joe mcmillan

Some great helpful comments by many here.
Hope you are ale to get the truck for a reasonable price.
It should be a good one.

97Widerider

Very helpful comments. Thanks to all. I hope to know something next week.


So...how is the transmission on these trucks? Durable? I currently have a Silverado and read that their transmissions don't match their Vortec engine in reliability. I currently tow a small popup in a lower gear and and have an oversized trans cooler. I haven't checked yet but does the FX4 come standard with a trans cooler. I know it does have a hitch.

Tommy J

I did my plugs with the lisle tool handy and only broke 2 but they came out no problem. I just sprayed carb cleaner the night before. If you are getting someone else to do it then they should give you a per plug price if they break or a worse case scenerio type of price which I guess he kind of did. Don't over think every possible scenerio with this truck or else you would never buy a used vehicle. You are buying it in the condition it is currently, not some may happen in the future possible problem. You take a chance with every used vehicle,,, dealer or private. Drive it, crawl under it, ask a few questions and assume thay are telling you at least some of the truth and then either walk away or make an offer but by all means don't beat someone up over sprk plugs because of Fords bad design. Just take it into consideration with your offer. You would hate to freak someone out with transmission and engine questions that are beyond their control and have them wondering why you are looking at the truck in the first place. You have every right to make an informative decision but you may end up seeing someone else driving that nice truck down the road. Good luck

jkenprice1

I would expect 250,000 miles from the trans. If you have the tow padkage, you have the auxillary cooler.

DnChris

It seems ok. This is pretty good advice for anyone really because you never know where the truck has been. There's a lot of places especially in Canada where the trucks are insured in one province but stays and is used in other places.

The plugs aren't a major issue, just time consuming,and if they are done you're good.

And if you wanna talk about fails of an F150... I bought my 06 S-Crew used with 125k miles and literally 7 days later the transmission went. Cost me $3700 to do it.

Martian

Sounds more like fails of a dealership (or you), really... even when you buy a vehicle without warranty, you have a 30 day warranty / grace period. Why didn't you have the service center fix it if you truly were only a week out of the purchase?

MGD

OP.

A couple things were not discussed - (unless I missed, in which case I'm sorry) - namely the 2005-specific 3V's potential for leaking injectors (worst-case: damaged cats, oil dilution, scored cylinder walls due to washing, and the worst of all - the potential for a hydrolocked engine).

Read: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/sd...229_r07m08.pdf

Based on mileage / time you may still qualify. It would be prudent for you to check into this at the very least before purchase.

Cam phasers - 'failure' of same don't cause low oil pressure in and of itself - rather, failing chain tensioners do - specifically, the gasket fails and starts to leak. This in turn reduces tension on the timing chains, which then beats up the chain guides, causes timing anomalies, and potential oil pickup clogging from the detrius.

Moreover, it'd be prudent to check if the VCT solenoids have ever been updated to the current revision: 8L3Z-6M280-B, with new seals = 3L3Z-6C535-AA (which also helps with oil pressure and possibly noise). AND - like wearing dirty sneakers with an Armani suit, it's pointless to change VCT solenoids if the VCT Valve bodies themselves are not removed, inspected and cleaned. I'd check into that too.

Good luck
MGD

jetchaser

I have an 05 FX4 Screw, and love it! I've had it 4 years now. It has 87K miles on it. Love the FX4 package.