Ask how long they actually had it in the bay working on it. My best guess is that they may not have followed the diagnostic routine for symptom very deeply if at all. They may not have even tried to pull any codes. If the CEL flashes, there has to be a code stored. One thing that maybe would cause it to act this way might be a bad battery or a ground somewhere that intermittently looses contact.

 

Personallly I would call the dealer back and ask if they found any missfires in mode 6. It should store the missfires there even if the CEL isn't staying on.
I did see this on another forum.

"So I took it to the dealer this morning and talked with the tech in detail. I told him what had happened and that I am still having an issue with shuddering at 55-60mph on slight inclines in 6th gear and I see a lot of soot in the condensation that drips onto my driveway and noticed a decrease in mpg. He said "Oh? Well let me take a look at Mode 6 which will let me see any misfires".

After about 30 minutes I proceeded to go to the shop and speak with him and he said he sees quite a few misfires on all cylinders but the following are the worst; 1,2,5 & 7. He stated (he showed me the recording) that 3 & 5 are the worst under load but cylinder #1 is the worst when idling followed by #2. He says he felt as though the reflashes I had in the past didn't clear up the "Misfire Neutral Profile" (This works with the "VCT" (Variable Camshaft Timing)) that is stored but had to contact the "Tech HotLine" to see what they wanted him to do.

Tech hotline told him to clear out the profile and do the relearn and road test the vehicle. I watched him do the relearn and then watched the recorder and no more misfires! He then proceeded to test drive the truck and when returning he said (again he showed me the recorder) that the truck was no longer misfiring.'

 

KEN75RANGER, did the fuel mileage return to what it should be after this fix? Because I believe that it's an electronic or programming problem. But I question whether all dealers have techs with the expertise to find the problem and I also question whether some dealers or their service managers will let the tech spend the time necessary to find the problem. That's why some of us advised to find a different dealer and I prefer to wait to buy an EB until they've been out 3 or 4 years so all techs are up to speed on them.

 

Any updates to your problem OP?

 

Hoping to get it into a different dealer later this week to have them check things. I had to go out of town, this is the busy season for me, which is why I bought a new vehicle with 4x4...

 

Like some others here, I am not trying to repress your feelings of disgust towards your new vehicle. nobody should have to experience this when shelling out the kind of money these trucks cost. however, I am here to tell you that there is hope in these trucks. I have put 16k miles in just 4 months on my ecoboost all problem free. I have towed my 4000lb boat several times, my 7000 lb trailer a few times, and 3 loads at 9900 lbs (3900 lb trailer and 6000 lbs of pellets). I truly hope your problems end soon and that you can enjoy your new vehicle as I have mine. They are good trucks and hopefully, the new dealership can get you on the right path towards getting it fixed. Please update us when you finally get a resolution.

To the one waiting 3 or 4 years to buy an ecoboost, the 3.5L ecoboost is not a new engine for ford. The engine has been out for 4 years I believe. It was only slightly modified with bigger turbos for the F150 to give it more torque, however, the engine was in several Ford vehicles before 2011. Unlike the 5.0 or the 6.2, which are brandy new for 2011.

 

Wow... New dealership!

 

Thanks guys. It goes in tomorrow to a new dealership. Unfortunately, the service manager that I was speaking with all but told me that it wouldn't do much good. Evidently, they know about it, haven't been given a fix and have several other upset owners waiting on Ford. However, he understands my need to bring it in for the documentation and hope that they can find something.

I just wish I hadn't sunk money into the line-x and other accessories I bought for it. For as much as I like the truck, I never would have guessed that I'd be ready to part with it...

Just like the others, I now get 15.5 on almost all highway driving between 65-75. The speed doesn't seem to matter anymore, and I was actually able to get slightly better mileage by unloading the engine and running higher RPM in 5th gear. I know that sounds crazy, but when it starts running so badly in 6th, I'm able to downshift it and the shudder/missing goes away and the gas mileage increases about .2-.3. (The normal shuddering/missing, if it falls flat during an accelaration onto the highway there is no solution other than to get stopped turn off the truck and restart it.) The mpg has dropped to around 18 at 55-60. My in town is down around 10 mpg now. But as I said the service manager seemed to know all of the symptoms I was going to describe and wasn't surprised by any of them.

I guess the dealers are caught in the middle as well. My heartburn with the first dealer is the way they tried to cover for Ford instead of just being honest with me. This dealership will get a lot more credit from me even if they can't find anything because they seem to be more open about the issues. I don't have any axe to grind with the dealers, or even Ford if they just fix the issue. I just can't believe how widespread this is and no end in sight and continued sales. Searching different forums opened my eyes big time, but a little too late...

 

There is definately an electronic issue with your truck if it falls flat when accelerating and straightens out when you shut it off and restart it. It might be in the drive by wire throttle. I don't know for sure. The dealer needs to hook a recording device in the diagnostic port and record all of the PIDS and symptoms under normal driving real time conditions for a week or 2 to get a better idea of where the problem is.

 

Have to agree with Greg B...that a recording device be attached. I'm starting to think...it could actually be the PCM itself.

Good luck OP...and please keep us informed.


biz

 

I'm not sure what to think, they called me last week to tell me they couldn't reproduce. The tech wanted to speak with me directly and after I described things in more detail he then mentioned I hadn't left them with enough gas and would I authorize them to purchase gas and put it on my bill so they could drive it. Could not duplicate, but hadn't driven it due to not enough gas?

I called yesterday for an update and was told that so far it was CND still. Then got a call back asking if they could purchase gas to drive it...

I had asked to get the truck back by yesterday but they called back and said they weren't done with it and needed to keep it longer but so far they couldn't find any symptoms and had never heard of the problem before and after contacting Ford were told Ford didn't know anything about it either... Of course that started the discussion that Ford told the last dealer that it was a known issue and they were working on a fix.

I'm not sure how they can tell me they can't duplicate it twice and then call to tell me they haven't driven it yet both times. Did they just mean can't capture it on the computer/codes and therefore no problems could exist?

So I'll update again when they finish with it, but apparently it is "a-ok". Anyone want to buy a '11 FX4 with low miles?

 

If they are unable...or unwilling...then maybe you should ask if you can have the truck back...with the recording device attached???!!!???

Yeah...I know people directly...that had to do that.

Hope that helps...


biz

 

I agree with Biz4Two. Demand the truck back and a recording device attached to record real time driving. There is a problem and it's probably electronic. It could be something simple, but tracing it is a PITA.

 

Well, I'd have to figure out a way to get the dealership to actually look into the problem. After keeping my truck for a week, they said come pick it up. Upon arrival they informed me that Ford won't authorize them to work on it unless they can verify/duplicate the problem. They had their techs do as much as they could but without verification, but they couldn't really do anything...

Gas? Nope, never bought gas. These lengthy test drives they had been telling me about? Less than 20 miles all together. Second dealer, second time basically being put off with no interest in finding the problem.

What do I have to do to get them to investigate the problem?

 

This is one of those issues where you'll have to call the dealer right when the next event occurs. Leave it on the road side, do not restart or reset anything, just make them come get it.

It's too bad that they don't have event monitor that they can plug in and send you on your way like a cardiac patient from a hospital. They could then capture the trucks events over a period of time and pin point the problem.