V10 engine experts - blown engine in LV (facebook) - Page 2

JWA · 08-08-2019, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carringb

Unfortunately, this pretty much describes Ford in most situations....

No doubt its not much different with any brand or any item---from the entire vehicle on down to an engine---they're eager to take your money but either clueless or hesitant to make things right if/when something needs to be addressed.

If I could trust any of the dealerships I spoke with about my issue having them at least diagnose the engine problem wouldn't have been a problem. Their word seems to be gospel to the Powertrain Warranty Tech Support center so that's a huge upside---no second guessing whatever diagnosis they offer.

As it is now the van is under repair with full warranty coverage through a friend's shop---they'll be thorough and fair if any costs not covered would be incurred.

I don't paint too positive a picture of Ford's reman'd engines but the problems I've discovered are NOT due the engine reman process--I'm completely satisfied with that part of it all. What I've experienced with the dealerships is 100% manageable if their policies and procedures are known and understood up front.

So yeah Blue Oval and Job #1 would be my choice and recommendation.

b. rock · 08-08-2019, 12:11 PM

Seems like there are multiple people in here with reman'd engines. I was under the impression that both the 6.8 and 5.4 were pretty long lived? Their low maintenance compared to a diesel is why I went the gas route, assuming they could pretty easily go 250k+ without being opened up (with proper maintenance).

carringb · 08-08-2019, 12:30 PM

I only ended replacing mine because my fuel pressure went low while I was towing, and I couldn't restore the factory tune because the programmer went for a swim the same weekend. This caused a sparkplug to melt, and when the electrode spit out, it bent a valve slightly. Just enough to lose compression. I had 455,000 miles at the time, and put on another 7,000 miles on 9 cylinders. Like I said previously, I would have just done a valve job, if the Ford motor wasn't such a good deal.

Every other modular motor I've seen needing replacement was due to some sort of oiling issue. Either low oil pressure from using low-grade conventional oil, or bottom-end oil starvation from using 10w30 or 10w40 oil. The passages are too tight in the Ford modular motors for heavier oils, and the bottom end won't get lubrication until the oil warms up, which takes about 10 miles. I've also seen a couple stories of folks losing oil pressure from the timing chain guide getting ground up, and the plastic shaving plugging up the intake, but that still comes back to using poor quality oil. None of the quickie-lube centers will put in the required synthetic blend without up-charging a lot for it, so many fleet vehicles end up with below-spec oil.

b. rock · 08-08-2019, 12:34 PM

Got it. Makes me glad I put in synthetic in the first oil change I did, but mine definitely came with regular dino oil and a cheap-o filter. Hmm.

unreng · 08-08-2019, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dbark

Thanks for the comments. This is my van. I posted the note on Facebook. I've received 6 quotes and so far $8500 is the lowest for an install of a Ford motor. Everything else has been higher (including for Ford, Jasper, and other motors). The Ford dealers range from $8500 to $10,300. Independent mechanics are $9500 to $10,500+. Have not found anyone for less. Unclear why it spun a bearing at 81K miles. We've only owned it for 6k. Prior owner gave me the service records and it was well maintained. We had it inspected prior to buying and then immediately had all fluids in the van changed. So we were bummed this happened as we've been loving this van. Oh well...we decided to ship it back from Vegas and have it fixed in Denver. Fortunately, my insurance will actually cover most of the shipping and will reimburse me for the two cost.

Doug - feel your pain, and magnified about three fold. It's why I posted to the forum...to see if they could help.

Our story - To make a long story short, 2 months after we bought our van, the engine quit due to a failed STC fitting. Due to a cascade of unforeseen internal issues with the stock 6.0 in our van, we ordered a rebuilt engine. The first engine arrived in May/June 2019, a second engine arrived in July 2019 (yes, a second engine), and we still don't have the van due to abnormalities that the mechanic has never seen before (the mechanic has worked on hundreds, if not thousands, of 6.0's).

Moral of the story...ship the van to Denver, get a new Ford engine, and enjoy the van.
2nd moral...6.0 engine builders I trust - KDD, Asheville, J&K.

**BroncoHauler** · 08-08-2019, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dbark

Thanks for the comments. This is my van. I posted the note on Facebook. I've received 6 quotes and so far $8500 is the lowest for an install of a Ford motor. Everything else has been higher (including for Ford, Jasper, and other motors). The Ford dealers range from $8500 to $10,300. Independent mechanics are $9500 to $10,500+. Have not found anyone for less. Unclear why it spun a bearing at 81K miles. We've only owned it for 6k. Prior owner gave me the service records and it was well maintained. We had it inspected prior to buying and then immediately had all fluids in the van changed. So we were bummed this happened as we've been loving this van. Oh well...we decided to ship it back from Vegas and have it fixed in Denver. Fortunately, my insurance will actually cover most of the shipping and will reimburse me for the two cost.

