[NA] At least they circled the problem

[Ted]

SkyHog I am glad to see purchased a Ford that looks like it will serve him very well (once he gets the oil drain and the trans drain figured out ). I have a 2000 Ford Excursion 4x4 Limited that I picked up for a song. I figurd that way I would have a car that gets about the same fuel economy as a twin.

The thing's been out of my possession for 6 out of the 7 weeks I've owned it. I bought the thing and drove it 700 miles in the first week, only to then have the thing die on me on my way out to my friend's house (who I was going to have do some work on it). I had him do a bunch of preventative maintenance on it, as well as a few other items that it needed. Then it went to the Ford dealer for this dying issue. The truck would die and then when you went to crank it, have the "THEFT" light blinking, indicating the truck was stolen. So, the truck decided - while I was driving down the highway - that it was stolen and needed to shut the engine off.

First thing that came to my mind: Imagine having this in the aircraft. You start the plane, do your mag check, all lined up and ready to go. You get 70 feet off the ground, out of runway, and then the plane decides "STOLEN!" and the engine shuts off completely.

I don't know who thought of this wonderful idea that had a failure mode of the system be having the truck shut off while I'm driving down the highway, but all I can say is:

 

[Teller1900]

Ford: Found on Road, Dead

or

Fix or Repair Daily.

 

[Ted]

Mine has been found on road dead twice now. The second time I was driving a friend of mine to class. She wasn't too thriled about being delayed in a bad neighborhood at night (isn't that where these things always break?). Thankfully, we had the 100 lb Rottweiler security system.

The loaner car the Ford dealer gave me? A 2006 Chevy Impala.

 

[colomtnflyer]

Turn it around...

"Driver Returns On Foot"

 

[Richard]

Turn it around...

"Driver Returns On Foot"

Fix Or Repair Daily

 

[KennyFlys]

Tis why....​

​

 

[Teller1900]

Nooooooo. It's supposed to be:

or

 

[KennyFlys]

Yeah Matt... I can picture you driving a Miata...

Or, a Sentra when you want to appear more manly.

 

[wsuffa]

I have a 2000 Ford Excursion 4x4 Limited that I picked up for a song.

Is this the appropriate time to say "you get what you pay for?"

 

[RotaryWingBob]

That's one of the many reasons I just replaced my aging F-150 with a Toyota Tundra...

 

[Ted]

Is this the appropriate time to say "you get what you pay for?"

Actually, what I paid was basically right place at the right time. These trucks go for nothing anyway, mostly because people don't want to pay the fuel bill, and the truck doesn't fit in 90% of garages. It does, however, fit in mine.

There were no warnings to this prior to this happening, and like I said I drove the thing 700 miles in the first week of ownership before this popped up out of nowhere. That is one of the problems with these new computerized cars. There's frequently no warning.

I think the way one of my friends put it is most appropriate: "Congratulations! You bought a Ford!"

I'll keep on driving this rent-a-Chevy until the dealership fixes it...

 

[steingar]

Fraternity of Restored Desotos

 

[Steve]

Hey Bob, I'm considering doing the same thing.

What year Tundra and how's it working out?

That's one of the many reasons I just replaced my aging F-150 with a Toyota Tundra...

 

[mikea]

...I bought the thing and drove it 700 miles in the first week, only to then have the thing die on me on my way out to my friend's house (who I was going to have do some work on it). I had him do a bunch of preventative maintenance on it, as well as a few other items that it needed. Then it went to the Ford dealer for this dying issue. The truck would die and then when you went to crank it, have the "THEFT" light blinking, indicating the truck was stolen. So, the truck decided - while I was driving down the highway - that it was stolen and needed to shut the engine off.

First thing that came to my mind: Imagine having this in the aircraft. You start the plane, do your mag check, all lined up and ready to go. You get 70 feet off the ground, out of runway, and then the plane decides "STOLEN!" and the engine shuts off completely.

