DamageINC

That's right, I remember there was some question about the whole model year fiasco because Ford was already selling and advertising the all-new '97 F-150 during the Super Bowl in 1996, hehe. Dave

You're absolutely right, Bruce. I think I just kinda disregarded the potential for a power supply issue to the CJB because I'd assumed that running the truck with all the accessories on full-tilt would be plenty of load for the problem to become apparent if indeed it was that, considering that sometimes I could get the clicking to occur simply with a key-on cycle. And like I said, ALL of the accessories worked flawlessly regardless of how much was going on at the time. This was like 6-7 months ago when this vehicle came in, looking back on it, I really wish I'd have checked the VD under load now... I like to think that I'm a pretty well versed with my electrical diagnosis but this one made a fool out of me, lol. It's good to get smoked every now and then though Dave

I can't believe I forgot to post what I found on this - it was a hell of a learning experience. Every now and then you run into one of those scenarios where the solution defies all logic and shows no regard for any amount of training, experience, and know-how that you've acquired. This was certainly one of them for me. Long story short, I absolutely triple checked every single power and grounds to the PCM and anything that could be related, load tested the complete circuits with a 4 AMP FOG LIGHT BULB just to make sure that everything was physically in good shape before I install a fresh new $900 PCM. After all of this preparation and re-checking, I would have bet my left arm on the PCM fixing the concern. There was literally nothing else I could fathom to elimnate as a possible cause of this concern. In goes the new PCM. I made it about 3 feet out of the shop before the truck died and the clicking started up again. I couldn't believe it. It was at this point to where I'd realized that any form of conventional thinking was not going to solve the problem, so I resorted to doing things that simply made no sense to a degree, and eventually found the problem that way. Even though all the power circuits were heavily load tseted, and should then realistically be in good shape (a Fog Lamp bulb draws WAY more current than any of the other circuits in question) I decided "What the hell" and started jumping B+ voltage to all the "known good" power sources at the CJB/Fuse box under the dash. Oddly enough, when I'd jump B+ to the power side of the coil for the IDM relay, the problem would go away. AGain, even though everything load tested fine. I pulled the fuse box thinking that I maybe had an internal issue with the fuse panel, for some reason the coil side of the relay wasn't getting enough current THROUGH the CJB. But after disassembling it and checking everythign throughly, I came up empty handed again. After some more head scratching, I wondered if maybe the fuse box itself was recieving good power, even though testing seemed to show that it was recieving more than enough juice. Besides - everything that ran through the CJB worked like a charm. Power windows, wipers, blower fan, radio, lights, EVERYTHING I could turn on I had turned on a simultaneously at one point just to make sure that it wasn't a power feed / low current supply issue. It was. That fuckng junction stud beneath the air filter box on the 7.3's that connects the B+ cable to the CJB was corroded to shit. There was virtually no cable left at all once I took the cover of. I was leveled, all the time I wasted on what should have been an extremely basic diagnosis. Like I said though, I had no reason to believe that there was a problem tere - everything worked fine, load tests came out flawless, there were NO OTHER CONCERNS except an intermittent stall followed by the clicking. For whatever reason, even though everything worked fine, the corrosion was enough to starve the PCM of the juice required to keep the IDM Relay coil driver closed. Bruce was basically 100% correct, it was a lack of power to the PCM. Just, testing didn't show that there was a lack of power. So that was the big ass kicker for me last year... don't think I'll ever forget that one. BTW - I think it probably cost about $2 to fix properly. Dave