If the engine oil hasn't been drained yet, I would suggest sending a sample to Blackstone to have them analyze it. Maybe there was some abnormality in the oil, or perhaps the wrong oil was added.

Herb

Dbark · 08-08-2019, 08:35 PM

Chris, definitely appreciate you posting this and all of the responses. I'm working on shipping it to Denver. Turning out to be more difficult than thought. I booked it but through a broker (because everyone that I contacted is actually a broker). The broker is having a hard time finding a carrier. So it is delayed. The Denver Ford dealership actually had one of the best prices and a few independent mechanics were actually pretty candid with me and told me to go with the Ford reman engine. They both said it is better than Jasper or other options. So they even recommended going Ford. I'm hoping we will be back on rode by end of August - hoping.

Grampswrx · 08-08-2019, 11:45 PM

You should try a couple places in SoCal even though it’s far from you. I just got 3 quotes to replace my 302.

$2200 for a guy to pull it and rebuild it and put it back in. This is a mobile mechanic. Who will pull it at my storage spot.

$3300 for a reman’d engine with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty at any ford dealer. This is who I’m going with. Destroyerauto.com

$5000 for a local shop to pull, rebuild, re install.

My engine has rod knock, so maybe it’s cheaper to fix. But it seems like the prices you are getting are high but maybe there is just lots of cheap labor around here.

Good luck. I wish we were both in different boats.

JWA · 08-09-2019, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b. rock

Seems like there are multiple people in here with reman'd engines. I was under the impression that both the 6.8 and 5.4 were pretty long lived? Their low maintenance compared to a diesel is why I went the gas route, assuming they could pretty easily go 250k+ without being opened up (with proper maintenance).

I have two 5.4's running fine with 285K + miles----maintenance done DIY using the best quality for whatever job or task is undertaken. My new-to-me 2005 5.4 had just over 140K miles when I decided to replace the engine due a scary low oil pressure at hot idle. Spec calls for 23-30 PSI, I was lucky to have 8 PSI.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carringb

Every other modular motor I've seen needing replacement was due to some sort of oiling issue..

Yep---in my case that was 100% the reason a new engine was installed. I had two noticeable issues during and shortly after purchasing it----the normal ticking and a sudden drop in oil pressure as indicated by the instrument cluster which had a warning light and alarm tone too. This would happen when coming to a stop or more accurately when RPM's would dip just below idle. One tap of the gas pedal and OP would jump back up, engine seemed to perform well for the year---2005 was first year of the fly-by-wire electronic throttle body.

My van had been owned by a fleet operator, its main purpose was transporting senior citizens, had a Braun commercial duty wheel chair lift. As I was gutting the Club Wagon interior it was obvious maintenance was not the then owners top priority. While there were no signs an actual OP test had ever been performed I'm sure this issue prompted its sale through an auction.

IF I were to ever buy another 5.4 or 6.8 Ford engine I'd DIY an actual oil pressure test which is relatively easy to do. That single test would be a major deciding factor whether to buy or not that particular van. If it would affect the price downward to compensate for a replacement engine then I may still buy such a van, if the body/chassis were in good enough condition to warrant that sort of time and money expenditure.

86Scotty · 08-09-2019, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b. rock

Seems like there are multiple people in here with reman'd engines. I was under the impression that both the 6.8 and 5.4 were pretty long lived? Their low maintenance compared to a diesel is why I went the gas route, assuming they could pretty easily go 250k+ without being opened up (with proper maintenance).

Always remember the internet effect. Think about the numbers of these things that were built and sold. Very, very few give anyone any problems and those people are always going to tell the story online looking for help, advice and support. Sorry OP, I did the same when I had one die. I had a 5.4l fail due to a connecting rod bearing failure but I did not know the maintenance history and it had I think 150k miles or so on it so it wasn't exactly young.

On the other hand, I've had 5 or 6 other vans and trucks with the 5.4l or V10 and absolutely no problems with them, some very high miles. I worked for a big company that has more of them on the road than any other company in America probably (Fedex) and we abused 5.4s every day, all day. I do not remember one engine failure but we killed lots of transmissions just due to abuse.