My 2005 F250 5.4L XL 4x4 SB started running rough last friday, so i tried tracking down the problems at my house over the weekend and didnt come up with anything other than a coil that was out that i replaced. So today i went to the dealer and had it put on the computer. heres what followed: Yes, that number is right.... $3,341.99 was the qoute the dealer gave me when i took my roughly idling and bogging at low RPM truck to the dealer to get a $60 quick diagnostic assesment so i could start working on it myself. I went to lunch after waiting 20 minutes and seeing that my truck had not moved yet. It took the dealer techs 2.5 hours to come back with this response: You have cylinders 5, 6, and 8 missin. The coils on those cylinders will need to be replaced at 81.99 ea. The spark plugs on 5 cylinders... yes five, because they pulled ALL of them and said that 5 were badat a replacement cost of 18.99 ea. Then comes the fun stuff... They said i had 2 count them both catalytic converters out and a cost of 1700 in parts alone to replace them. On top of this, there was an "estimated" 900 in labor, 99.99 for tech services on an update and the time involved, 95 for shipping on parts, and another 205 in miscellaneous charges... oh, and they would have my truck for 2-3 days while i sat on my thumbs and thought fondly of better times. Needless to say the receipt from the diagnostic test said "customer declined repairs"

SOOOO, i have come to the conclusion that they are full of it and i will not be returning... heres why:

A.) The COP that they will be installing costs me 44.00 at autozone, and it comes with a lifetime warrenty as opposed to the dealers 1 year

B.) One of the coil packs that they said is bad is the one i replaced over the weekend, that i know was working

C.) The spark plugs that i bought and put in that motor (all eight) cost me 12.99 and have only been in the motor for 15,000 miles, and i doubt that 5 went bad in the span of 2 days.

D.) I doubt the catalytic converters are bad... and even if they are i havent heard of somebodys engine running rough due to the cats

E.) The cost of the parts is rediculous and they charged me 60 dollars to plug in my truck and read out the info instead of acually doing a diagnosis...

Sorry for ranting guys, and i hope that this is some sort of mistake or just my inexperience with dealerships, but this is just outrageous. Once i go get my buddys snap on hooked up i will be fixing the truck, but i hate having paid 60 for something that i am so unhappy with and feel like was too high to begin with.


-Jacob
"gone missin, back later"

 

Oh, and i am still working on the 2.5" leveling kit and should be done soon... between blowing out my knee and all this motor trouble, i will finish it a little later than i expected... O well

 

WTF kind of Cats cost $1700 for a pair? I could see costing a few hundred because you didn't meet emissions requirements, but that shouldn't make the truck run rough unless there is something restricting so much flow that its actually making the truck run rough. Other than that, why not replace the coil packs and sparks yourself. My suggestion first would be to swap around the spark plugs from 8 to 1, 5 to 4 and 6 to 3, the opposite plugs. If they come up with 5,6, and 8 again, claim bull**** and contact the ford HQ and report them and you might get a refund + you will know not to go there again.

 

Those OEM cats actually do retail for the amount quoted...

Catalytic converter, f250 pick-up, 5.4l, all - 1999-07 super duty - 1999-07 SUPER DUTY
05-06 $1,656.27 $1,175.62

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0

 

There must be gold in them. The used car dealer I bought my superduty from, wanted to charge me 200.00 for one v10 coil. I went to a parts store and got one for 40.00. Ahh those car dealers are just trying to help us out arent they?

 

The problem with the dealerships is that they don't compete with one another. They believe that have a monopoly on OEM parts... and they do. However, the aftermarket does compete and often makes better parts than OEM. I always look to the aftermarket for replacement parts. In few instances are the OEM parts the best you can buy.

 

always a get a second opinion if a bill sounds like its beyond the price u expect..

in tuff times alot of repair shops will try to rake u over the coals for BIG bills if they think they can get away with it...

so basicly they wanted 4K$ to tuneup ur truck ?, hahhaah

 

I completely agree on this 100% percent. Well, maybe 99%.

Did they actually pull the spark plugs? I don't think so.

What brand spark plugs did you use? (this is the only time Motorcraft or Autolite are probably the only choice)

 

That's why we call them "stealerships". I've found that the "stealers" usualy have parts prices at right about double what you can buy at any other parts store - I'll only buy parts from the "stealer" if I can't get the part anywhere else. Most will try to use scare tactics about having them work on your vehicle because of course nobody else is certified. Unfortunately the manufacturers are helping this out by making more and more repairs need special tools to do the job - although many times you can make something work. To top it all off, dealers around here are chargind $85 per hour for labor. The way I look at it wil the double cost of parts and $85 per hour, I can throw a lot of parts at a problem and probably fix it for less than the dealer would have charged even if I dont' get it on the first try - not to mention I may wind up replacing something that would have failed in the future in the process. If I were you, I'd just replace all the plugs and coils, fuel filter, clean the MAF, and maybe run some fuel injector cleaner through it to start off. You be in it for way less than what they want, have a good "tune up" on your truck, and if it doesn't fix it start moving down the line with other options - O2 sensors, injectors, repost on this site, etc. Good Luck!!

 

I guess i should have explained the background of this a little better...


I have only paid to have a vehicle of mine worked on once, when the transmission went out in my acura integra... So to me, somebody marking up prices and the labor costs were MUCH higher than i expected. I guess i am just too honest and would feel bad i ripped somebody off that bad, so i just didnt see it coming.

No worries though, tonight i have my buddy coming over and we will be tearing into the motor until ungodly hours im sure, but hey it could be worse... i could be on fire!

Oh, and the spark plugs i put in were the autolite plugs i got at autozone

 

You could have saved yourself $20 on the diagnostics........a scanner is $40 at Harbor Freight.

Does your truck even have 2 cats? My 02 V10 only has one.

 

For the cost a lot of cats have platinum in them.
Do the codes remain tripped untill reset? maybee half the problems you already fixed and just show up on the scanner due to not being reset yet. I have seen cats cause lack of power due to being plugged up but usually on an older vehicle than that, never experienced it myself though as cutting them off is usually the first thing i do when i get a vehicle.

 

That's a good philosophy when you think about it...

 

Do you have over 80,000 miles on the truck? If not, be sure that you do let the dealer replace the two cats -- under warranty.

 

n4aol is right if you have under 80,000 on it they are covered under the federal emision act.