Check FMCdealer for the details. Not like nobody saw this one coming, lol.. Here's the gist of it: 1. THE LITIGATION: On November 2, 2006, plaintiffs Williams A. Ambulance, Inc., Stat Services of Jefferson County A, L.L.C., and Stat Services of Jasper County A, L.L.C., filed this suit against Ford Motor Company (“Ford”), which alleges that Ford committed negligence, breached the implied warranty of merchantability, breached the implied warranty of fitness for particular purpose, and breached the express warranty by selling model year 2003-2007 Ford F-Series or E-Series ambulance chassis equipped with a 6.0-liter diesel engines, with certain defects. Additional plaintiffs were later added to the case. The plaintiffs brought their suit on their own behalf and on behalf of all owners and lessees of model year 2003-2007 Ford F-Series or E-Series ambulance chassis equipped with a 6.0-liter diesel engine in the United States. (This lawsuit is called the “Litigation”). 2. FORD’S POSITION: Ford denies all allegations of wrongdoing asserted in the Litigation, including that the ambulances or their component parts are defective, and that Ford is liable to any buyer, lessee, or operator of the ambulances under any cause of action. Nonetheless, the companies have agreed to settle the Litigation by providing the benefits described in this Notice. 3. NOTICE: This Notice informs Settlement Class Members of the Litigation and the proposed Settlement, and describes the Settlement Class Members’ rights and options. 4. SETTLEMENT CLASS: The following Settlement Class has been conditionally certified. If you are a member of the class described here, the proposed Settlement will affect your legal rights. Please read this Notice carefully. All entities and natural persons in the United States (including the District of Columbia) who currently own or lease (or who in the past owned or leased) ambulances with ambulance prep package 47A containing a model year 2003-2007 Ford F-Series or E-Series chassis equipped with a 6.0-liter diesel engine (the “Class Vehicles”). The Settlement Class does not include: (a) all federal court judges who have presided over this case and their spouses and anyone within three degrees of consanguinity from those judges and their spouses, ( all persons who elect to exclude themselves from the Settlement Class, © all persons who have previously executed and delivered to Ford releases of all of their claims, and (d) Ford’s employees, officers, directors, agents, and representatives and their family members. The Court has appointed Michael A. Caddell, Cynthia B. Chapman, and Cory S. Fein of Caddell & Chapman, and Mitchell A. Toups of Weller, Green, Toups & Terrell, L.L.P. as Class Counsel to represent the Settlement Class. 5. SETTLEMENT BENEFITS: If the Court approves the proposed Settlement at the Fairness Hearing scheduled for July 2, 2009, Ford will provide the following benefits to Settlement Class Members. a. Engine Warranty Extension. Ford will extend the warranty coverage periods of the limited written repair-or-replace warranties that originally covered the engine in the Class Vehicles to 72 months/120,000 miles (whichever comes first). b. Covered Components Warranty Extension. Ford will further extend the warranty coverage period for any of four “Covered Components” -- fuel injectors, exhaust gas recirculation valve, air conditioning compressor, and turbo charger -- that received two or more repairs or replacements under the original 60 month/100,000 mile warranty. Such Covered Components will receive extended warranty coverage for up to 72 months/150,000 miles (whichever comes first). - 3 - c. Future Engine Replacements and Reimbursement of Past Engine Replacements. If, within the first 72 months after the Class Vehicle is placed in service, an “Engine Replacement” service is performed due to a malfunction caused by a defect in materials or workmanship, Ford will pay 50% of the reasonable Out-of-Pocket expenses of such Engine Replacement when the Class Vehicle has between 120,000 and 135,000 miles in service, and 25% of such expenses when the Class Vehicle has between 135,000 and 150,000 miles in service. d. Reimbursement of Prior Repairs. Ford will establish a claims procedure whereby Class Members can make a claim for reimbursement of expenses incurred in the past for repairs that fall within the time and mileage periods listed above. e. Reimbursement of Towing Charges. If a Class Vehicle incurred towing costs