Quote:
Originally Posted by 202235f
Wow, Rascal. I think maybe you experienced what most of us consider a worst case scenario but with probably the best outcome. We're you able to find out the cause of the failure? Thanks for sharing, there's a lot here to be learned for all of us.
Would you be interested in posting a more detailed report of your experience?
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Started with a 2500 mile trip each way- Georgia to CA near San Fransisco. 76000 miles on the rig-- a bit over 1500 hours on the engine. We've made that trip several times over the past 8 years.
Other than the expected rough roads, we plowed westward at about 60 mph. Took about 8 days of plodding along to get there with a few stops for site seeing along the way.
As we ground up I-5 we moved west toward Gilroy over the Pacheco Pass. The rig did fine going up, but as we got toward the bottom on the west side I started noticing a ticking sound. I noticed it more at the low rpms as the sound was drowned out by road and engine noise at speed. I drove on thinking it may be an exhaust manifold bolt leak. I got up close to San Fransisco and took it to a truck shop whose head mechanic came out to check it. He didn't think it was too worrisome and said to drive it home to GA (it was Christmas) and get it addressed once home. I was not real comfortable with that, but I figured he knew more about these things than i did.
All went well as we moved back eastward after Christmas. I noticed absolutely no impact on the operation of the engine or mileage. We stopped at Gila Bend AZ after several hundred miles for an overnight rest. Next morning I got up and started it and heard the loudest clanging and banging noise coming from the engine. I figured that’s it-- the engine is shot and I need to call a wrecker. Suddenly, after about 10-15 seconds of operation - all abnormal noise including the ticking was gone! The rig ran smooth as glass!
We got on the road and drove at 55 mph --with several stops the remaining --2000 miles home with no problem at all ???. However I could not believe whatever it was fixed. So, I took it to a Ford truck repair shop in central Georgia.
I told them the symptoms and that I didn't notice any problems anymore, but I wanted it researched and checked. A few days later they called and said they had been driving it around and did not notice any problems. I demanded they pull the valve covers to check. I was shocked when they called to advise me that they'd need to charge me $8000 to pull the heads. I was flabbergasted and told them I didn't need the heads pulled, just unscrew the valve covers and see if there was a problem with the valves-- a relatively minor job. At that point I realized service from that place was not going to be reliable, so I went and picked it up and brought the rig home.
Once at home I pulled the right valve cover myself and as soon as I raised the cover, I found a cam roller/follower laying away from its position against the side of the valve cover and a missing lifter. It was a follower and lifter for an intake valve so I had been running that cylinder on the other intake valve. I knew I had big trouble at that point and refused to drive it further. I had it towed to the shop I had valve work done before on the engine when a spring broke on the left valve train a bit over a year ago. That shop was a Ford truck center in Montgomery AL about 100 miles away. I called for a heavy tow and had it towed to that shop.
The shop (Stivers) was responsive and took the project on quickly. They saw the damage and found even more destruction in their assessment. The cam had been seriously damaged. They said they could replace the cam shaft and replace all the cam followers. I carry a service contract and when Stivers called them for authorization to rebuild the valve train they said no, not until Stivers verified there was no metal in the lower engine, oil, and oil filter. They went on to say that if the valve train was repaired when there was metal in the lower block and oil, that any future damage would not be covered. The service contract folks were believing a new engine was in order. I already had an oil analysis being done. Stivers opened the oil filter and found it loaded with significant metal in the oil filter. This was confirmed on my oil analysis from the lab. There apparently was widespread damage to the engine and the service contract folks immediately authorized a Ford remanufactured engine installed.
It took 10 days for the engine to arrive at the shop. I then had to wait 2 days for their 4 point lift to be freed up so they could do the installation. They installed the new engine in 2 days. It ran perfectly on the 100-mile trip home.
The service contract covered 100% of the cost as I had already used my deductible on the claim for a slide repair claim I made on the same day I initially notified them of my claim.
Trying now to get the rig back set up for a trip to Texas in 2 weeks. Fingers crossed. I'm a bit spooked by V-10 engines anymore.
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