Ok I need some major help. I'm hoping someone out there has had this problem and knows what it is.

I have a 2006 F-150 4X4 5.4L V8 Flex with approximately 97K miles on it. All of a sudden the engine has started to jump and shudder under a light load, usually while just trying to maintain a speed, like cruise control on the freeway. I took it to the local Ford dealership and have spent major money replacing several parts just to leave and have it still doing it. I think they are onto guessing now at my expense. Here is what has been fixed so far.

They first told me it needed a tune up because it was misfiring. $500 on a tune up and it still doing it. Took it back and they said that two of my coil packs were going out and that I needed to replace them at another $500. Then I realized how easy these were to replace myself so to be proactive I ordered six more packs (Motorcraft OEM) and replaced all of them. Still doing it. Took it back and they said that they found a cracked spark plug, from the tune up they did, so they replaced it. Still did it. Took it back and they said that they found a broken exhaust valve spring on #5 which was covered by my warranty. Still doing it. Took it back and they ran pressure test and everything seemed normal in the cylinders but that the pre-cat pressure was high on the passenger side so they thought it was a pressure issue. They said that it was due to a clogged Cat on the passenger side (prob from the stuck open exhaust valve that was warranty but after three weeks of fighting they would not cover the cat). Even thou it was not throwing a code from the oxygen sensors.???? They wanted $1,800 for that. I took it to Midas and had a universal for our trucks put on and guess what....$550 later it's still doing it. Now it's back again and has been there for 10 days and they have no idea what's wrong with it. They run a test and send it to Ford and wait for Ford to tell them what to do then they do it and try again. Just got off the phone with them and they now said that they replaced the valve springs on #4, put everything back together and it's still doing it so they are waiting to hear back from Ford again.

Any ideas or comments from prior issues you got solved please let me know. I'm just tired of it being in the shop or getting it out just to go right back in. Thanks

 

UPDATE: So Ford sent them a new list of test to do (I'm ot sure what) but after running the test everything came back normal. Dealer sent it back to Ford and Ford now told them to remove the heads and look at the valves to look for bent, burnt or otherwise damaged valves. I'm assuming that since they will have the heads off they can also inspect the pistons and cylinders.I'll let you know what they find out next.

 

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No one really knew what the issue with my truck is so I'll keep updating until I find out the fix so that if this ever happens to anyone else you'll have an idea. So my truck has now been in the shop (Ford Dealer) for 24 days today. In addition to my last post ford has replaced all the valve springs, taken the heads off and inspected all the valves to check for bent or burnt valves. All valves were good. They also inspected the cams and the phasers. All looked good. They are running test and taking pictures and sending them to ford who then reviews them all and tells the dealer what to do next. After inspecting the head and looking at the pictures ford told the dealership that the valve guides in the head were worn and that the heads needed to be replaced. They finally got all the parts in and got the truck put back together. TYook it out for a test drive and with the new heads as soon as the truck hits about 5K RPM's cylinder #4 just dropps out then #1 and #2 follow and the engine starts to rattle again like some one dropped a bag of marbles in the motor. So no fix. They are stumped and have no idea whats wrong so they sent everything back to ford and are waiting on what to do next. The service adviser thinks that at this point it might be the computer thats bad and doing something strange. I'm not sure if that covered under my extended warranty or not I'll have to check, but I'll keep everyone informed on what happens next.

 

gotta Admire your persistence to make ford pay for this.
hope this turns out well for you once the dust settles

 

You should get a refund of all the money you spent earlier due to what they fixed(?) was not the problem. If you bought the truck new the "Lemon Laws" of your state may apply. As for a refund, you may have to go to small claims court for that. It sounds like the cam phasers are the problem. Keep us posted on the results.

 

Here is another update. Since I've last posted they have replaced what they described as every mechanical part in the motor that they could and the truck is still jumping. So at this point they say they are not sure if it is even mechanical and that there may be an issue with the computer. The computer is not covered by my extended ford warranty, but due to having my vehicle for over a month the dealer ate the cost of it for me. Thank you, dealer. However, after putting in a new computer and a layover engine harness to bypass the old one just in case there was a short. Guess what? That's right, still doing it. Ford ESP has now authorized the dealer to put in a new motor, every part from the intake to the heads, wire harnesses and so on. They have now had my truck for 53 days and all the parts have not come in yet so I'm thinking another week at least. I'll let you know as soon as I know.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kawasaki150hp

Here is another update. Since I've last posted they have replaced what they described as every mechanical part in the motor that they could and the truck is still jumping. So at this point they say they are not sure if it is even mechanical and that there may be an issue with the computer. The computer is not covered by my extended ford warranty, but due to having my vehicle for over a month the dealer ate the cost of it for me. Thank you, dealer. However, after putting in a new computer and a layover engine harness to bypass the old one just in case there was a short. Guess what? That's right, still doing it. Ford ESP has now authorized the dealer to put in a new motor, every part from the intake to the heads, wire harnesses and so on. They have now had my truck for 53 days and all the parts have not come in yet so I'm thinking another week at least. I'll let you know as soon as I know.

You should get a refund of all the money you spent earlier due to what they fixed(?) was not the problem. If you bought the truck new the "Lemon Laws" of your state may apply. As for a refund, you may have to go to small claims court for that. It sounds like the cam phasers are the problem. Keep us posted on the results.

It is time for Ford to replace your truck under the lemon laws. Contact your attorney and the lemon law administrators of your state. It seems that you have a lemon of a truck or a dealer and tech that are lemons.

 

Another update. As I told you before Ford ordered a new motor for me along with a tone of other parts. Problem is one of those parts, an engine wire harness part #6L3Z12A581EB, is no where to be found at any dealer anywhere. That's according to the dealership. They show that it not at any local ford dealer here in southern Texas. I'm not sure if they can search nation or not and I didn't ask. But they did search Ford itself and said that it is backordered and that for an extra $67 it can be emergency ordered, but that there is still no guarantee on when it can get here. 1 week to 3 months. So my new engine and all parts are sitting at the Ford dealership waiting to be installed, but they can't start until they find that part. My truck is now sitting in the shop for 66 days and will stay there until they get that part. So with that being said. If anyone knows a trick for finding parts or has any insight on backordered parts, I'm all ears. Thanks again guys.

 

Re-read post #7 again.
I just checked the part number you listed with Silver State Ford's online listings and it does not seem to exist. Verify the number.

 

Good luck, you got a free rental till it's fixed too, right?

 

Not to start a debate about legal issues but it would seem the national lemon laws would have kicked in after three trips back for the same issue OR 30 days in-shop.

It sounds like they're partially working with you but there shouldn't be a need for you to spend any pocket money on this now---and certainly a refund should be due as well.

I hope you resolve this and continue updating us---its interesting to see how this process works. We're all pulling for you I'm sure!

 

Final update. So they got the wire harness in and installed everything. It now has a new Motor, Computer and entire wire harness under the hood. All of the electronics were replaced. And if you recall I also had the transmission replaced about 500 miles ago. So I think I'm the only person in the nation with a brand new 2006 F-150. LOL. Thanks for all of the advice and help. My truck was in the shop for a total of 74 days (This Time). It was a long experiance and I learned a lot about these 5.4 motors. So I will be watching and help others as well if I can. Thanks again. Oh and it runs great now, almost like it's new.