I don't know who thought of this wonderful idea that had a failure mode of the system be having the truck shut off while I'm driving down the highway, ...

You have an ignition key with the thick plastic head? It's got a RFID transponder in it. The system that reads that is what's failing. I had no idea it checked the transponder after the engine started.

I have those in my '97 Mustang. You could laugh, but those keys got the theft rate on Mustangs down massively. Mustangs were the among the top five stolen vehicles. Not since they put in the anti-theft system.

 

[Teller1900]

Yeah Matt... I can picture you driving a Miata...

Or, a Sentra when you want to appear more manly.

How'd you know? I just loooooove my Miata.

My first car was a Nissan Stanza...had that for, I think 6 years. Now I have a Mazda 6...wonderful car! I had 268,000 miles on the Stanza when I sold it, and I'm sure it's got a lot more than that by now (a guy at my dad's work bought it, and it's still running to this day). I put 51,000 miles on the Mazda in the first year I had it (included a drive from Iowa to Phoenix, then Las Vegas, then Phoenix, the Las Vegas, the Iowa, then New Hampshire, then Maine, and plenty of shorter jaunts to Minnesota and Kansas) and I've never changed anything but two tires and the oil. I do like these cars. Even if I can't have that Miata I sooooo long for.

 

[RotaryWingBob]

Hey Bob, I'm considering doing the same thing.

What year Tundra and how's it working out?

2008 and I've only had it about 10 days! So far I love the truck, the only negative is some kind of resonance at about 1200 RPM. It seems like it's an induction resonance that varies in loudness depending on how much gas you are giving it. It's not loud enough to be annoying.

 

[wbarnhill]

You have an ignition key with the thick plastic head? It's got a RFID transponder in it. The system that reads that is what's failing. I had no idea it checked the transponder after the engine started.

I have those in my '97 Mustang. You could laugh, but those keys got the theft rate on Mustangs down massively. Mustangs were the among the top five stolen vehicles. Not since they put int he anti-theft system.

Had a '93 Mustang for a while. Looked great, worked great, great gas mileage. Had to rebuild the transmission at about 144K, but other than that, never had an issue. At least until the teenage driver in Texas ran a red light and slammed into my front quarter panel.

 

[gkainz]

The truck would die and then when you went to crank it, have the "THEFT" light blinking, indicating the truck was stolen. So, the truck decided - while I was driving down the highway - that it was stolen and needed to shut the engine off.

Had a 2000 Expedition that did the same thing. Dealer replaced the security module/transponder (under warranty) to fix it. Happened 3 times before they saw the problem and fixed it, tho. Fortunately, all 3 times at home in the garage, so they towed to their shop on their dime...

 

[Ghery]

FORD - Four Old Rusty Doors

Now, those who like them say - First On Race Day.

I drive a '99 Jeep Wrangler. For those who get seriously into upgrading their rides, JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket.

 

[drafttek]

FORD - Four Old Rusty Doors

Now, those who like them say - First On Race Day.

I drive a '99 Jeep Wrangler. For those who get seriously into upgrading their rides, JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket.

I'll second that. I have an '04 Wrangler. I'd own nothing else though.

 

[gkainz]

been running a '95 Wrangler for 140k miles with pretty much no cost but gas, oil, 1 battery, 2 tuneups and 2 set of tires. oh, yeah, 1 set of plastic vacuum lines for the 4x4 engagement system.

 

[SCCutler]

Hey Bob, I'm considering doing the same thing.

What year Tundra and how's it working out?

Steve:

All my clients who buy and use trucks strictly as money-making devices (construction), use Fords... these are the trucks that get rode hard, put up wet and are expected to be good for 200+k miles. Those who have tried Toyotas have been, thus far, severely disappointed. It appears that the Toyotas are good for lots of miles of relatively light duty.

Exception: those who have fleets of service trucks (vans) rave at great length and with great volume about the virtues of the Dodge (Mercedes) Sprinter vans with diesel engines. Burn less fuel, carry a lot and are very rugged.