more than twice during the original 60 month/100,000 mile engine warranty period due to engine malfunction, Ford will reimburse the reasonable towing costs incurred beginning with the third tow that occurred during that warranty period. f. Reimbursement of Deductibles. As to each Class Vehicle for which a Settlement Class Member paid a deductible of $100 pursuant to the terms of the 60 month/100,000 mile engine warranty more than twice due to engine malfunction, Ford will reimburse the cost of the third and all subsequent $100 deductible charges that the Settlement Class Member paid. g. Enhanced Maintenance Package. At a Settlement Class Member’s request, Ford will provide any or all of the following benefits designed to enhance the maintenance of Class Vehicles: (1) an instructional DVD entitled “Ford 6.0L Power Stroke Diesel Maintenance Special Operating Circumstances,” which explains the necessary maintenance procedures for ambulances containing 6.0-liter diesel engines; (2) Ford will reimburse the reasonable cost of installing an hour meter in each Class Vehicle that does not currently have one, up to $35 for the meter and up to $85 for labor; (3) to improve the performance of the air conditioning on 2004-2005 E-Series Class Vehicles, Settlement Class Member may obtain from an authorized Ford dealer free verification of the calibration of the powertrain control module (PCM) and, if necessary, an update of that calibration to a later calibration; and (4) Settlement Class Members who have concerns about the assistance they are receiving concerning their Class Vehicles from authorized Ford dealers may obtain assistance from a special ambulance contact within Ford’s technical assistance facility. * * * * * * You will receive these benefits only if the Court approves the proposed Settlement following the Fairness Hearing on July 2, 2009, and only if you remain a member of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will receive no benefits. If the Settlement is approved, the Engine Warranty Extension will go into effect automatically and you may obtain future repairs under the extended warranty as you normally do. If you are eligible for future subsidized Engine Replacement services under the Settlement, you may request them at your Ford dealer. If you seek any other benefits under the Settlement, including refunds of amounts previously spent obtaining repairs that are covered by the Settlement, or amounts spent on reimbursable towing charges or deductibles, you must submit a claim for such benefits to the Ford Claim Center, which will be established promptly after the Settlement is approved. To monitor the status of the proposed Settlement, learn if and when it is approved, and thereafter obtain claim forms with which to submit claims, you may call Class Counsel at 1-888-908-8595 or visit Class Counsel’s website: www.caddellchapman.com/AmbulanceEngines. - 4 - 6. ATTORNEYS’ FEES, EXPENSES AND INCENTIVE AWARD: Counsel for the Settlement Class have pursued the Litigation on a contingent basis and have paid all the costs of the Litigation. These lawyers have not yet been paid or recovered any of their expenses. As part of the Settlement, the Named Plaintiffs’ attorneys will seek $3.6 million in attorneys’ fees and expenses. The Court will determine a reasonable fee and expense award at the Fairness Hearing based on Class Counsel’s Fee and Expense Application and responses thereto. Ford will not oppose Class Counsel’s Fee and Expense Application. Class Counsel will also ask the Court to approve a total $35,000 incentive award to be allocated by the Court among the Named Plaintiffs. None of these payments will reduce the benefits you receive. Any money the Court awards to Class Counsel and Named Plaintiffs will be paid by Ford. 7. RESULT IF COURT APPROVES SETTLEMENT: If the Court approves the proposed Settlement, it will dismiss the Litigation, and Ford will provide the benefits described above to the Settlement Class Members who have not excluded themselves from the Class. No Settlement Class Members will be able to file their own lawsuits for recovery on any claims in any way relating to the alleged defects in the Covered Components in the Class Vehicles. If you want to bring your own lawsuit, you must exclude yourself from this Settlement. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Just to frost the cake, now it looks like Fords techs will be doing warranty work on ambulances for 150,000 miles or 6 years.

