I went to the liquor store to get a 6pk, so I could enjoy a cool, refreshing drink while watching the Chargers stomp the Bronco's this afternoon, not that it really matters this year; and on the way back my truck popped, and died.

I walked home, got my neighbor to tow me home and got to looking. Engine turns over, just fine. Really fast though. Popped a cop and a plug, and my pistons aren't going up and down anymore. Popped the flex plate cover and it's all nice and tight, and the crank is spinning when the the starter engages. Went to the other side of the engine, popped a cop and pulled a plug in the back half. That piston is going up and down.

My crank must be busted. 8500 miles on it. Reset the programming to stock, but can't start the truck. Towing it Ford in the morning. Might buy an 09 if the engine's toast, unless they put a new one (not reconditioned) in it.

Must be bad Karma for being a Chargers fan.

Oh, and there was nothing out of the ordinary when it crapped out. Going up a slight hill, popped, and died. Oil is changed every 5000 miles, so yes, it's been changed once, and I used Motorcraft 5W20, and a Motorcraft filter. Everything is stock, other than the programmer that WAS in it.

Any ideas?

 

Wow...Glad I diagnosed it correctly...lol

 

It sounds to me like a busted connecting rod, if the crankshaft was busted the motor wouldn't turn over and the pulley and balancer wouldn't be turning when you crank it over. How many cylinders did you look at? If only one was dead it probably would fire but run terribly and make a lot of noise. since you got a no start condition theres probably more than one bad cylinder or rod. Thats pretty unusual to have that kind of a problem with such low milage. Hopefully as long as its still under the factory warranty they should replace the motor completely. Depending on the year they should give you a new engine and not a re-manufactured one, but chances are you will get a new one if its covered. I think you stated it in your post but make sure that tuner and any remains of it are OFF the truck so they dont try and pull the "non standard equipment" line of bs. By the way what year and engine is your truck? Good luck and let us know what happens!

 

A good old friend of mine and an excellent mechanic (once by trade, later as a hobby) once told me that if an engine made it through 5000 miles, it would make 50,000. This is an excellent example of the kind of manufacturing defect that will almost certainly become evident before the warranty ends. I'm glad for Chargersfan that it didn't happen under dangerous circumstances. BTW, what engine was it?

 

It's a 5.4l. One with a build date of 11/23/07 The balancer isn't turning over, for whoever wrote that part. The flywheel is, but the front end isn't. It's like the crank is sawed in half or something.

 

What size motor? Only 8500 miles on it!!! Dude you telling us everything? No noise or indication of anything before it just "popped"

 

Sounds like you cracked the crank at a journal....thats my guess

 

No warning whatsoever. I've never had anything like this happen to me in my life. Kinda' stunned. It's leaving for the Ford dealer in 15 minutes for their early bird service. I'm sure I'm not the first, but I'm also sure it's extremely random and rare.

GO CHARGERS!!! (52-21...hahahaha)

 

I'm curious to see if they could tell a programmer was on it and what happens if they can tell.

Sorry about your troubles. You seem to be taking it well!

 

they can't tell there was a programmer. the pcm generates a generic trouble code when a programmer is connected...but a code reader does the same thing

sorry about the problems ChargersFan. Hope they do you right with a new motor

 

There is a flash counter in the PCM. If they dig enough they can tell its been flashed more time than shows up in OASIS (in other words, if they show it should have 1 flash but it has 3, they'll know). I've yet to hear of a dealer going to this extreme with a F150 but it is possible.

Now, about tuners. Some tunes are not properly written and can increase timing way too much in cold weather. Even Roush did this with the earlier versions of their tunes and ended up blowing engines in very cold weather.

 

That's exactly why!!!

Naw, sorry to hear bout your troubles. Let us know the verdict when Ford calls.

 

Well, it's the crank. It looks like it was cut in half with a sawzall according to the Service Manager. They are waiting on guidance from Ford on how to proceed, but the dealership seems to think it'll have a new motor and be back on the road by Friday. that seems pretty quick to me, but I guess they have one in Denver. they said it won't be a short block, but a plug and play version minus the intake and alternator. We'll (I'll) see...

I'm only "taking it well" because there isn't a darn thing I can do about it at the moment. I would like to know how it happened, but the mechanics are all scratching their heads.

 

definately a "freak" thing!! hopefully it all works out well.

 

Crank must have been done on a Friday afternoon and the tech had a hot date lol lets hope it all works out for you...