 

[bjohnson]

Steve:

All my clients who buy and use trucks strictly as money-making devices (construction), use Fords... these are the trucks that get rode hard, put up wet and are expected to be good for 200+k miles.

Exception: those who have fleets of service trucks (vans) rave at great length and with great volume about the virtues of the Dodge (Mercedes) Sprinter vans with diesel engines. Burn less fuel, carry a lot and are very rugged.

I run 4 ford vans every work day and can't complain. I have one Isuzu box truck and it also runs great. Now that I have said this something will probably break tomorrow. But will I buy another Ford Van

I have thought about the Sprinter Vans but their initial cost is quite a bit more.

 

[SCCutler]

...
I have thought about the Sprinter Vans but their initial cost is quite a bit more.

Yes, they certainly mentioned this. They do not put the "tech most likely to wreck out" in 'em.

 

[kevin47881]

2008 and I've only had it about 10 days! So far I love the truck, the only negative is some kind of resonance at about 1200 RPM. It seems like it's an induction resonance that varies in loudness depending on how much gas you are giving it. It's not loud enough to be annoying.

Bob, that is a typical complaint of the new Tundra. According to what I've been reading they have a fix but I don't recall what it is right now. You may want to try Google or a Toyota blog.

 

[Steve]

I've only test driven a couple of 2007 Tundras. The dealers around here can't keep a 2008 on the lot long enough to schedule me a ride in one.

When I bought my 2004 F-150SC it was a great ride and good worker to boot. But the service I get from the dealer is lousy and I'm at the point of jumping ship because of it. I ordered the truck new with a "camper shell" and the local 3rd party vendor that they used to install it hosed up the truck wiring hooking up the HMSL. After I took it to the dealer to get that fixed it now blows the fuses for the back up lights when I tow a trailer and the left turn signal trailer connection is dead. I carry a box of fuses with me and have gotten pretty good at changing them out in the dark. Several other minor aggravations accompanied the purchase which are not worth re-hashing here. But when the original tires got 60k on them the dealer gave me the best price in town for identical replacements which took two different sets to get balanced (poorly, btw). I had them do the recommended 60k service items at the same time and now the truck runs rough and the mpg has dropped by 2 mpg. I had the privilege of paying $100+ to fill up this week, which reminds me how much 2 mpg can mean. They managed to take out all the enjoyment of owning the vehicle which now rides like one of those shiatsu massage chairs.

I've owned an F-150 since '88. Time to try something new.

2008 and I've only had it about 10 days! So far I love the truck, the only negative is some kind of resonance at about 1200 RPM. It seems like it's an induction resonance that varies in loudness depending on how much gas you are giving it. It's not loud enough to be annoying.

 

[KennyFlys]

2008 and I've only had it about 10 days! So far I love the truck, the only negative is some kind of resonance at about 1200 RPM. It seems like it's an induction resonance that varies in loudness depending on how much gas you are giving it. It's not loud enough to be annoying.

The same thing exist on VW diesels but as far as I know, only on the manual transmissions. If the engine speed remains low while in a higher gear, it would resonate between 1150 and 1250 or so. I'm not sure how this could happen on an automatic transmission unless it's poorly tuned and not shifting down at lower speed.

 

[imQ]

For the everyday driver, I like the Toyota's. but my fleet customers seem to have fits with them. I'm liking the Dodge Rams with the Cummins and the Mercedes G56 6 speed. You have to work really hard to tear one up. For anyone considering the Sprinter vans, we bought 4 of them to deliver parts (We run them all over the state of OK 5 days a week.) Great milage, and the first one already has 154k miles with nothing more than routine maint.
With gas prices the way they are, they are worth the extra money.

