I took my 2002 Excursion 7.3L w/ 180K miles into my local Ford dealer for an intermittent battery light. This has been a problem for several months but finally resulted in the truck not starting. Running voltage at the cigarette lighter was 13.2 - 13.5v.

Just a got a call from their service department and here is what they are telling me needs to be repaired (parts and labor):

alternator $640
bump stops front $275
bum stops rear $165
oil leak from intake tubes $430
engine air filter $49
shocks front $365 (rusted out)
rear shocks $310 (rusted out)
fuel filter $128

Additionally they said that my 'hubs are frozen' and if I lose my vacuum I will be unable to shift between 2WD and 4WD. Its currently working but if I wanted to fix this it would be $775.

Which of these line items stand out as being excessive in price?
What questions / requests should I be making?
Any other advice that you would recommend?

Sorry I'm completely incompetent!

Thanks in advance,

Beeper

 

If you have decent mechanical ability and a decent set of tools you could do all that yourself for much cheaper, except maybe the air filter.

Baatzy

 

I second that, there is nothing in there too challenging if you have at least some degree of mechanical aptitude. Your savings in labor would well be worth tackling this issues IMHO.

 

Fuel filter stands out to me, I assume they are talking of the one in the fuel bowl, in which case its easy to swap, just need to drain the bowl (drain or shut off fuel pump and run the truck until its dry and turn off) and then with a .5" drive wrench take it out and replace with a new one IIRC Autozone and other parts places are around $25 -$50 for them) just be sure to get the same as OEM with the cap.

 

OEM doesn't come with a cap, the OEM fuel filter is separate from the cap.

To the OP, you can get all that done for probably 1/3 of what the dealer is quoting you.

 

Considering that 70% to 90% of a dealership's revenue comes from the service department, I am always baffled why people take their vehicles there to get repaired. They must hate money.

Find an independent mechanic. Nothing there is anything an ordinary shop wouldn't be able to handle. If you have any mechanical aptitude at all, you could get all of that done by yourself for about 1/8 of the cost.

The bumpstops are not necessary. They're just finding any little thing wrong with the truck to charge you as much as they can. Hence the revenue comment above.

 

Bump stops? Honest God, they said that? Run from them money grubbing sob's as fast as you can.

A new alternator at Napa is under $300...and it takes all of about 10 minutes to change it. Oh, and get a new serpentine belt while you're at NAPA. I'm quite surprised the dealer didn't mention that.

 

Comments below in blue italic font.

 

^^^what he said^^^

 

Hmmm...for some reason I remember reading that they either could or did, if not my bad I stand corrected...

but as the rest say all that does seem excessive now that I look through the list again, and what the heck are bump stops, I am assumeing were talking the suspension parts and not something else here...

 

Nothing like a good old fashioned trip the a stealership. Take it in because it won't start and they want to restore the whole truck. No need for me to repeat what everyone else has pointed out but one thing I'm seeing that was not addressed is the voltage at the cig lighter of 13.2-13.5. I do not see the alternator being a problem with this kind of voltage there. Am I wrong?

 

even if the alt is putting out the correct voltage there is a possibility for it to be engauged with out the truck running, I have seen a few rare instances of this happening with ones that we (the place of employment) have sold in the past...there could most likely be some thing causing parasitic draw of the batteries...

 

You are probably correct. I did notice that as well, but responding to that detail somehow got lost in my thoughts about the other issues. The >13 volts does suggest that the Alt might be doing its job, but as Jaime mentioned, there could be other issues as well. Also, I'm used to seeing 14.5-14.7 volts at my cigarette lighter within 30 seconds of the engine starting, and that might suggest that the OP's Alt is not putting out quite enough (it's tired from the day but hasn't gone to bed yet).

 

OP - check out the Virginia forum and see if you can find a few folks that are close enough to you and have them give you a hand. Post a thread like "Need some help in N. VA" and there might be a few that could get all of this done in a few hours.

 

You didn't mention if "no starting" mean ruh...ruh, click-click, or a solid crank with no launch or smoke.


Assuming $100/hr labor (including the time it takes to clean the tools and hands, with typing the obligatory "report"):

• alternator $640 - That's a $590 alternator... it must have the gold-plated contacts to prevent corrosion (I jest).
• bump stops front $275 - Bump stop is a rubber thingamabob that hits the axle quietly if you go pole vaulting in your truck. If you look between the axle and anything the axle can hit if the springs weren't there, the first thing you'll see is a piece of rubber. Can you manage replacing that - assuming it looks like it's destroyed?
• bum stops rear $165 - See above.
• oil leak from intake tubes $430 - Intake tubes? Like Turbo CAC tubes that need a 7/16" wrench to tighten? Air filter intake? Could this be a muffler bearing?
• engine air filter $49 - this is where I would go the complete opposite... no kidding. I would order an Air Intake Severe duty (Ford AIS) and install that - or have it installed. Way more money than the $49, but that stock air box is not worth the paper towel to wipe the dirt it allows to reach the turbo fins.
• shocks front $365 (rusted out) - With labor and quality shocks, this isn't extremely out of line... but you can do better without effort. If it's just ordinary shocks, then they are truly out to get you.
• rear shocks $310 (rusted out) - see above.
• fuel filter $128 - Now that's just silly. I keep one on the shelf (I order another one from Riffraff Diesel after I use it) [LINK]. 20 bucks every 10,000 miles, and I check to make sure it isn't black when I change it.

A little lube and some of your time might fix it for free - many of us have done it without prior experience. Worst case... I bought two new ones for $450.




I hold the record for incompetence (look at my tag line next to my avatar). I can't manage to get my injector bolts to stay put after 40 tries.