Complaint: Expedition bought new (2001), currently has approx. 17,200 miles – 6.5 months old. While driving home the other evening steering wheel starts to shimmie and “Check Engine” light comes on then goes off. Got it home and has a rough idle and smoke coming from exhaust – did not put it in garage!
Next morning called Ford dealer “drive it on in to the shop”. While driving through town smoke is billowing out of exhaust – all gauges OK, bad gas smell when we would stop at stop lights. Finally get to dealer and they check it out — #5 fuel injector stuck open and was pumping so much fuel that the catalytic convertor was soaked and gas was dripping out of the exhaust pipe.
Also, bent piston rod = “new engine” replacement in a new top of the line Ford. Mechanic stated that it could have blown up and that I was driving a bomb. Replacing the engine does not address what caused the injector to stick open. What part failed? Wiring harness?
Ford is putting a “rebuilt” engine in my new vehicle. I just learned today that the shop had farmed it out to “some other” shop because of backlog.
Answer: The above scenario is exactly why I won’t buy a new car. I’m with the owner above, if I wanted a rebuilt engine in my six and a half month old vehicle I purchased new, than in retrospect, I would have bought a used car and had the engine rebuilt in it. The reality of the matter is we can’t tell if we will be lucky, like I was, when we buy a new vehicle, and see into the Crystal ball if this vehicle will have engine problems.
In 1978, I bought a brand new 1978 Harley Davidson Low Rider motorcycle. The engine had oil usage problems. To make a long story short, the dealer was the best, they did a valve job, then they bored the cylinders and put new pistons in it. Nothing seemed to cure the problem for long. After talking with the owner, Vernon Lower, expressing my feelings, that I bought a new bike because I wanted a “new” engine in my new bike and now it has been “rebuilt” in essence, I asked him to speak with the factory about sending a brand new engine for my brand new bike and installing it.
He called the factory, they reluctantly sent a new engine, problem solved, great bike, still own it 31 years later. End of story. BTW: Harley is a spectacular, customer oriented company..
I have expressed my personal opinion a few times, unless your car is really in bad shape, it saves a lot of money and possible aggravation by fixing a car you are intimate with already. Realistically speaking, a few thousand bucks on a rebuilt engine and perhaps a few other repairs to your old car beats having a new loan to pay off.