Apparently not! Lol.. Dave

Haha, that's what I told him! Dave

I think I'll meet up with you at your place then, might follow Mark down there too. I'd carpool with him but it turns out I may end up staying out that way after the show so we'll see... Dude, it's gonna be retarded though. It's a cool little venue but when you think about the fact that we just played there less than 2 months ago in front of like 15 people (it was a disaster but we had a blast) it's gonne be even that much more interesting. The stage is like a foot tall, if that. And it's LOUD there. Dave

Anyone who dealt with Lincoln LS's a lot knows how shitty the Conti-Trac tires are, those things would make the vehicle almost unbearably loud at 15k miles. Complete junk tires. I think it was a 17" tire found on the 'boring' painted aluminum rims. Dave

I remember one time I had to surgically remove a wear sleeve from the rear main on a 6.0 with a cut-off wheel. That was nerve-racking, even though I knew that a the new seal & wear sleeve would protect the actual seal itself from getting shredded. I still managed to get it off without marring the end of the crank though... ...I just slowly started grinding away at it until I made a trench across it deep enough that I could crack/split with a chisel and some tapping with a small hammer, but not so deep that it actually GROUND all the way through the sleeve. And it was my own damn fault I had to do that too because my dumb ass replaced the rear main on it and didn't take the old wear sleeve off. When I installed the new one, the new sleeve just pushed the old sleeve directly into the cam/crank gears and prevented the engine from turning over at all, lol. That was fun. Dave

Tell Stephanie to put the damn gas cap on every now and then Dave

There is a thread on the FMC forums in the Diesel section that explains where the 'extra' O-ring goes. Dave

Well... different. Being paid hourly is a nice incentive, for sure. It makes "slow" periods a little nail-biting to a degree, but then again. what can I do. I'm hoping that within time I'll be able to bring some 6.0 business to the place, I am well aware that people aera looking for alternatives to dealerships for servicing their 6.0's and I feel that a shop with a good reputation advertising that they have a 6.0/Powerstroke tech on hand can only bring in more customers than they would normally have. I still have all the necessary access to FMCdealer as well so keeping up-to-date with all the changes shouldn't be terribly unrealistic. I really do, to a degree, miss the hell out of fixing these things. I just don' tmiss the constant butt-banging offered by our shops methods of manipulating the 126 numbers. As for now, there was a newer Impala here that was at **3** different dealers for a no-power driveability concern. So far, it's had a bunch of parts, including a new body-control module and an Ignition module as well. As soon as I got the thing, it seemed like the exhaust was restricted. Vaccuum readings agree, turns out I had over 2psi in the exhaust AT IDLE. my 10psi gauge pegged on WOT snap, lol... ...I just finished popping the trans out of a 4x4 Honda Pilot, that was an interesting 3+ hours. Definitely a learnign curve here with all the other makes & models. Dave

Exactly. That's why I torque them with my 1/2" electric impact. DAve

I'm currently getting acquainted with Snap-On's "Modis" and I can't believe how SLOW it is when it comes to PID data monitoring. Anythign more than 2 or 3 pids at once and you get information updates like once a second, it's horrible. Identifying small quirky problems that would REQUIRE a fast graphnig tool are *never* going to be solved with this thing. ANd I guess it's close to 10 grand or something ridiculous. No joke, the PDS would embarrass this thing. The only advantage it has is it's ability to help diagnose (to a degree) anythign on wheels. Dave

I don't know that I ever got 26 hours to do head gaskets (or even replace the heads), much less 28-something. Our SM made absolutely sure that we claimed as little as possible just to keep our 126 in line. I think on average I'd hover around 20, regardless of how much work was done (turbo rebuild, EGR/Oil coolers, anything like that..) Dave

It's only a matter of time before some backyard yutz decides to slap some propane on it and taps the nozzles into the "intake" and blows the whole thing into orbit. Dave

The 4.0 SOHC's are a clusterfuck, for sure. But that TSB can be done lightning quick if you're careful. And I mean careful. Ripping through a job is never good if you're just trying to be fast. But EFFCTIVELY tearing ass through a job because you've got enough experience with a particular design / system is certainly an advantage. I know the 4.0's pretty well but wouldn't feel comfortable trying to set a speed record on them. My buddy can do that TSB in his sleep though. 3-valve 5.4's (and mod-motors in general) I'll be more than happy to fly through. I was short blocking those (3-valves) things in 8-9 hours at one point, haha! Those were GREAT jobs for me, that was paycheck city, sometimes I'd get 2 in a week and they usually paid out about 22 hours after it was all said & done. Dave

