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Bad dealer, Bad injectors!

3K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  Naterenfo1 
#1 ·
So I purchased my truck used with 199,300 miles in April of 2012. My specific request when I purchased the truck was to have a full tank of fuel, and a brand new fuel filter put in. The dealership was happy to oblige, tossed me the keys and sent me on my way. This winter I have noticed that I FOR SURE need a new set of injectors (smoke on startup, cyl 8 failed cyl cont. test, glowplugs are good, GPR is good). I finally hit my second oil change interval and decided to change my fuel filter with roughly 9k miles on it. I pulled out the filter and discovered that the bottom O-ring on the filter was missing. This O-Ring seperates the dirty fuel from the clean filtered fuel. Which means my injectors have been getting dirty fuel since I purchased the truck, likely the cause for my bad injectors.


Now I am wondering, how can I go about this to bring it up to the dealer, and have them pay for a new set of injectors, seeing as it was their fault? I saved the fuel filter and put it into a clean ziploc bag. They show on their records that they changed the fuel filter (I went in on a saturday and told the gentleman at the service desk what happened, he told me to come back during the week and talk to the service advisor).

Any lawyers out there that got a plan? or maybe any folks that work behind the service desk that can help me out here? After all, they should be responsible for the damage they caused to my truck. Do I put the old filter back in and bring it to a dealer and have them change it and document its missing an o-ring?

Thanks for the help folks! :icon_ford:
 
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#4 ·
I ohmed each GP through the GP connector. I upgraded my stock relay to a Stancor relay. It for sure is not the GP's or GP system... I put a GPR LED in also to be sure the GP's are staying on long enough, and they stay on for a good minute and a half. With 9k miles of dirty fuel, it would be tough to say the injectors survived that well.... She smokes like a freight train for a solid 10 minutes and misses when its cold out.

I definitely will be bringing it to them, and they damn well better make it right.. I have no problem stopping there every time I drive by and warning their customers what they do!
 
#5 ·
Within a month of getting my truck I noticed my tranny slipping. Truck was under warranty. Took the truck in for a reman tranny. First thing that made me blow my top was when I asked them about changing out the tranny cooler. They assured me they changed it and flushed the whole system. I looked down in the cooler area and could not see anything new. So I asked them to point it out for me. "oh ya they sent the wrong one!" So I said ok fine get me the right one then..next day suprise here it is the right one (was the exact one in the pic I took of the tranny....) so I knew they tryed to screw me. But I got to wondering what was going on after a bit. They put the "extra" tranny filter in the glove box for me for later....ya you guessed it I pulled the "new" filter it was black as nite, stank and sparkled like a 1970's mexican low rider...
The last straw was when I asked them for a Oasis. Got it back with nothin on it.Got one from here that was 3 pages long....
Sad to say but my Ford (PHIL LONG FORD) is just as crooked as any greasey 2bit chop shop...I feel your pain
 
#7 ·
I talked to the service manager about my problem over the phone, he called me back after a couple hours after he had talked to the owner of the dealership and said they weren't going to cover any of the damage. I then asked to talk to the owner, and I talked to him. I politely described my situation to him, and he said they still wouldn't do anything about it. I offered to pay for the injectors, if he would cover the cost of the installation (despite being a diesel mechanic, I don't have the time/space to put them in myself) and he quickly gave me a sharp "No". He told me the vehicle was sold to me in an "as is" condition. I asked him about the 12 month, 12,000 mile warranty that his service center provides when you get your vehicles fixed there, and he said that doesn't matter because I didn't own the vehicle yet before it was serviced. He told me he would talk to his technician that did the work, which he told me was his best technician. I said back to him, your best technician can't figure out how to put a fuel filter in properly?


So, F*ck them is all I have to say.

DAN WELLE'S IN SAUK CENTRE, MN is a bunch of crooks. Looks like im going to be buying some injectors from Pensacola diesel and find some time this spring to put them in. For now, I'll be driving my danger ranger around to save fuel. (10 MPG in my 7.3 is robbing me blind!)
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
I did try putting some fuel additive into the tank, mostly Diesel 911, and Howe's . Neither seemed to help with anything except gelling. I run a 50/50 blend, so gelling wasn't/isn't really a concern anyway. I talked to one of the sales folks at pensacola and he said the worn out pistons in the injectors get stuck when the oil is cold, and likely I have some nozzles that like to stick open. After the motor warms up a bit the missing goes away, and the smoke disappears because the nozzles and pistons are getting freed up. Can anyone attest to putting new sticks in and getting better MPG's? I am getting really, really sick of 10 MPG highway driving at 65....
 
#10 ·
Well, I have another update.

This week I bought an injector superkit from Pensacola Diesel.
Today I pulled my injectors, and put the remanned ones in.

In the process:
-Broke an oil deflector on Cyl #3
-Wrecked the dipstick, and dipstick tube
-found the P.O. had put in Beru glow plugs, and one of them (cyl #3) had an extremely "burned" look to it.
-Compression tests were as follows
#1 410
#2 410
#3 405
#4 400
#5 410
#6 395
#7 405
#8 300

I checked #8 like 5 times with the compression gauge, ****ing thing showed 300 every time..... FAWK.

So, I replaced all the glow plugs, and replaced the valve cover gaskets/harnesses. I have had my oil sampled regularly since purchase, as well as all the other fluids in my truck so I didn't need to do injector cups.


Then, after getting the thing back together, Started it, ran it, let it run/worked it for half hour and I have a miss....

