[mass-hole]

Honestly, the new breed of mechanics scares me.
In a tool fb group I'm in, I posted a picture of my new torque wrench and the reason I had to get it. The brake caliper bracket on the F150 gets torqued to 185lb-ft.
You would not believe how many mechanics told me I was full of poop and that I shouldn't be working on cars.
They all started off by saying how many years they've been in the business (Some said 20+ years) and that they've never seen torques that high.
I simply posted a screen shot of the manual and stated they're the ones that have no business working on cars.
The only reply I get back was "Well, I've never had a car come back"

These guys don't care. The dealerships don't prioritize that peoples lives could be at stake if they don't do something right. Maybe not today or tomorrow but in a few months that caliper bolt could come loose and cause an accident that kills people.

I had my brake caliper come lose after I had a shop do the hubs and ball joints on my Jeep. Luckily it was only one of the two bolts and the wheel held the caliber on the rotor, but it eff'd up my wheel.

 

[JimmyD750]

This has to be a troll post. Guy is a "mechanic" and drilling holes in intercoolers and spends 8k in repairs at someone else's shop lolol

I wasn’t working as a mechanic at that time. I was embarking upon opening a business in another field. I needed a truck every day, hence the rental truck fees, which were at least 1/2 of the $8k. I didn’t buy a cheap beater to use for the time being bc each time it was in the shop, I was certain (or extremely hopeful) that the dealer would have it fixed. I also took it to the dealer at the behest of my warranty company, ASC (which btw, was pretty good otherwise. Covered about $7,500 in repairs over the duration of the warranty).
Read the reply after yours. It explains the “drilling holes in intercoolers” part. There’s even diagrams as to exactly what bit size, and which location to drill floating around. It was tested and proven to have zero impact on boost (such as sucking air causing a loss in air charge). Trust me, I was skeptical too until I tried it. I figured worst case scenario I could put a dab of JB in the hole if it caused issues.

 

[JimmyD750]

For all those doubting the weep hole mod:

Link Removed

That’s from a 5 sec google search that landed in this forum.
1/16, not 1/8.

 

[JimmyD750]

You work for a shop and you're a professional mechanic but needed to take your truck somewhere else?

I wasn’t working as a mechanic at the time. I was starting a business in another field and had no access to a lift or a shop.

 

[JimmyD750]

You ever calculate how much air mass can flow through a 1/8" hole with a 20 psi pressure differential? Its like a tenth of a lb/min.

That is avoided in whole by doing a 1/16 instead, which is what I did.

 

[JimmyD750]

To those who doubt the weep hole drilling, a search here finds plenty of people who never had a bother issue regarding the truck falling on its face at the worst possible time.

Weep hole still draining

I have a 2013 FX4 with 130k miles. I drilled a weep hole 5 days ago and it’s still draining oil. I would say about a quart and a half has drained out so far. Is it possible my intercooler had that much oil in it or did I screw up and drill in the wrong spot?

www.f150ecoboost.net

 

[mass-hole]

That is avoided in whole by doing a 1/16 instead, which is what I did.

My point was even a 1/8" hole is an insignificant amount of air. Its literally like 1 hp loss.

 

[snakebitten]

I still say it was a good rant.

A good rant is just a way to release.
A bad rant is something other than.

 

[Boatwaco]

I agree -it is a good rant.

 

[mass-hole]

Sorry a 1/8" hole at 20 psi boost is actually .35 lb/min, or about <1% of the the total air flow of a stock truck

1/16" is 0.1 lb/min.

 

[JimmyD750]

My point was even a 1/8" hole is an insignificant amount of air. Its literally like 1 hp loss.

I thought as much, but with so many people talking crazy I just wanted to be clear ! 😂

 

[snakebitten]

so many people talking crazy.....

Noise filtering skills are a modern world necessity.

 

[SBGRacing]

Excellent parallel and deduction. Where I'm willing to defend them is the incredibly quick pace with which electronics has exploded onto the scene. It's so obvious to me that the expertise that is required to master the latest vehicles simply hasn't developed fast enough. I've mentioned before, my 2012 F150 has 7 modules managing various aspects of the truck. My 2022 has 42 modules. You can't underestimate how big of a shift in skillset that would be for an F150 technician that truly is a master at diagnosis and repair. The only thing that I can not and will not defend any tech (or chef) for, is the apathy that exists today that didn't a decade ago. But that's more of a culture decline I suppose.

I would go further. Ford is not training them the "electrical experts" very well. I have a 2013 F150 that I rebuilt after buying it from an insurance company as salvage. It took a bit of time, but at some point it would not start. I had it towed to the local Ford dealer who swore they have 2 electronic experts. They spent 4 hours checking wires for continuity and finally started the car. They did not know what they did to make it start, but would not tell me that to a later point when it happened again. I went back and then they told me they did all this stuff and it started but not sure what helped. I was not about to spend another 4 hours in labor at a ford dealer, so at the suggestion of a friend that has a body shop called a real electronics expert. He spent 30 minutes hooking up the car to multiple computers and probes. As soon as he cranked the motor over, he had effectively tested every wire connection by reading either the voltage or current flow. That same diagnostic took the Ford Techs 4 hours using simple volt/ohm meters. He also was able to see the injectors firing, the coils firing, etc. After stating it should be ruinning, it disconnected the fuel pump and it started right up. It was flooded. After getting it running, he was the fuel trim was way off and the car thought I was running E85 and not regular so was dumping too much fuel. Ford never ever checked. Turned out the MAF sensor was dirty/corroded from being exposed and not used for year. It is funny, while I will not service my car there, for a while I became friendly with one of the parts guys, who provided me with to the trade pricing. Unfortunately he has left.

