

 

I sorry this has happened but my 2 cents this is in my book a dealership Problem! I have never had an problem with my dealer, one or two days and you should have had your problem stated and what they were going to due! I think your dealer dropped the ball!

 

I think I would go somewhere else next time myself. The dealer seems to me that he was trying to get a big payday from you.

This also brings to lite that dirty fuel/comtaminated/lots of water could potentially be a repair that you may be able to go after the fuel station. If you just filled up and then you have some big issues.

I always have my reciept till the next fillup so I can prove it. Never have had an issue though.

 

Once again it appears the dealership is in over their head and has no idea how to work on these trucks. Did they mention the condition of the fuel filters? A clean set of filters will catch most of the debris in the fuel.

 

he only has 9700 miles, so technically coming on his first filter change.

he might have sucked some air: low fuel light, losing power.. thats what is documented to happen when you start sucking air, before total shutdown.

as a fairly new diesel owner, the near certain damage done from running out of fuel is the ONLY thing that really freaks me out.

Sam

 

Thanks guys for the replies. Im still waiting for Ford to get back to the dealership. Per Ford's owner maunal both fuel filters should only be replaced every 20,000 miles. When this happened i still had 50 miles to empty. My opinion the truck should run just fine with 50 miles to empty and both fuel filters should catch or stop most water and debris from ever getting to the engine.

 

If I had to do it all over again I would have told the mechanic to reset the computer and I probbably would have been driving the truck today. Remember I drove the truck 5 days waiting to get in for my appointment and during those 5 day the truck ran just fine like a new one except with the engine warning light on.

 

fuel filters per manual are changed at 10K for severe service and 20K for normal operations.

We all go the 10K..severe service for everything on this motor and you should too.

since you are at only 9700 miles you are good to go on that one.

I was asking if you had looked at them (filters) as I was wondering if they were dirty at all. I take it that they did not show them to you. That goes along with them trying to pull a fast one on you.

 

I looked at the fuel filer which was located on top of the engine it looked pretty clean but the one along the frame they had not removed at the time I was there. I did notice in the bottom of the fuel metal housing there was a very very small amount of rust residue, nothing critical in my book

 

It sounds to me like air got in the system. The "miles to empty" readout is only an estimate and you should NEVER rely on it. IMO, they made a mistake by ever including it because people don't realize how inaccurate it is. Air is very hard on the high pressure fuel system, so you really should fill up at about 1/4 tank and try not to let it get lower. On a 6.0L, air can damage injectors, don't know how it works on the 6.4L, but I sure wouldn't chance it. I have friends than run their tanks down to E all the time and I just can't understand it; you aren't saving any money by filling up with an emptier tank.

 

Bamaden, I totally agree with Cartmanea's post. I wouldn't run that low on fuel with a 6.4. I am surprised Ford wasn't looking for rust as they did with my fuel issues on my 6.4. I had the same problem you had and while I can't be certain, I believe the first dealership that looked at my truck was in over their heads (they don't sell diesels and didn't want to even take my truck) and all they did was change the fuel filters. Several months later, (at a true Ford diesel dealership) 6 injectors were bad and my entire fuel system had to be changed out. Ford was all over this one, looking for rust in the rails. They suspected bad fuel or air in the line. While my truck had 50000 miles on it, the original loss of power issue occurred after a new engine block was put in the truck, therefore I basically had less than 1000 miles on the truck engine. The 1st dealer patted me on my head and said all was well when clearly it was not. It's only because of the catastrophic failure that occurred later do I refer to the original issue I encountered. To add insult to injury, the 1st dealership physically damaged my truck and then said, uh, what damage. It's tempting to think all is well when it's not with these engines; my truck went downhill after the initial problem (I later found out that my boost gauge was faulty) and soon after I was stranded again. I was out of my truck for a total of five weeks so this is a huge pain in the donkey's hind end.

Ford did cover my bill (over $8K) and they helped me get out of the truck so I am content with the service I finally received. I had to call and ask for it though.

 

Wow 2ADDY just glad Ford took care of the problem. By the way my Ford dealership is a very large dealership and they sell and service a hugh amount of deisel trucks. Still doesn't mean they really know all about these new diesel engines. I am still waiting back from Ford on their decision from the fuel sample results they got from the lab. It has been as of today 22 days since this all started. I am starting to loose my patience with Ford and the dealership. Thanks for the reply

 

That was one of my thoughts; the dealer didn't do a lot of diesels but since these guys do, wow, it seems like they're giving you a hard time. I made a lot of calls and eventually it worked out. I understand that Ford wants to make sure their product has failed but sometimes these things seem out of whack. 22 days without a truck is tough. Keep on 'em as you deserve an answer.