Had my F450 towed to the dealership three weeks ago.....quit pulling my fifth wheel back from Key West. Truck was using water. Took body off and after three weeks still not done, dealership says it now has an oil leak. WOW

 

Where was your coolant leak - front cover due to cavitation?
Mine was done a few months ago, now its leaking oil too at the front of the engine - oh well, there is no way I will ever own one of these things once warranty expires!!!

 

Wow, sorry to hear about your bad luck truck.

Can you provide more details? Why the shut down towing your trailer? What's leaking oil now?

 

Down here in Daytona on vacation. Pulled down fine but after I unhooked it heard the fan come on. Checked the water and it was down two gallons...put more in it and again after a couple days needed more water. Let it run out in the parking lot and no leaks, took it to a dealer down here. Next day they called and said it was done...bad radiator hose. I told them it wasn't leaking but using water. Will I paid them over $200.00 and went on my way. The next day I hooked to my fifth wheel and took off for Key West. After about 50 miles fan came on again. Stopped and put two more gallons in it. Hoping maybe it just had a air pocket in it, but no every other rest area I put two gallons in it. On the way back the boost went to 0. No power. engine quit and won't turn over. Ford picked up the truck and took it to a Ford dealer. A friend came down to homestead where it quit and towed my fifth wheel back to Daytona. Ford dealer called me the next day and told me I had a bad senor. $777.00 I told them fine I would pay it but how was a senor telling my motor to use over ten gallons of water, the next day they called and said they had to take the cab off and put a new oil cooler in it under warr. Again I said fine but how does a oil cooler use water. Everything was dry under the hood. Next time they called I had bad turbos and a bad turbo cooler which I told them the first time I talked to them. Will after three weeks without a ride it is all back together but leaks OIL and oh yes I still owe them for the senor. Still no truck...thank god for my Harley and good weather

 

Wow, that's rough when you have to pay for as much as you did.

Not to point fingers, but it was a huge mistake to drive the truck when it was using coolant. Running these things low on coolant can cause very expen$ive issues before you ever see the engine start to overheat.

As soon as you start sucking air into the system the front cover will start to deteriorate due to cavitation from the water pump. This, over a short period of time, will wear a hole in your front cover and start dumping coolant into your engine.

Another consequence, especially when towing, is that your EGR coolers, when not receiving a steady flow of coolant, will essentially melt under the 1,000°+ exhaust gases because they can't stay cool without a steady supply of coolant. This will dump coolant into your intake and risk hydrolocking your engine.

I can not stress this enough: It is VERY BAD to drive one of these trucks when it's low on coolant.

And these trucks use a oil-to-water cooler; so yes, it can leak coolant.

 

One I have a digital gauge on it an it and it never went over 215 and other thing the first time the fan never came on which is at 221 degrees. I guess you have never been to Key West.....no dealer until Miami,,,,also it just came from a dealer. If the oil cooler is leaking the engine compartment would be wet or water on the oil stick I would think. Anyway the dealer agree with me and finally found the real problem. Still waiting...the first dealer really screwed up not me

 

Yeah, I find it pretty sad that the first dealer replaced a hose and called it done. I suspect they may end up getting billed for some of the damage repaired by the current, more competent dealer.

Ford is pretty picky on warranty work, and they hold their dealers accountable for bad work. I'd make sure you note that you paid them $200 for an improper repair, and that this was likely why the problem got as bad as it did.

I'd also seek a refund from the first dealer, you shouldn't have paid them to fix what wasn't broken.

Good luck!

 

Heck of time with it here but at least your current dealer got to the bottom of the issue. Take it easy once you have it back. Check the coolant level in the degas bottle often till you are sure they purged all the air out.

 

Dealer called and said they have to take the cab off again to find the oil leak and I should get it back next week.....long vacation