Cam Phaser/ Engine Failure Poll

[RGVRaptor]

You are correct, I tried to do this before I took i it in for service and only got to 88 key cycles in the 1000 miles. I have a great service advisor and was straight forward with him and just paid out of pocket for what I needed. We will see if they deny my warranty if I need it. However they just did the oil pan again (3rd new in 30k) and said nothing, all covered under warranty including a $1000 for rental truck.

You realize disconnecting battery would reset key cycles, right? As long as the ecu is reverted back to the oem tune I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep worrying about warranty denial.

 

[Booth9999]

You realize disconnecting battery would reset key cycles, right? As long as the ecu is reverted back to the oem tune I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep worrying about warranty denial.

There not that naive, they can tell if you have modified the pcm, the key cycles just tell them to dig deeper. It is saved somehow beyond me.

 

[Badgertits]

You are correct, I tried to do this before I took i it in for service and only got to 88 key cycles in the 1000 miles. I have a great service advisor and was straight forward with him and just paid out of pocket for what I needed. We will see if they deny my warranty if I need it. However they just did the oil pan again (3rd new in 30k) and said nothing, all covered under warranty including a $1000 for rental truck.

A) why even bring it up to them, do you have any other noticeable hard parts added? If you tuned back to stock for all intents & purposes it is a stock vehicle, let THEM ask if it’s been tuned or question why the key cycle count is low.

B) if they’re already warrantying drivetrain parts multiple times for you including loaner vehicles then dont you already have your answer as to how they’re going to handle the cam phaser issue? If it were me I wouldn’t have a said a thing about a tune.

Good luck!

 

[Badgertits]

There not that naive, they can tell if you have modified the pcm, the key cycles just tell them to dig deeper. It is saved somehow beyond me.

I think you’re giving this too much thought & service techs/mgrs too much credit. I’ll be eating crow if I have a warranty claim denied down the road....but my experience having tuned multiple different vehicles via both handheld & custom dyno tunes I have never had a dealer bring it up during warranty-related service/repair on drivetrain. That includes a transmission issue on a G8 GT that was fixed under warranty even though they didn’t get it in until it had already eclipsed 100k Miles. I tuned it back to stock - that’s it.

It’s not like these cam phaser failures are a new/isolated phenomenon. I’m sure ford service departments get corporate bulletins/updates or whatever on common warranty repairs & Id wager the cam phaser issue is a commonly covered topic. So when a warranty repair becomes common across a number of different vehicles & the manufacturer is also aware customer satisfaction/awareness is now coming into play my guess is they’re more motivated to just placate the customer by running through the same motions they have in the past when a vehicle w/ the cam phaser issue passes through.

I have to imagine they’re more concerned w/ just identifying it, addressing ASAP, getting it back to the customer & moving on rather than wasting time digging for other possible culprits (like mods) for the problem when they’re fully aware it’s a common issue.

I will say this- have seen plenty of posts here & other f150 forums discussing/troubleshooting this problem- have yet to find any case of someone NOT having the work covered under warranty.

 

[Kuan]

@Bhollier - how is your oil additive doing in the trucks you are testing?

 

[dburb]

Expect a TSB for this issue in the fourth quarter? FORD ????? Are you listening very near the end of the fourth quarter.

 

[Booth9999]

Mine just started cold start rattle after sitting at the dealer for a month. Got her back and rattle rattle rattle at start up. Changing my vote now. I’m not going to take it in until I get through winter I think.

 

[Bhollier]

@Bhollier - how is your oil additive doing in the trucks you are testing?

I have been out of the country the past week or so. From what my wife said when she started it yesterday there isn't the rattle on start up like before. Once I return home I will plan on changing the oil and run an oil analysis. Once I have all this done I will post the results.

 

[Kuan]

I have been out of the country the past week or so. From what my wife said when she started it yesterday there isn't the rattle on start up like before. Once I return home I will plan on changing the oil and run an oil analysis. Once I have all this done I will post the results.

Ok - thanks. Your attempt to fix this is very helpful.

 

[Kuan]

@Bhollier you may want to update this thread too with your additive findings.

Everyone else - if you had a cam phaser failure / cold start rattle, put it in this poll so the OP has an accurate count.