[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-Jun-02 AT 04:32 PM (EST)]Hi to all.

I beleve that my 99 f350 v10 has the piston slap problem I got the truck used with 39.000 miles on it and it now has 44.000 miles.. I took it to the dealer for the motor noise and for a steering problem ( hit pot hole and all hell breaks loose ) the dealer said that i have piston slap and my steering gear box and drag link was bad. Now comes the fun part i have a after market extended warrante that will fix the steering but not the piston slap I beleve that this is a problem that ford should help me with because of some of the messages on this site in reguards to piston slap motor replacement reports by some of the users on this site. I called the custermer service # 1-800-392-ford and they said that they don't know anything about replacing motors for piston slap I don't belive this to be true i think that they just want this to go away so they wont have to replace all those 1998 v10s. So i would like to send a letter to ford in regards to this problem. what i would like to add with the letter is some prof form some of you out there that had a motor replaced because of piston slap so please help me with anything that will help me take on this giant.

 

I'm not too sure you are going to get a lot of help from Ford on the piston slap issue. Their "policy" on engine replacement was not well-defined nor was it equal across all the service centers. Some got new engines, some got new-rebuilt engines, and some got nothing. And since you are well out of warranty, they have no obligation to make any repairs at all- except those associated with safety recalls.

I wish you luck on getting a new engine, but don't stress yourself too much over the matter. I've still not heard anyone state that piston slap has caused a failure. I have, however, read about several '99s & early '00s with almost 200,000 miles on them with no major problems.

Good Luck!

 

Hey

Sorry, I can't help you with any documentation. Just wanted to say my employer has a truck with the piston slap and we have also had no failure. It has well over 100,000 mi. this is a real work truck, used mostly at job sites. Its used and abused, overloaded, etc etc. I drag stuff around the work site with it that weigh who knows how much. Everything on the truck is broken, dragging , etc, --- except that enging , it runs perfectly.

When we first got the truck at about 50,000 mi, it had the piston slap. Our expert (not) mechanic at the time, said it would lose all compression in that cylinder, and blow a bearing, etc in no time. So we got a rebuilt at the local shop. that rebuilt has been sitting in our shop on its pallet, in nice shrink wrap, for some 60,000 miles now.

So, like NoMo said, don't overstress. Good luck.

Jim Ledet

 

My 2001 SD 5.4 had piston slap which was diagnosed at 1800 miles. Initially Ford told me it was nothing to worry about. I was a little pissed at their solution to the problem and demanded they put in a new engine or give me a new truck well they put in a reman. which sounded like a bunch of marbles did some damage to the truck during the swap and 1000 miles later the tranny blew up. To make a long story short Ford decided to give me a new truck to regaing my loyalty as a customer, which I drove home 2 weeks ago. Dealing with Ford is a big pain in the butt and seeing as your truck is past the warranty period I don't think they will be of much help considering the hard time they gave me with my truck that had only 1800 miles on it when the problem was discovered.


Good Luck
Chuck