There isn't any words to explain how friggen' pissed I am, so I will shamelessly use an ***-load of smileys.
:rod::rod::rod::rod::rod::rod::flamethrower::icon_ford::Shoot2::Shoot2::Shoot2::Shoot2:

Whoever the hell decided that 7.3L's are legendary should be shot in the face. On top of all that, I have 2 leaky up pipes, and my drivers side exhaust manifold is leaking to the point where it leaves soot on the firewall. Not to mention the dipstick tube leak, the axle seal leak and the other various repairs that need to be made.

I think its safe to say that after I get the miss fixed, I'm going to be wiping the oil off the axle and the dipstick tube, and trade this POS in. I can't afford to be tossing big bucks into this "Legendary 7.3L" every damn weekend.


/end rant :soapbox:
 
#14 ·
This week I bought an injector superkit from Pensacola Diesel. 1st probIn the process:
-Broke an oil deflector on Cyl #3
-Wrecked the dipstick, and dipstick tube
-found the P.O. had put in Beru glow plugs, and one of them (cyl #3) had an extremely "burned" look to it. Beru are the good ones. Possibly a bad uvch connection :dunno:
-Compression tests were as follows
#1 410
#2 410
#3 405
#4 400
#5 410
#6 395
#7 405
#8 300

I checked #8 like 5 times with the compression gauge, ****ing thing showed 300 every time..... FAWK.

So, I replaced all the glow plugs, and replaced the valve cover gaskets/harnesses. I have had my oil sampled regularly since purchase, as well as all the other fluids in my truck so I didn't need to do injector cups.


Then, after getting the thing back together, Started it, ran it, let it run/worked it for half hour and I have a miss....

There isn't any words to explain how friggen' pissed I am, so I will shamelessly use an ***-load of smileys.
:rod::rod::rod::rod::rod::rod::flamethrower::icon_ford::Shoot2::Shoot2::Shoot2::Shoot2:
Whoever the hell decided that 7.3L's are legendary should be shot in the face. ppl say that because they can go a long time with relatively cheap maint. . . . as long as they are maintained at allOn top of all that, I have 2 leaky up pipes, and my drivers side exhaust manifold is leaking to the point where it leaves soot on the firewall. Not to mention the dipstick tube leak, the axle seal leak and the other various repairs that need to be made. it's a truck, things break.

I think its safe to say that after I get the miss fixed, I'm going to be wiping the oil off the axle and the dipstick tube, and trade this POS in. It's ppl like you that give a certain truck a bad name because you rag on it for it having normal issues. I understand that you're mad though.


/end rant :soapbox:
I replied in red. Honestly, I know you're mad, and like those other ppl said, it's a gamble buying a high mileage used, beaten truck. You might can still sell it for more than you bought it for and find another one in good shape.
 
#11 ·
have you checked for excessive blow-by from your oil fill tube?

i think the 7.3's reputation comes from the engine being relatively simple and easy to work on with basic tools. there are also plenty of easy aftermarket mods to do on them that actually make a big difference in power.

my '03 7.3 has a serious miss on a cylinder when it's cold and an oil leak from the back of the engine somewhere that i can't reach.

on the upside, used engines for these trucks are plentiful and relatively cheap. i see them for $1500 around here all the time.

if you trade it in, what are going to end up with? the same thing? a 6 liter problem? a legendary dodge/cummins problem? a gm product with a truck that falls apart and bends when you look at it funny?

you will probably be better off getting a used one to do a mild rebuild on which will be good for another 2-300,000
 
#12 ·
I feel your pain. I bought a truck with a mere 170,000 miles on it. 7,000 miles later i burnt a hole in one piston and cracked several others. Injectors failed.(Pensacola Diesel)Got all 8 tested. 4 failed horribly, 3 were iffy, one was very good. Not a happy camper. other than a toasted motor truck was perfect. Decided to keep it. Got remanned motor, new sticks and other goodies. Got all the bugs and kinks worked out. Very happy now.

If rest of truck is good. fix the issues. For the love of god get those Pensacola diesel crap sticks out!!!! Ask any reputable rebuilder and they will tell you. Swamps Diesel won't even take them as a core if you tell them you have them. Yes diesels are expensive. Yes they will frustrate you. Yes you will be hard pressed to find a good local mechanic. But once fixed and maintained properly it will be "legendary"
Google is your friend. Many many people have had issues that you are having. Learn from them.
 
#13 ·
150 to 200k miles with no knowledge of history. Obviously maintenance was and issue with the previous owners. Now we want to be made whole? Chalk it up to not knowing what you were buying or better yet, 'buyer beware'. My truck had 72k when I bought it and needed $5k worth of work 6 months later. Was it their fault? No. Not really. They took it on trade and sold it to me and it was 10 years old. The number one thing I'd only have them services at dealers that do a lot of deisel work. I won't take it to the selling dealer, they don't do hardly any diesel work. My regular dealer doesn't either. I use a dealer I've never bought from because they do a lot of diesel work. Always good work. 7.3 are legendary unless you but someone else's problem and at 200k, its a crap shoot. Sue the dealer if you want but I think you'll be sadly awakened by the reality of 'buyer beware'. Also should of asked for a warranty too. I did.


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#15 ·
What I will likely do is fix the miss this upcoming week, and see how soon I can start putting a new bed on. I bought a bed from a 2010 truck with no rust on it whatsoever, but it has the wrong shade of white :doh:. So I will put that bed on, have it re-sprayed and trade the truck in towards a 6.4. I don't want to own/drive this truck when that #8 cyl decides to quit for good. As long as I can have it running decent when I bring it in, I am not too worried. The Pensacola sticks will have to stay, seeing as I can't return them now since they have been installed.
 
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