 

[Don Jones]

One of my fleet customers runs GMC Safari vans. He finally retired 2 of them that had over 1 million miles on them. They both had the original engines and neither had had so much as a valve cover gasket replaced. One of my other fleet guys had 2 fairly late model Ford pickups loose an engine the same week, one was a 4.6 the other a 5.2, both had around 80K on the clock and were very well maintained. Don't even get me started on Chrysler, and sorry guys, but Jeep either.(since taken over by Chrysler anyway)

 

[imQ]

You noticed I mentioned the Cummins and Mercedes powered stuff. I have a customer that runs Dodge diesels. He has a 98 that has 1.3 million on it. Never been into the engine, but I've sold him 4 automatic transmissions and a couple of injection/lift pumps. His oldest is a 93 up to a 07 with a 6.7 & G56 combo.

 

[Keith Lane]

You might try searching here for answers. You might need to register. I use their F-150 forum a lot and am a registered user. No spam.... ever.
Good luck
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum29/

 

[Don Jones]

You noticed I mentioned the Cummins and Mercedes powered stuff. I have a customer that runs Dodge diesels. He has a 98 that has 1.3 million on it. Never been into the engine, but I've sold him 4 automatic transmissions and a couple of injection/lift pumps. His oldest is a 93 up to a 07 with a 6.7 & G56 combo.

Yep, terrific engines wrapped in junk

 

[Ted]

You have an ignition key with the thick plastic head? It's got a RFID transponder in it. The system that reads that is what's failing. I had no idea it checked the transponder after the engine started.

Yep, the PATS system is what's dead. This specific one is a PATS-II. The dealership first replaced the transponder in the wheel, saying that was what was bad. However this second time, the thing died so badly it just wouldn't start at all afterwards (it did for a few seconds just long enough to get me off the highway, but that was it). So, this should be easier to find the problem of. They supposedly ordered a new PATS module to install, but I haven't heard back from them. I'll give them a call today. In the mean time, I'll just keep driving the rent-a-Chevy, courtesy of the Ford dealer.

I have those in my '97 Mustang. You could laugh, but those keys got the theft rate on Mustangs down massively. Mustangs were the among the top five stolen vehicles. Not since they put in the anti-theft system.

Certainly these newer cars are more difficult to steal - but earlier Mustangs were just ridiculously easy. At the shop we had to hotwire more than one when the owner forgot the keys. They don't call the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" for nothing.

The problem to me is not making it more difficult to steal the cars, but putting in a system that has a potential failure mode of the system failing while driving. If I just went out to my truck one morning and it didn't start, I would be significantly more content than having the thing die on the highway. Not only does it strand me (potentially in a dangerous situation), but it also definitely puts me in the dangerous situation of an engine-out. Drivers like my mom would most likely get into some bad wreck if that happened. Even competent drivers who can react to such situations may be in a location (like New York City at rush hour, or around a blind corner) where they may coast to a stop, but someone else will then smash into them.

 

[Ted]

Yep, terrific engines wrapped in junk

I had a 2004 Dodge Ram with the Cummins and the NV5600 6-speed. I bought it brand new with 24 miles on it and sold it 2 years later (to the day) with 107,000 on it, all heavy towing. I followed the maintenance schedules exactly, and the truck didn't give me an ounce of trouble. I only once had to take it back to the dealership when it was fairly new for an alignment. Otherwise, there were no problems with it. I sold it because I bought a 4x2 truck and I moved to a place where 4x4 was a necessity. Should've bought the 4x4 when I bought it.

As I understand the story, when Dodge first started putting the Cummins engines in, they told Dodge they'd guarantee them for 500,000 miles. Dodge responded "We can't make a truck that'll LAST 500,000 miles."

 

[gkainz]

168,000 on my '97 Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel ... now that I've got it properly broken in, it's time to start bombing it ... looking for around 450-500 hp out of the 12v engine - easily attainable...

The diesel mechanic I use (http://www.dieselram.com) is pushing over 900hp and maxed out the dyno (1800lbft) for torque. I've seen a few Ram CTDs on the dyno over 1000hp