If one turbo has problems, does it make sense to replace the second one???
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If one turbo has problems, does it make sense to replace the second one???
Hey Men,
I'm hoping for some good guidance here. My 2014 3.5 Ecoboost F150 has been terrific. Could there be a better light duty truck motor?? Needless to say, I'm a fan. But I've had an exhaust leak for some time now, and this past week, while towing my RV trailer, I went into limp mode (new to me) on an uphill, coming out of the central valley in California. The outside temp was 101, and stupid, blissful me, not paying attention, the poor beast overheated, 75% of the way up this looong hill. Just as I reached for the AC button (yes, I had the A/C on, did I say "moron"?, the limp mode was enabled. I pulled over right away, let it idle for about 2 minutes and then shut it down to let if cool off. After about 20 minutes, it restarted fine, and I was able to get over the hill and down toward the coast, where the temps were 30 degrees cooler. But the engine light stayed on, and the manual said "take it in ASAP".
And that's what I need your help with. I knew I had one or more of the famous broken exhaust manifold studs, had it for some time now, but the dealer rattled on about broken pieces of exhaust manifold, and then..."one turbo has a pretty bad oil leak, and the other has a minor leak, we recommend replacing both", and "the vacuum pump is leaking a bit of oil, at this age you might as well replace the entire pump", and of course "the exhaust manifold has to be replaced, and we have to drill and retap the broken studs and hunt down all the broken pieces of manifold." It's 14 hours labor plus parts, $5000 plus tax.
Soooo... I've researched, and it looks to me like all the parts mentioned cannot be $2000, and heck, when I was spry, I'd probably attempt to do this myself. But, well, I'm not spry! Yet, I cannot believe that this isn't a little over the top, the dealer is overcharging, and think I'll pull the truck in the morning and get it to an indy. It was running, I drove it into the shop, and I'm pretty certain that I can get it to another shop without significantly increasing the damage. I want to be careful to say that I don't begrudge the next guy from making a profit, that keeps the world going round. But I'm willing to bet it's about $3500 worth of parts and labor, IF everything needs replacing. If one turbo goes, it doesn't necessarily mean the next one is about to go, does it? And the vacuum pumps are pretty simple, I've read that the chief problem is the o-ring gasket which seals them, probably a really expensive o-ring, like six bucks or so. But the truck does have 140,000 miles, so I dunno...
Can I ask for your guidance here? What are your thoughts?
I'm hoping for some good guidance here. My 2014 3.5 Ecoboost F150 has been terrific. Could there be a better light duty truck motor?? Needless to say, I'm a fan. But I've had an exhaust leak for some time now, and this past week, while towing my RV trailer, I went into limp mode (new to me) on an uphill, coming out of the central valley in California. The outside temp was 101, and stupid, blissful me, not paying attention, the poor beast overheated, 75% of the way up this looong hill. Just as I reached for the AC button (yes, I had the A/C on, did I say "moron"?, the limp mode was enabled. I pulled over right away, let it idle for about 2 minutes and then shut it down to let if cool off. After about 20 minutes, it restarted fine, and I was able to get over the hill and down toward the coast, where the temps were 30 degrees cooler. But the engine light stayed on, and the manual said "take it in ASAP".
And that's what I need your help with. I knew I had one or more of the famous broken exhaust manifold studs, had it for some time now, but the dealer rattled on about broken pieces of exhaust manifold, and then..."one turbo has a pretty bad oil leak, and the other has a minor leak, we recommend replacing both", and "the vacuum pump is leaking a bit of oil, at this age you might as well replace the entire pump", and of course "the exhaust manifold has to be replaced, and we have to drill and retap the broken studs and hunt down all the broken pieces of manifold." It's 14 hours labor plus parts, $5000 plus tax.
Soooo... I've researched, and it looks to me like all the parts mentioned cannot be $2000, and heck, when I was spry, I'd probably attempt to do this myself. But, well, I'm not spry! Yet, I cannot believe that this isn't a little over the top, the dealer is overcharging, and think I'll pull the truck in the morning and get it to an indy. It was running, I drove it into the shop, and I'm pretty certain that I can get it to another shop without significantly increasing the damage. I want to be careful to say that I don't begrudge the next guy from making a profit, that keeps the world going round. But I'm willing to bet it's about $3500 worth of parts and labor, IF everything needs replacing. If one turbo goes, it doesn't necessarily mean the next one is about to go, does it? And the vacuum pumps are pretty simple, I've read that the chief problem is the o-ring gasket which seals them, probably a really expensive o-ring, like six bucks or so. But the truck does have 140,000 miles, so I dunno...
Can I ask for your guidance here? What are your thoughts?