Mekanik

Thats a little scary. We have replaced a ton of FICMs this past winter. I even did one last week as a side-job. The guy bought a brand new FICM in a ford box for $400.00 off of ebay. It seems that whenever they have to step up production there are problems.

I bet I could replace a frame in an ambulance in less than 40 hours. How hard could it be in a Tacoma? Maybe Toyota warrantr pays really good.

What was that guy's name? That guy from Banks?

I'm curious too. We use AT&T which was cingular.

If you use your impact, you will become an expert even faster.

This van reminds me of some of the soccer mom vehicles I work on. Actually it reminds me of the vehicle my wife drives. Enjoy!!

Funny you should mention this. There were 2 techs at our shop that had a "meeting" ( )with some warranty nazi earlier this year. This guy told the 2 techs that EVERY 6.0l drivability repair should refrence some tsb because there is a tsb for EVERYTHING that could cause a drivability on a 6.0L. If you think about this there are plenty other things that could cause the engine to not run or run poorly that there isn't a tsb for.

+1

We get a lot of these idiots that come in and want to talk. Mostly it's them just wanting to show us how smart they are. They come in and want to ask some questions about diesel fuel or something. But they don't want your information. They just want to hear thier own voice, " I'm not putting that McDonald's french fry oil bio-diesel in my pick up truck. Bla bla bla... " What about the fuel tank? Is this an aft. axle tank? Has the liner come apart or is the inside of the tank all rusty?

Thats a good article. I never realized that the 6.8L V-10 was so fuel efficent. I wonder if this will make people buy heavier duty vehicle for an ambulance. I am seeing more and more ambulances that are International trucks. Or what if they just buy an f-series for an ambulance. The city I live in has all f-350 ambulances.

Wow, headgaskets leaking on 6.4ls. We haven't seen any, but I have seen several de-gas bottles with coolant stains on the outside.

If Ford dosen't offer a diesel, then I'm sure someone else will. I think Ford just dosen't know yet.

This sounds like combustion gas in the fuel rail. Probably caused by injector #4. I would do the modified baloon test as stated before and if this is the case replace all the injectors on that bank. I even had a hotline engineer suggest replacing all injectors on a bank when there is one letting combustion gas into the fuel rail. (This was with the understanding that the truck was out of warranty. )

Have you recovered the piece that caused this destruction? If not, what shape is it? Are you missing any sockets, nuts, bolts, torx bits? It has never happened to me, but I can see how some dirt, pebble, extra 10mm nut that is laying right next to the intake manifold can fall down into the cylinder after the intake is removed. We had a scenario just like this about a year ago. A tech in my shop replaced an EGR cooler on a little bus, and the thing came back a week later missing on cyl#4. The piston and head was all beat up. The tech blamed this on "hard carbon". I saw the marks on the piston and the cyl head myself. Whatever is was was perfectly round. It was under warranty and Ford paid the claim. As far as working with a apprentice, asset student or even just a quick-lube tech that wants to help, I think he is pretty much your responsiblity. When I used to work with a guy like this, I would always check bolts for propper tightness, make sure things were installed properly, ect...

I try to avoid negative people. I have found that negative people enjoy trying to make others as miserable as they are.

Have you ever seen a chiropractor? It might be worth a try. A guy I work with was having neck problems. It turned out that it was from the way he tilted his nexk up when laying under the hood of trucks all day. When I used to see a chiro, there were a bunch of people that would be doing strength exercises for thier necks.

Direct injection? Turbocharger? Sounds farmilliar. It looks like an import, but only better! I hope they sell a ton of those cars and that really is good news about ford re-opening an engine plant in the US.

I don't have any real problems with my hands. Recently I have gotten this wierd pain at the base of the inside of my left wrist when my hand is over extended back too far. It's probably nothing and will go away on its own. If I am drilling a lot in one day, like if I'm drilling exaust studs out, the outside half of my hand will fall asleep for a few days. It will be all tingly and very uncomfortable. I think its from putting a lot of pressure on my palm and probably causing some swelling and doing something to a nerve. Keith, if your interested check out this book: CLICK HERE It is a book on Active Isolated Stretching. It is quite different form the old school static muscle stretches. The book covers different stretches for the entire body and there is a section that will tell you what stretches you should do for different sports and different jobs. I'm not saying that stretching will cure carpal tunnel, but I think it would be good maintnence. Another thing to keep in mind is muscle imbalances that we create from doing repetitive things at work. Like for instance if you have really strong ab muscles and weak lower back muscles, you will probably have lower back problems.

Its funny how a lot of the times there is a recall, the blame is placed on another part that is related to the part that is really being recalled. Like this for instance. they are obviously recalling fuel injectors, but they aren't saying that the injectors are the problem. No, it's the 5 cent o-ring mounted on the $300.00 injector. Thats why we are replacing the whole injector. I think it has something to do with legal matters. You have to give a little credit for documenting which injectors went into which cylinder in what engine that was installed into what truck. Like someone thought there might be an injector problem.

Thats a good point. I didn't think of that. It would be disasterous if someone didn't follow the procedure torquing those lines or re-used the fuel lined to the injectors, and caused an internal fuel leak @ 30,000psi. Then they will really have a problem with a over-filled crankcase. The guys at work thought I was a dork for being excited about this recall. I'm not happy about this costing Ford an arm and a leg, but I'm glad that in tough times I am in demand. I will have plenty to do at work for a while.

No offense but I think that when I'm done with this buisness, I'll be a service writer for about a month before I leave. Just so I can totally forget everything about being a tech.

Even if I don't break those, I just don't like the way they look after they have been removed. I always replace them.

I used to work with a guy that was REALLY fast at those. He used the tools to make sure everything was locked down. I don't think he really "short-cutted" anything.

If you think you can or if you think you can't, your probably right. More work for me.

Well how has it been lately? The economy seems to be getting even worse. There are several people in my neighborhood that have lost thier job or don't even know if they will have a job next week. I know one guy that has taken a 75% pay cut. It is pretty scarry. I'm just happy to have a job right now. I have to say that we are still doing good even though our dealer isn't selling many cars. We still have people coming in to get thier vehicles fixed. Nobody is really leaving early. How is everyone else doing?