I have an 07 E450 econoline that is most likely about to go. It has white smoke on cold starts, and is starting to use antifreeze. The dealer wants $8000 to replace it with a reman with a 2 year warranty. I keep reading horror stories about Jasper and others. Does anyone have any suggestions, ot input on other options? It is a S vin code and haven't had any luck finding a low mileage used one.

 

you do not offer miles on engine.
any maintenance done.

it could be JUST a bad head gasket.. but depending on miles.. might need the heads rebuilt...
or a replacement engine.. used or reman.

Need much more information to determine choices of action.

 

It has 118k miles and I have owned it for 3 years with no issues. It was previously a Uhaul truck, and it came with extensive maintenance records. Nothing major on repairs, spark plugs, cat replacement.

 

You have some important decisions to ponder over. $8000 sounds very reasonable if that quote is for a Ford dealership remanufactured unit. With the installation of that would also come a very decent warranty that wouldn't be matched by any other source.

What is the mileage and overall condition of this vehicle? How much expected use are you to get out of an $8000 investment, or put in other words, how long will it take to recoup that? Those are the questions you need to ask yourself before coming to your decision.

 

Hi Snackman, welcome to FTE! Sorry you had to find us the hard way, but hopefully we can help you save some money getting this back on the road.

The E-series is a very different chassis than an F-series, and is much harder to service. I'm moving this to the Econoline forum, you'll get a bit more specific information down there. Did your dealer break down how much their labor charge is to replace the engine? $8K seems really high to me.

 

I got a quote from the commercial truck center for 9400 and the other quote was from a small Ford dealer in the country. They didn't break down the pricing, but I'm sure they will if I ask.

 

Really??? What would you say is fair then? By your above statement, I will assume you are well aware of how much more work is involved to re and re an engine assembly on a van body, versus that of a truck body.

Even worse, is we are talking about an E450 with the body sealed to the box, making body removal impossible.

To the OP. I will assume you are using this vehicle for your source of income. Having said that, again how long will it take for you to recoup an $8000 expense?

 

That's why I used the phrase, "SEEMS" high to me. I recognize that service in an E-series chassis is very different, which is why I moved it down to this forum, and asked for a breakout of labor cost vs. engine cost.

I don't know what's fair, I've never done one in a van. It was just my initial impression.

 

The truck is used for my business, so it is my d
source of income. It the way I am looking at it is what truck can I buy that is in excellent condition for 8k.
I got another quote from a large dealer that is an hour a a way for less than $6800. They offer discounts for businesses, so that sounds like a winner. Also has a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty.

 

 

 

 

Going yo to get some Bar's headgasket fix. I had it at the dealer, and they said the engine misses and the Cat is bad. The cat was replaced just before I bought the truck. They also said the engine seems to have lost some power. I don't want to keep dumping money for them to say it needs a new engine. I have read many reviews that the leak fix stuff really works, especially in my situation before the gasket is very bad.