I'm just about out of time on the warranty for my 99 PSD. I've read some of the other posts regarding surge problems and have experienced the same. Pretty intermitent till recently but has been steady the last couple of weeks. Should the tech be able to pull up codes and if so would the probable causes be covered by warranty? I also wondered if this was a problem with my rheostat and if so would this come under the engine warranty or the long ago expired chassis warranty. Thanks

99 F350, 75,000 mi purchased april 98

 

jearl, what do you mean by surge?? I have noticed quite a few buck and jerk at about 40-50 mph intermittently under light throttle or cruise, to the best of my knowlegde there is no fix for that. I have had that happen in the past, but have not noticed it since the installation of my Diablo flip chip. It is probably a calibration issue. I have seen many techs on a "private" website ask about this and they have nothing solid as far as to the cause. Expand on your problem ie: accel/decel/cruise, cold/hot engine, cold/warm ambient temp..., maybe someone here can help.

 

My problem is most noticable when trying to come off idle. When it's acting up the throttle doesn't respond as normal and when it does throttle up it's with more throtte than intended. The problem seems most noticable when cold but has been doing it off and on even when up to temp. I wondered about the rheostat as when it's acting up little bumps etc. in the road cause the same surge. Don't laugh, I'm not a spastic it's just that sometimes it acts wayyyy different. The last couple weeks I've been afraid of running over the car ahead of me when I go to take off. I haven't had any other problems other than ECM swaps when I first bought the truck (mine was one of the first 99's) and a couple of water pumps. Thats a whole nother story... I bet I could save Ford a million a year if they would run low silicate anti freeze in their cooling systems. we changed over to Shellzone LS and eliminsated the seal failures in our big Cat and Cummins engines. Anyway I'm most interested if this sounds like a warranty del cause if not I'd just as soon deal with myself. Unfortunately my experience with the local dealers has been a lot of parts changing going on at my expense. Thanks for the reply!

 

jearl, sorry to hear that your dealings with your dealership have been lackluster, as with every industry/ profession there is good and bad. I have not run into that particular issue on the 7.3. As for the concern being covered under warrenty, it should be. Most everything to do with the engine/engine controlls are covered items for 5yrs/100,000 miles whichever comes first. I would certainly look into the accel pedal sensor though, as a tech.

 

The engine won't run without the rheostat, so I would think that it would be covered under warranty but Ford may have other ideas about what is or is not covered. Also, if it is acting up, it should set a code in the computer.