I’m really hoping someone can help me out here. I’ve got a 2002 Ford F-150 and just the other day while slowly rolling up to a stop light the truck began running really rough. So much that my girlfriend who had a hard time opening a can of green beans noticed it. At first I thought it was just the rough road but when I began to accelerate, it got much worse. At low idle the truck seems to “diesel” a bit and during gentle acceleration the entire cabs shakes. Within a few miles the check engine light came on. The next day I ended up taking the truck to two different shops, the first being a local auto repair shop and the second being the Ford dealer. Both shops hooked their computer up to my trucks computer to read the codes from the check engine warning and both shops got the same codes. 1. Low compression, bank one. 2. Low compression, bank 2. 3. Mis-fire cylinder 5. 4. Mis-fire cylinder 2. 5. and a random mis-fire. Now heres what each shop did and then told me.
Local shop:
Ran a computer diagnostic to check for low compression on cylinder 2. Checked the plugs and the coils. All seemed to be OK. The reported 125psi on cylinder #2. What they told me the did get was an indicator that all the valves were opening and all the plugs were firing but that cylinder 2 wasn’t firing consistently and that they believed it be a computer error. They said the computer might needed to be “Flashed”. The told me they didn’t have the necessary equipment to do repairs on the computer and that I needed to got to the Ford service center. So…
At the Ford shop, I told the service guy exactly what I was told at the first shop. After checking the error codes on my truck computer, they decided they would need to do some additional test, which they did. About 2 hours later I was called back to the shop and informed that they believed there was a number of problems, of which might include faulty valves, faulty injectors, faulty EGR sensor, or bad seals on the cylinders. They wanted to do a manual compression test on all eight cylinders. Oh, by the way, my truck has the 5.4 liter V8 with an automatic transmission and 114,000 miles. In addition to the compression test, they wanted to do a “Power Comparison Test” to determine if each cylinder was providing an equal amount of power. Again, I gave them permission to conduct the tests. The next day I received a call from the shop with bad news. I was told that during the compression test, they discovered that #5 cylinder only had 60psi and that when they pulled the plug to inspect it, it was completely covered with unburned oil and that oil sprayed out of the cylinder. I was told this meant I had a bad “Ring” and that the only option was to either rebuild or replace the motor at a cost in excess of $5000.
Does this all seem to make since or should I get a third opinion?
The bad rings diagnosis makes sense from the oily plug, from my perspective. Get an opinion and estimate from an independent shop that can rebuild the engine. Also get an estimate on a low mileage used engine, since that may be a less expensive approach. The Ford dealer is the most expensive place to get rebuild work done on an engine, which is why I recommend getting another opinion from an independent shop, or go back to the first shop and show them the info the Ford dealer shared with you. I doubt if they will disagree with the Ford dealer diagnosis.
first if the local shop ck’d plugs ,how come they didn’t find the oil soaked plug. dealers go for over kill. i worked for one, the more the mechanic sells the more he makes. why did it drop 60 lbs from one shop to another? did it do this all of a sudden? get a third opinon