So I went and picked up my truck... Apperantly they don't want to give me my $860 in cash. They were only willing to pro-rate it if I was to have them install a new motor... The head idiot lady wasn't there so i didnt have anyone to take this issue up with. So I will be going by there in the morning to "discuss" this with her. If she dosnt care to agree with me then I will be finding the owners office and talk it over with him. If he dosnt then I might further pursue the fact that they have no way of proving that this was the original problem with my truck, and if they had properly diagnosed it in the first place maybe I wouldnt need a new motor. if it goes that fare then they will be hearing those words from my lawyer friend.

Honestly everything that they have told me dosnt make total sense with the symptoms that I have had. if it is a compression ring then why did the truck fix itself for a brief moment before it started clanking the first time? Why did the clanking go away? Why is it still dumping fuel into that cylinder and pushing it out the exhuast? Is 250 psi not enough to burn that fuel at all? What are the chances of it hitting 250psi the first crank when they compression tested it the first time (with no shrader valve) And it only hitting 250psi max when they did it the second time (with a shrader valve)
after 7 cranks? Why did this happen in the first place? Why didnt i have any troubles with my truck until they replaced the CPS?
All of these things dont make sense to me. If ANY of you could help me weather its agreeing or disagreeing that would be great. And if you disagree with this not making sense please explain...

Thanks

 

Nolan, I looked at this earlier, but did not reply. I decided to see what others would say. I see nobody wants to jump on this. This is probably because it is like squeezing blood from a stone to get money out of a dealer shop.

There is probably nothing myself or anyone here can tell you that will change their position once they have it. A lawyer can get pricey, and lawsuits are kinda taboo here.

 

Thanks Mike- I appreciate your honesty. I was just looking for some info on if these syptoms/ideas on compression and everything els made sense to people that know about these motors. I have no intent on suing the dealership I know in the long run it isnt worth it, nor do I have the money to pay for a lawyer. It was my hope that if my friend gave them a call maybe they would change their tone a little bit. I'm at my wits end and without getting my money back from them I can't even afford getting a second opinion. I want to take the truck down to my friend at the dealership in Monterey but they will at least charge me to diagnose it. Plus I would want to have it towed there since it is still clanking. I'm just trying to figure out if it is worth getting a second opinion from someone I can trust, based on the ideas above...
Thanks Again!

 

So I guess I will be taking my truck down there on manday since this morning didn't work out... Crazy life+work+unreliable people= insanity!

 

Sorry about all you have been through. I have been following this from the beginning. Very frustrating to say the least. I have nothing constructive to add other than to say you at least have my moral support. Good luck with all.

 

Thanks Jay.... I appreciate it!

 

Have you run your story by the mechanic you trust to get his thoughts? Maybe you can find someone with a trailer that will pull your truck down there for you.

Until you can prove your problem dealer is wrong I don't see you getting your money back. Unfortunately that leaves your checkbook on the short end of the situation.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Without going back and reading through all the update threads, were there any injectors replaced?
If so, it is possible that the mechanic didn't properly clear the cylinder and hydrolocked the engine.
That will break a piston if just the right amount of oil is in the cylinder.

 

My friend and I did one first... Made sure the cylinder was as clear as possible without a evac system. When we started the truck after that and I drove it enough to clean out the fuel system the truck was back to square one... Two days after that my SES light came on with 308 again. Two days after that it started making a clanking sound after it started running great for a few blocks, and had cleared the SES light. I shut it off and took it to the local stealership... They said it was a bad #8 injector and put one of their remanns in there... After they did that it was just the same as when I took it in there, but they said while they were diagnosing it the clanking sounds went away. Less then 5 miles after I picked it up from them my SES light came back on with code 308. one week after a picked it up from them the clanking sound came back, that was this past monday. I towed it there and now they say its a bad compression ring. Would a bad compression ring cause a 308 code though??? And would the truck all of a sudden run great for a short while?

 

I'm out of ideas.

 

series of comments: 250 psi is 17 to 1 compression which is kinda factory spec for an '00 ( I looked) so I'm thinking you didn't botch a cylinder. if the glow plugs come on cyl temps go to +450 degrees according to ernest eugene which is enough to fire the cyl, even on low compression or bad valves.

OILY exhaust pipe?? otherwise how do you know that the cyl is getting fuel and not burning it?

I'm thinking that the symptoms come and go because there is no fuel or air in the injector, which makes a hell of a clack when they are empty. might not be #8, but could be that side. The boy has the laptop AE so I'm not sure what a 308 is but my search here at FTE thinks it was injector related.

how clean is the engine oil, and what is it? You indicated that it was quiet after a fuel system purge.

Could there be a Possibility of Loose things banging about the cylinder? (injector tips, glow plug parts because the dealer is stoopid?) not likely with decent compression.

just supposing: this is my $.02. if it were a LYC 0-290, i could really help.

 

Are you saying that 250 psi is the proper compression on a '00? I thought we were looking for #s above 400 on a good one.

 

Mike- I think he means that it is enough to fire the fuel instead of just blowing it out of the exhaust pipe...

Piotrsko- 308=injector driver circuit #8 cylinder... Its definetley that side and with the 308 code being the only one im getting... thats why we are looking to it. I run Delo 15 40. It looks fine. When they pulled out my injector it was still in one piece along with the gp's...Thanks for the useful info

 

Nolan, I would definatly get a 2nd opinion from a trusted party. One thing that you could do is to contact the attorney generals office from your state. Make sure that you have documentation of everything from what the dealer did to your posts and responses here. There is no charge for the attorney generals office to assist you, being in business for myself I have had to use them a few times in the past to help resolve issues. If I can help you in anyway in that manner please don't hesitate to either email or pm me. Good Luck

 

Ok looked it up: '00 shop manual pg 303-01C-128 mid page compression ratio 17.5 to 1

Kinda low for a diesel which really suprised me.

my math 17.5 X 14.7 ('cuz he is close to sea level) is 257.25 psi on a new engine, warm and many cranks with a valved tester. 250 shouldn't be all that bad then, especially cold. I don't know who is getting 400, or how, but that is what my ford service manual says.

new series of comments, based on my history as a tech:

only way to get a P308 code is fron the electronics in the pcm monitoring circuit. this code points to a bad IDM (?) circuit, which IS monitored for voltage (and byproduct current) irregularities. bad circuits in this engine are historically in the valve cover connector either shorting or opening or rubbing in the external harness area, like on a valve cover. somewhere I read that it takes a couple of cycles for the PCm to set codes before it shuts down the offending circuit.

Just because it is a reman, don't mean it is gonna work. BTDT lots.

stuff i would do at this point: get a KNOWN working good cps (from a friend?) and install. Isolate the #8 from the harness, probably by pulling the valve covers and unplugging. run engine, listen for that clack clean up oil splatter. if the injector is crap, it won't fire but might clack.

If you still get a clack, look elsewhere, and only NOW is it starting to look like you might have cyl problems.

get someone with a code scanner that works or an AE equipped computer and reset the PCM DTC's. worse case unconnect both batteries and sit overnite to drain the KEEP ALIVE function. purge the fuel line (again?) at the # 8 end.

ought to run like crap too. shouldn't smoke at all.with #8 disconnected, it will set a P308, and probably a couple of others. other places to look are in the IDM (probably the wrong word {injector power supply under the fender}) and valve lash settings.