The 3/8 impact trick DOES NOT work, by the way. I remember hearing that 'tip' about a year and a half ago. I was short blocking a 5.4 with the body off for a bent rod (stuck injector) and I thought I'd give that 'trick' a shot while the body was off. I had to replace the plugs and pull the heads anyway so it wouldn't be a big deal if it didn't work. 5 out of the 8 plugs broke right in half. That was all the proof I needed The ford tool DOES work though, for sure. I've used it many times. I have never broken any plugs off (except for the impact wrench test) but I usually did the repairs when other techs DID bust them in half. Cylinders 4 and 8 are a pain but it's still a lot more effceient than yanking the heads. And WAY less nerve racking than pounding down the porcelain. There's too much room for disaster with the porcelain bashing technique, I feel. I usually soak the plug wells with Aero-Kroil and let 'em sit for about 20 minutes. Then, I crack the plugs loose MAYBE an 1/8th turn, let them sit for another 20 muntes or so, and then slowly turn them out. So far, i've never broken one like that. It's always a good idea to have the customer leave the vehicle overnight though. I feel that it's worth it to them to let the plugs soak in the 'Kroil overnight, VS the potential for disaster if they break. Dave

Ahhh, gotcha. I've been a bit 'out of the Ford loop' for the last 3 months, seeing as I'm no longer an employe of FoMoCo. Kinda nice.. but kinda not, I guess. As sadistic as it sounds, I miss the 6.0's and 6.4's. And everything else for that matter. I just don't miss getting bent over the fenders every time I have to work on them. 90% of my work was Warranty work, it was getting out of hand. Dave

IF you're confident that you had a good power source, you could always jump the ground side of the VMV (disconnect the pin from the PCM and jump that end) directly to the battery with source voltage applied just be sure that the VMV actually works. Although now I see that the vehicle's no longer in your hands, which kinda sucks. If indeed the whole physical (wiring/component) circuit is in good shape with a solid 12v source reaching the VMV and a good clean ground ckt to the PCM, and it has a NEW GOOD PCM as well, then the only thing that I can see causing the PCM to not ground the VMV when commanded is if the PCM itself isn't recieving suffecient power. Low voltage/current supply to modules can cause some drivers/transistors to not function properly without causing ANY OTHER problems at all. The ground ckt can also be checked by tapping your DVOM into the ground circuit WHILE the VMV is commanded open (grounded) and seeing if you indeed are getting a path to ground through the PCM. Also, check for any voltage on the ground ckt right before the PCM just to be sure there's no extra resistance on the ground side. Dave

The problem is getting a turbo socket pounded over the oil rail bolt, the #5 injector isn't gonna leave much room for ANYTHING, much less a socket and room to swing a small hammer. You may have to remove the evaporator case, it's not a bad job at all. It just sucks that you'll have to do what would normally be 'unnecessary' work to perform the repair. Dave

Oh my god, 33+ hrs would have been a dream for me. I short blocked a 6.4 once and got just over 20 IIRC. Couldn't squeeze anything else out of our service director because of the 126 tap-dance. Fun fun fun! Dave

That's how I always accessed the right side, yank the LH mount and let the whole assembly rock to the left side of the bay. The RH bank is stil no fun but at least it's doable with the mount out of the way. It only takes about 5-10 minutes to get the mount out too, and then you're home free. Dave

Try looking into a trans from a Marauder, that's your best bet. I believe that a standard Crown Vic/Grand Marquis trans will work just fine as well but you might wanna do some more research first. This would be a lot easier if he had a 5-spd Mach but seeing as they came with 8-bolt cranks (the autos have a 6-bolt) he's gonn a have a limited choice of options for this one. Dave

Carumba. Well I can't say I blame you, hehe your buddy Andy over there is gonna have his hands full now. So uhh... are they hiring? (Maybe I should ask if your dad's hiring too). I know I'll see you around soon enough but best of luck to ya anyway! Dave