Screwed By Ford Service Too

[spook]

My car has had this problem three times where after a long drive, I'll stop at a set of lights and the engine starts to run rough and has no power when you try to take off.

It will then stall. I can start it but again it's rough and when I put my foot down nothing happens and the car surges (like there's no fuel) - it also pops out the airbox if you keep the foot into it. It will stutter along with no power for a 100 meters or so and then stall

On each occasion it has been a hot day.

I leave the car over night and it runs fine the next day like nothing had ever happened.

It did this to me 8 months ago and ran perfectly until 2 weeks ago when it did the same thing.

I was 10 mins from a Ford dealer and called them up to book it in. I managed to limp the car there after stalling and stopping 8 - 10 times

The customer service guy came out to check it in and the car stalled. I thought this was good as he could see I wasn't full of sh*t and was told they would look at it the next day as it was late in the afternoon.

Gave him a run down on the fault as outlined above and asked that they also carry out the 60K service (quoted $412 before any time spent on fixing problem)

I called AM next day to find out what the fault was and he said it was a dirty throttle body. I questioned this as the car had bee running perfectly for such a long time between each episode.

He said leave it with us.

I picked it up later that day and was told that there can be a fault with the VCT solenoids and that they were removed, cleaned and bench tested prior to refitting.

Great I thought. Something's been done and they know of the fault. Bill came to $520 odd bucks (air filter not included due to K&N)

It been 2 weeks to the day since I dropped it off and it had been running fine until today I stopped at a set of lights near home - then, well you guessed it - stalling, no power, coughing and farting again!!!!

I stopped at my local mechanic who I know quite well and asked in his professional opinion, had the cam cover been removed?? I had had my suspicions and he was able to confirm them.

Looks as though it has not been touched. See attached pics and let me know if you think I'm barking mad. The original pics are much larger and show more clearly the oil and grit around the bolts and gasket.

So back to the same Ford dealer for another crack at it. I'll put it too them that they have charged me for work not carried out as it mentions on the invoice "remove and refit the VCT and cleaned" (word for word)

Edited 03/03/11 07:45 AM by spook

[matt036]

The rocker cover doesn't need to be removed to get to the VCT sensors/solenoid, the coil cover (the black plastic one on top) has to be removed and they sit just in the front of no. 1 coil and are removed with 2 bolts per solenoid. So that would explain to why it doesn't look like the rocker has been removed.

Edited 03/03/11 10:09 AM by sneeze_monkey36

[spook]

Cheers mate. I did not realise it was that simple - feel a bit better about it now. Apreciate the info.

[matt036]

That's alright, happy to help. Not to sure bout whats going on there though, I work for Ford parts and have never heard of that.

[01txr]

When I first got my T every now and then when I started it it would shake real bad no throttle response to clear it and the engine light would come on.

Was tuned by a supposedly reputable tuner, I started tuning it myself and have never had problem again.

Sounds similar to yours but mine only ever did it on a cold start.

Another thing I had experienced is when a cat breaks up your car can run perfect one minute then like a pig the next due to where and which way the membrane is sitting.

A EF XR6 I had years ago.

I had checked everything from sensors through coils, fuel pump, filters and could not believe the cat was the cause.

Got so bad it could not even do the speed limit.

Under it checking the coil pack etc, gave the cat a thud and sure enough it rattled.

Dropped the engine pipe started it, few revs and it was all good.

Removed cat and the guts fell out on the ground in pieces.

Problem solved.

Another thing to check is your turbo line filter as if it is blocked the turbo will get hot and can seize, hope this isn't your problem as very costly.

The filter seems to get forgotten about when serviced.

Pending quality of oil and service intervals the filter can clog anywhere from 50 000k to 80 000k.

If you check it yourself get a bright led to shine through it as it's the best way to view how badly clogged it is, and if you try cleaning it you can see if you actually have done so successfully.

Be very careful as it is a $60 part that is small and very fragile.

Best to fit a braided aftermarket filter line kit as it's alot easier to access to service every oil change.

Search the forum as there is a guide somewhere on how to remove the filter.

Good luck with it,

[arm79]

Seems you have a friend in an F6 that lives in Melbourne.

Sounds like you guys have the same problems.

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11280599

Maybe send a message to the OP on that thread and see if he's found anything from his buggering around over Christmas.