I spoke with the dealership at noon today (central time,) I was told an inspector would be there today, or tomorrow. In the mean time, they asked me to come to the shop at about 6:00 PM, so that I can see the bearings. They said it is torn down so that you can see them. Problem is, not being much of a mechanic, what do I look for? Can someone offer advice?

I am told that "all the bearings are bad." That, "it wasn't from abuse, you just got a bad motor, a bad casting or something. Sometimes things go wrong with no explination." Okay, whatever. When it comes to things like bearings, I won't have the slightest idea, unless I get a quick education, they can show me anything they want and tell me it's bad. I mean I have rebuilt a couple of old motors when I was in my teens but I had no idea if the parts I was replacing were bad or not, except for a ground down cam lobe.

It is a 97 4.6, if that matters. Also, I am now told that the front cover leak I supposedly had, had no part in the bearings going bad. Also, that the head gasket did not blow.

Thanks for any help and information...


R.K.

 

Try this link. Photos of all the different type of wear bearings can get and what causes them.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/bearin...aranalysis.htm

 

rkm, I am not an auto mechanic, but have been a pump and turbomachinery mechanic for about 16 years. I have rebuilt a few engines myself back when they were a little less complicated. (Can we say computers). I started writing up all that can go wrong with a journal/sleeve type bearing when I decided to look at medic's link. It is pretty comprehensive and gives pretty good descriptions. I would get a good picture of the normal bearing wear and use that as my guide line. If the surfaces aren't reasonably smooth or evenly worn you can write them off as bad. Deep grooves or having a considerable portion of the babbit sraped off or pushed to one side will be a dead giveway. Wide variation in color will probably tell you about contamination, either water or fuel. I have never been into my 4.6 but I think JMC or Neal may be able give you a better description of the bearings in our trucks.
Rick

 

Okay, I'm a bit confused now that I think about it. This all started because of water around the #3 plug wire boot, not in the clyinder?

Your truck is a '97, why do you still go to the dealer for service & repairs?

The dealer admitted that it was a "bad" engine due to poor manufacturing on Ford's part? Are they going to replace it for free?

Why did you let the dealer take your engine that far apart?

Who's paying for the labor considering they were suposed to be looking for a source of water on the external engine?

For some reason I've got a real bad feeling about this

 

You do?

 

Medic. Ford did not admitthat it was a bad motor. The dealers servive rep basically said, who knows why? May have been a bad motor, bad casting etc. The key word being, 'may.'
__________________________________________________ __
I went and looked, I didn't see any bad bearings. The engine tech showed me two bearings that had slight scuffing. I asked him why it never exhibited ANY symptom of anything, it ran fine, perfect in fact. He said the same, you can't hear it unless it is up and you know what to listen for.

Of course he eluded to his vast experience, "I have been doing this for 26 years, good thing I was the one that checked it." Simply, I still don't know anything more than before, nor does the dealership. The inspector will be there tomorrow. According to the engine tech, they may just replace the bearings, rebuild the lower end, or replace the motor, depending on the inspector. Again, in his 26 years, he has never seen them instruct a rebuild or parts replacement. Still hanging, have to call them back tomorrow and find out the verdict.

R.K.

 

Inspector inspected, dealer got authorization from ESP / Ford to replace motor. Supposedly, it wasn't just bearings, the crank was bad, valves were bad, timing gears were bad. Very interesting how a perfectly running vehicle is all the sudden trashed the second the dealer looks at it.

Now I am being told that it will be at least a week before the long block gets in, then a stall has to be cleared, 2- 3 days for the techs to do the swap. Looks like I am looking at another 10 days, two weeks. How pleasent. Three weeks for a what was only a few drops of water on a plug boot.

 

I'm still a bit confused.

You went in with a complaint of water getting past the plug wire & down around the plug causing a misfire.

They responded by hearing SOMETHING & tearing the engine completely down?

Doesn't make much sense

 

That has been my complaint from the begining. I went in asking if they could find anything that may leak on, or into #3. From there they did their "courtesy check" (ie) trying to find a source of revenue. They found $1100 worth of bad brakes and wheel bearings. They found a "liitle rubber hose" that needs electrical tape wrapped around it to repair it, it "can't be replaced."

Apparently, during this cortesy check, the truck was put on a lift. While on the lift, with motor running, they "heard" bad bearings. When I complained, they justified all this by telling me that I willingly brought it to them, asking them to find a water leak. Therefore, having my permission to "find the leak," they have carte blanche to go as far as necessary to do so. Meanwhile, after going as far as a tear down, they happened to find the supposed problem that the tech previously heard and more.

Now, their attitude is coming in to play. Very smug, condesending and obnoxious. When I called this evening, I was all the sudden treated like I owed them something. Like it wasn't important to give me details. The inspector ad done his job, ESP had approved what they wanted, screw the customer, it's only his truck, he doesn't factor into this decision. That's it in a nut shell.

 

It could have been worse. You could have heard a knocking noise and they just said #3 plug had water in it. I understand your angry but some dealers have been giving no help at all to customers. It seems this dealer went far out their way to help you. A lot more than you wanted but what the heck , you get a fresh engine and probably an extended warranty to boot. You may be right about the revenue thing but seems you still win except going without your truck for a long period of time.

 

That's why I hate taking any out of warranty vehicle to a dealer. I'd get a second opinion on the $1100 for brakes and bearings. That sounds excessive. Of course everything they did sounds excessive. Sorry for the bad experience. That sucks.

 

So, you're getting a new engine for FREE? Why do you think you're getting screwed? Sounds like a good fix for your problem. Too bad I never found the water in mine, just the rust on the plug & the track marks down the side after the water was gone.

 

Here is what I suspect.... Somebody drained the oil and forgot to refill it. They ran the engine and it self destructed.

JMC

 

To begin with, I am not getting a "FREE" engine. I am getting a remanufactured (previously torn up) engine that I have to wait 3 weeks for, rent another truck and pay a deductible for. In my view, that makes it far from free.

Secondly, I never said I was getting screwed. I only question the practices of the dealership. If you took your truck, that exhibits no problems at all to a place to change your tires, wouldn't you find it odd if they told you that you needed a new transmission? Same difference. I work in construction and do service quite a bit. If someone has calls and says their furnace isn't working, I don't go in and tell them, your toilet is running, I will put in a new one while I am here for $1000.00. By the way, the wiring to the house is bad, it needs to be replaced. Uh huh, sure it is.

Now, the Ford / ESP rep said all this was a problem. May be true. If so, I am glad that it was found now, the warranty is gone in May. However, I still question the whole deal.

If my bearings, crank, valves, timing gears etc. were all bad, don't you think I would have had some indication? The truck started every day, it never made any noise, smoked, had a loss of power, hesitated, burned oil (excessively) or had any problem. Wonder how that happens, that a motor can be destroyed but neither the driver, nor anyone else notices anything out of sorts, except for the Ford tech with seemingly bionic hearing.

Regarding someone draining the oil and forgetting to refill, interesting theory. Can one drive 3000+ miles with no oil? Wouldn't someone notice something wrong the next time oil was checked or changed? Not likely.

 

rkm,

I meant someone at the dealer drained the oil and forgot to refill. When they started the truck they toasted the internals.

JMC