This is an owner's cry to Ford for help. It has been posted at more than one Ford forum site in hopes that the Ford representative who reviews these forums sees it and decides to help work this issue out.
2016 F350 Crew Cab Dually, Torqshift 6, mods-cosmetic only
Took delivery of a brand new truck on January 15 in Hutto, TX. Two months later the automatic transmission started making a faint ticking noise in 4th gear. The noise was vehicle speed dependant and sounded like a baseball card in bicycle spokes which over time was growing louder.
First stop: Mckie Ford in Rapid City, SD
The tech heard the noise and despite being mph related closed the ticket after diagnosing it as a normal engine noise. If I wanted them to look any further I'd have to bring it back in 3 weeks. Not having faith in that dealership's ability nor time to wait that long as my wife and I full-time in our RV and had places to get to we moved on.
Second stop: Wolf Motors in Ogallala, NE
Small town, small service dept., good group of guys. Wolf heard the noise on the test drive and after running the truck elevated on jacks isolated it to the transmission. Unfortunately they did not have the resources to do tranny work. They suggested trying a larger town like North Platte, NE. Called Bill Summer Ford in North Platte and spoke with Kenny who was in charge of diesel/truck repair. I asked him, if you find it to be a tranny issue when could you tear into it? He said the very next day. Great, I made the appointment.
Third stop: Summer Ford in North Platte, NE
Arrive Monday morning for my appointment after driving 50 miles from Ogallala, NE. Monday happens to be Kenny's day off. Rhonda the service manager couldn't imagine why Kenny would say he could service the truck 'next day' because they have 2 other tranny jobs waiting. Wow, really? I travelled here based on his word. To try and help Rhonda then made an appointment for me at Anderson Ford in Grand Island. Grand Island....150 miles away.
Fourth stop: Anderson Ford in Grand Island, NE
Anderson Ford heard the noise and tore into the tranny the very next day. They couldn't find anything wrong but went ahead and replaced the valve body, clutch packs, an internal shaft of some sort and a 4th item I don't remember. After a week at Anderson I get my truck back and the tick is gone. Ah, all is well or so I thought.
The first time towing my 5th wheel which is way under the truck's max towing weight, the transmission makes a grunting sound going into fourth. Sure enough every time it goes to fourth it grunts. Drive back to Anderson, demonstrate the issue to them and give them the truck back. After sitting a full 7 days they tell me I have to drive 5,000 miles to break in the new parts. After opening a case with Ford I found out Anderson just didn't want to do any more warranty work because Ford doesn't reimburse them at the same dollar rate as if I were paying out of pocket. And, Ford Customer Care can't force a dealership to work on it. Need to find yet another dealer. Customer Care and I decide on Dick Edwards Ford because they seemed large enough to handle an issue like this. Dick Edwards Ford....another 208 Miles away.
Fifth stop: Dick Edwards Ford in Manhattan, KS
Take the truck and RV to them and demonstrate the tranny noise. Yup, they hear it and it's getting worse. Ford Tech Line reviews the work done by Anderson and sees that Anderson missed a step. When changing clutches an additive should have been added to condition the new clutch packs. Edwards Ford adds the additive, drives the truck 100 miles and tells me to try towing. The truck is worse than before. The grunt has changed tone but now the tranny delays and slips going into fourth and now third as well.
The truck is now a little over three months old, has about 8,000 miles on it and is sitting at Dick Edwards Ford while they wait for a callback from the Ford Tech Line that was due Friday (it's now Monday afternoon). Dick Edwards service seems to be the only ones who realizes (other than me) that this tranny is now toast and should be replaced. Ford's Customer Care department is of no help whatsoever. Seems their job is to be a go-between with the customer and dealer. Well the dealer isn't the issue. They have absolutely no ability to expedite things within Ford so they can't get the Tech Line people to answer the dealer.
Over the past month Ford has had my truck for 3 out of 4 weeks. They have thrown parts and fluids at the transmission which have only made matters worse. They've paid for parts, labor, three weeks of rental cars and their expenses keep climbing with no resolution in sight. With a truck that is three months old, and owner who has been inconvenienced far more than necessary and all the money Ford has wasted so far, the right thing for both parties at this point is to replace the transmission. Ford cuts their losses and I finally get my truck back. But as of this writting they've made no decisions at all on how to proceed from here.
Ford, I did not expect to have a major component failure after 2 months. I didn't expect to have one at all. And I didn't expect getting the vehicle repaired to be such a daunting effort. Situations like these do not hold well for Ford or it's vehicle owners. Please contact me via the PM system this site offers so hopefully I can update this post with a happy ending.