 

[madmaxmutt]

All I can say, is if you think automotive techs are bad, stay out of RV dealerships.....

 

[Justinjs]

All I can say, is if you think automotive techs are bad, stay out of RV dealerships.....

I've heard some horror stories. That industry needs an entire revamp. Someone...start a mobile RV repair shop.

 

[snakebitten]

I'm going to have to defend the manufacturer when it comes to training. Unless someone tells me that the training isn't even available. But I'm not buying that.

The technician himself has to have the DESIRE to be trained, get trained, or any other way you can put it. I'm betting that the knowledge base exists and access to it is available. But you can't make someone learn. I have a 13 year old grandson, who I love unconditionally, but he has no interest in learning or studying. (hope he grows out of the malady)

There ARE experts, professionals, knowledgeable technicians. There's gotta be something going on with the business model that has them NOT working for Ford Dealership. Generally speaking.

 

[Xenia]

Call it a rant if you want, but this is what I have witnessed over the last 10 years or so…
Just read an article where a guy says he hit a curb real hard, and the diagnostic computer at the dealer says he needs a new engine and tranny for $22k. Sounds like the stealership needs a new diagnostic computer! That’s the prob with “mechanics” today. They can’t diagnose, they just do what the computer says to do.

I bought a 2012 F150 4x4 platinum Ecoboost with 100k miles in 2018. Usual issues with water in the intercooler, solved by drilling a tiny hole in it (exact size and location is easily found on YouTube). Then the issue with the 10¢ each coil boots to cure misfires.

One day I’m driving to Chicago from Indy after having the truck about a month, and it lost all power and died. Every single warning light came on, along with the “advance Trac” and every readout warning. Got out, looked under hood, found nothing odd. Slammed the hood shut and it started right up. No issues for 2 months.

Same thing began to happen more and more often, and each time had it towed to to one of 3 Ford dealers in Indy. That truck was in the shop at one dealer or another NINE TIMES in 6 months. Sometimes they’d call and say “we got in and it started up, tested it over several days so you’re good to go.” Only to come get it and it wouldn’t start. Each time they said “our diagnostic computers won’t communicate with it”. So they replaced the BCM. Then the ECM. Then replaced a few grounds. None of this was covered under my 4 year/50,000 aftermarket warranty that covers nothing “or wiring related”.

The final verdict? “Sir, there’s something seriously wrong electronically and we don’t have the ability to figure it out. Sorry, but you need a need a new truck. We’ll give you a deal since you just bought this one.”

There was a little shop near my house that had “automotive electrical specialists” painted on the window, let’s try it.

Two days later the guy calls and says he was talking to a windshield repair guy that had heard of these occasionally having issues with the under hood fuse box. So he slaps the box and it starts. I drive it around for a few days, doing the same “slap the fuse box” technique every time it died. Eventually that wouldn’t work anymore, so I bring it back to that little auto electrical shop. He finds a fuse box at an online junk yard, $60. $400 in labor to splice and solder every wire. BOOM truck is fixed and still is.

I spent over $8k between rental trucks and attempted repairs that my warranty wouldn’t cover at dealerships. $460 (which was a steal; there’s about 70 wires to splice) and a little investigative diagnostics without a computer and I’m 100% good.

The bottom line is not only are dealer techs unskilled for the most part (probably 80% or more), but shop management is
more concerned with $ than customer satisfaction. If it’s going to take 4 hours of chasing wires, they’d rather tell you it can’t be fixed, would be too expensive to do so, and you just need a new vehicle.

I’m a professional mechanic myself, and I work in a little 5 bay shop. We get “dealer referrals” at least weekly. It’s become backwards from what it used to be; if the local small shop couldn’t do it, you took it to the Repair Gods at a dealership. Not anymore.

If my Snap-On Apollo (way too expensive btw) or Autel can’t communicate, I get out the probe and start searching. But first, I take a good long look at the electrical schematics, and so this crazy old thing called “troubleshooting” 😂.

I know there’s plenty of you here that work at a dealer, and are highly skilled. I would bet many of you are in your 50’s though. We seriously need more new blood or we’re gonna be driving disposable cars in the future.

I agree with you. I had a used Cady, worth about 3-4k. Took it to an independent shop, they plugged it in, read the codes, gave me a list of items the codes said need to be replaced or repaired. Totaled over 8k. I don't consider them mechanics - just Chip Readers. That's about it.

 

[GearHead_1]

The technician himself has to have the DESIRE to be trained,

^ ^ ^ This!

 

[Wqmaster]

Had one steal my engine cover, and charge me $2,000 for an oil pan excluding labor. Let’s just say I walked out of there with a pretty good “deal” at $150.

 

[DNA Dan]

People just aren't skilled to troubleshoot outside the protocol. The real crime is Ford having made such a sophisticated truck and the gall to reduce it's upkeep/repair to just changing a few compartmentalized parts. Anything beyond that and "you need a new truck." Its strictly a profit driven business model, where anything outside the protocol to fix it becomes a loss opportunity cost for them. This is not only a waste of resources on our planet, but makes it a throw away item when it could have a much greater lifespan had the engineers not baked in the planned obsolescence to make you buy a new truck.