I have a 1996 F350 w/ a 7.5 EFI MAF California truck. My check engine light (code P0305) has been coming on intermittently and since I live in California, I needed to have this repaired before it could be smogged, to renew my registration. I talked to Ford dealer about it and they said they could handle this problem for me. So I took it in, and a few weeks later, they said when I called them that "#5 cylinder only had 40 psi of compression, all the rest have 180 psi." So I said "Do you think it's a bad valve"? They said " we need to tear it down " ! So I ok ed that and several weeks passed and I called them back, they said "they just got the heads back from machine shop "! So I said "great "! So 2 more weeks go by and nothing from dealer, so I called again May 3rd. they said "just wrapping it up "! So Friday comes and no call saying ready, so I called back and they said they would call ! Later in the day, they called and I go pick it up, and pay for repairs, and then start driving home, first I hear an exhaust leak, that it did not have previously, then the check engine light comes on again ! So I drive home and plug in my code checked, and lo and behold up pops P0305, intermittent miss #5 cylinder, the same code that had been setting prior to the repairs! So I called and spoke to service manager, and he say's bring it back Monday ! So that's where it is, and I now have little faith that they are going to repair my original complaint, without charging me more money !!! 5 weeks at the dealer and it made it a mile before code popped up again !! WTF ??

 

 

HeavyE85, thanks for your response! I agree about the wet compression test and a leak down test being part of the diagnostic process! It is a small town here, and I know the machinist who performed the head work, in fact I spoke to him about my heads, and asked him how many valves he needed to replace, and he said "none" he just refaced the valves and seats etc. Also he removed 8 broken exhaust manifold bolts. I asked him if he saw anything on heads that looked odd, and he said "no" ! I originally spoke to Ford about a reman long block, and was quoted $5800 dollars for that, but the Ford guy said "why not let us diagnose it and go from there"? So I said "OK diagnose" and that's where we are at!! I have been more than patient with these guys, the truck was in shop for 5 weeks, and it is in worse shape than when I left it with them !! Frustrating !!!

 

 

HeavyE85, as far as exhaust leak, yes, I put that on my bitch list and gave it to them yesterday! I now wish I had gone with a long block !! Take care !!!

 

5 weeks, thousands of dollars, same problems plus additional ones.

Sorry, but you're yet another cautionary tale of why not to take a 20-30 year old truck to a dealer for anything other than a recall.

Really sorry to hear this.

Good luck, you're going to need it.

 

Sounds like OP went to a BAD dealer, trust me I work at a great one and we take care of older trucks often enough. Nothing wrong with a good dealer that knows what they're doing. If I was OP I would be hopping mad, demand the second round of repairs on the house.

 

It's like any endeavor by humanity.

There's good & bad people without doubt. But time & again it's the same and worsening DAILY as these things age.

I'm not slighting the rank & file worker by any means

There's no profitability in working on older Fords at a dealer & no savings for the customer.

The idea is to sell new ones.

And a less than 100% knowledgeable service customer is at the mercy & some case capricious whims of those who assure them "Yeah, we can fix" this followed by "Sorry, we can't" & then the kick in the teeth;"No, you can't have your money back".

Which happens at any service provider, but after 12 years on this board, It's almost guaranteed to happen 75%+ of the time with an OBS & dealer service.

Especially diagnostic service.

 

Thanks for all the replies! Truck has been back at Dealer since Monday A.M. so far only 1 conversation with Shop, and it's hard to determine what is going on ! When I find out more, I will post it !! Dale