This is my first post on this forum.
I'm active duty military and am moving cross country from Norfolk, VA to Monterey, CA. I was driving a 2005 F-350 CC DRW towing a 20' enclosed car trailer.
I left Norfolk on Friday afternoon around 2:00 PM. I had bought a ScanGauge II for the trip and this was first time with it in the truck. Coolant temps on the flat interstate in VA was 190-200 with the EOT about 15-20 degrees above that. I was a little concerned after reading articles on this forum, however they mentioned the 15 degree max was with the truck unloaded, so I thought with the added weight of the trailer (~7.5K lbs) that the difference migh be okay.
Problems started when I got into the mountains of Virginia. I was driving up a long grade and looked down at the scangauge, coolant temp was up to 220 and the EOT was almost 240. I backed off and the coolant crept down immediately, with the EOT following slowly.
Less than 5 miles later going up another grade I heard a beep looked down at the gauge cluster and saw the stock coolant temp gauge rising rapidly. I quickly looked in the right mirror to pull off the road and saw white smoke pouring out of the exhaust.
Pulled over to the side of the road and popped the hood. Degas bottle was completely empty. State trooper pulled over in front a few minutes later and helped arrange a tow truck. I left the trailer in a local impound lot and arranged for a tow truck to take the truck 30 miles up the road to the nearest Ford Dealer.
I slept in the truck Friday night outside the service entrance (no hotels had rooms within walking distance) and walked in the door on Saturday morning. Service dept was not open but there was a tech working and he took a look at the truck. He spent less than 20 minutes and came back and said the EGR failed and would need to be replaced. Quoted around $2K parts and labor and said it was a 2 day job.
Car dealer helped me arrange a hotel and rental car (they've been great so far). Tech said he wouldn't know if the EGR and Oil Cooler was the extent of the damage until after he's replaced it. I understand that. They have the parts in stock which is good.
This definately makes me nervous for the rest of my trip. I didn't get very far on the first try. Financially this hurts because I'm paying for a hotel room, rental car, and impound fees for the trailer until this gets fixed. Fingers crossed EGR and Oil Cooler replacement gets me back on the road.
Anything I should talk to the dealer about during the repair? If I get in deeper than I am now I'll probably have to abandon the truck in WV to make it to my next duty station in time. I have no idea yet what I'm going to do about the trailer.
What a nightmare.
Duncan
I'm active duty military and am moving cross country from Norfolk, VA to Monterey, CA. I was driving a 2005 F-350 CC DRW towing a 20' enclosed car trailer.
I left Norfolk on Friday afternoon around 2:00 PM. I had bought a ScanGauge II for the trip and this was first time with it in the truck. Coolant temps on the flat interstate in VA was 190-200 with the EOT about 15-20 degrees above that. I was a little concerned after reading articles on this forum, however they mentioned the 15 degree max was with the truck unloaded, so I thought with the added weight of the trailer (~7.5K lbs) that the difference migh be okay.
Problems started when I got into the mountains of Virginia. I was driving up a long grade and looked down at the scangauge, coolant temp was up to 220 and the EOT was almost 240. I backed off and the coolant crept down immediately, with the EOT following slowly.
Less than 5 miles later going up another grade I heard a beep looked down at the gauge cluster and saw the stock coolant temp gauge rising rapidly. I quickly looked in the right mirror to pull off the road and saw white smoke pouring out of the exhaust.
Pulled over to the side of the road and popped the hood. Degas bottle was completely empty. State trooper pulled over in front a few minutes later and helped arrange a tow truck. I left the trailer in a local impound lot and arranged for a tow truck to take the truck 30 miles up the road to the nearest Ford Dealer.
I slept in the truck Friday night outside the service entrance (no hotels had rooms within walking distance) and walked in the door on Saturday morning. Service dept was not open but there was a tech working and he took a look at the truck. He spent less than 20 minutes and came back and said the EGR failed and would need to be replaced. Quoted around $2K parts and labor and said it was a 2 day job.
Car dealer helped me arrange a hotel and rental car (they've been great so far). Tech said he wouldn't know if the EGR and Oil Cooler was the extent of the damage until after he's replaced it. I understand that. They have the parts in stock which is good.
This definately makes me nervous for the rest of my trip. I didn't get very far on the first try. Financially this hurts because I'm paying for a hotel room, rental car, and impound fees for the trailer until this gets fixed. Fingers crossed EGR and Oil Cooler replacement gets me back on the road.
Anything I should talk to the dealer about during the repair? If I get in deeper than I am now I'll probably have to abandon the truck in WV to make it to my next duty station in time. I have no idea yet what I'm going to do about the trailer.
What a nightmare.
Duncan
I think I've had enough road trips for this year.