2016 F350 Crew Cab Dually, Torqshift 6, mods-cosmetic only
Took delivery of a brand new truck on January 15 in Hutto, TX. Two months later the automatic transmission started making a faint ticking noise in 4th gear. The noise was vehicle speed dependant and sounded like a baseball card in bicycle spokes which over time was growing louder.
First stop: Mckie Ford in Rapid City, SD
The tech heard the noise and despite being mph related closed the ticket after diagnosing it as a normal engine noise. If I wanted them to look any further I'd have to bring it back in 3 weeks. Not having faith in that dealership's ability nor time to wait that long as my wife and I full-time in our RV and had places to get to we moved on.
Second stop: Wolf Motors in Ogallala, NE
Small town, small service dept., good group of guys. Wolf heard the noise on the test drive and after running the truck elevated on jacks isolated it to the transmission. Unfortunately they did not have the resources to do tranny work. They suggested trying a larger town like North Platte, NE. Called Bill Summer Ford in North Platte and spoke with Kenny who was in charge of diesel/truck repair. I asked him, if you find it to be a tranny issue when could you tear into it? He said the very next day. Great, I made the appointment.
Third stop: Summer Ford in North Platte, NE
Arrive Monday morning for my appointment after driving 50 miles from Ogallala, NE. Monday happens to be Kenny's day off. Rhonda the service manager couldn't imagine why Kenny would say he could service the truck 'next day' because they have 2 other tranny jobs waiting. Wow, really? I travelled here based on his word. To try and help Rhonda then made an appointment for me at Anderson Ford in Grand Island. Grand Island....150 miles away.
Fourth stop: Anderson Ford in Grand Island, NE
Anderson Ford heard the noise and tore into the tranny the very next day. They couldn't find anything wrong but went ahead and replaced the valve body, clutch packs, an internal shaft of some sort and a 4th item I don't remember. After a week at Anderson I get my truck back and the tick is gone. Ah, all is well or so I thought.
The first time towing my 5th wheel which is way under the truck's max towing weight, the transmission makes a grunting sound going into fourth. Sure enough every time it goes to fourth it grunts. Drive back to Anderson, demonstrate the issue to them and give them the truck back. After sitting a full 7 days they tell me I have to drive 5,000 miles to break in the new parts. After opening a case with Ford I found out Anderson just didn't want to do any more warranty work because Ford doesn't reimburse them at the same dollar rate as if I were paying out of pocket. And, Ford Customer Care can't force a dealership to work on it. Need to find yet another dealer. Customer Care and I decide on Dick Edwards Ford because they seemed large enough to handle an issue like this. Dick Edwards Ford....another 208 Miles away.
Fifth stop: Dick Edwards Ford in Manhattan, KS
Take the truck and RV to them and demonstrate the tranny noise. Yup, they hear it and it's getting worse. Ford Tech Line reviews the work done by Anderson and sees that Anderson missed a step. When changing clutches an additive should have been added to condition the new clutch packs. Edwards Ford adds the additive, drives the truck 100 miles and tells me to try towing. The truck is worse than before. The grunt has changed tone but now the tranny delays and slips going into fourth and now third as well.
The truck is now a little over three months old, has about 8,000 miles on it and is sitting at Dick Edwards Ford while they wait for a callback from the Ford Tech Line that was due Friday (it's now Monday afternoon). Dick Edwards service seems to be the only ones who realizes (other than me) that this tranny is now toast and should be replaced. Ford's Customer Care department is of no help whatsoever. Seems their job is to be a go-between with the customer and dealer. Well the dealer isn't the issue. They have absolutely no ability to expedite things within Ford so they can't get the Tech Line people to answer the dealer.
Over the past month Ford has had my truck for 3 out of 4 weeks. They have thrown parts and fluids at the transmission which have only made matters worse. They've paid for parts, labor, three weeks of rental cars and their expenses keep climbing with no resolution in sight. With a truck that is three months old, and owner who has been inconvenienced far more than necessary and all the money Ford has wasted so far, the right thing for both parties at this point is to replace the transmission. Ford cuts their losses and I finally get my truck back. But as of this writting they've made no decisions at all on how to proceed from here.
Ford, I did not expect to have a major component failure after 2 months. I didn't expect to have one at all. And I didn't expect getting the vehicle repaired to be such a daunting effort. Situations like these do not hold well for Ford or it's vehicle owners. Please contact me via the PM system this site offers so hopefully I can update this post with a happy ending.