What the hell was Ford thinking!!

[Kim-n-Dean]

I'm changing a heater hose on my 2005 Powerstroke, and what a joke it is. There are two 10mm bolts on the firewall that have to be removed. They are behind the turbo and exhaust 'Y' pipe. So, to get to them, remove turbo and exhaust. Are you fucking kidding me?!?!? Every damn thing on this truck requires removing the turbo and exhaust. This is by far the most difficult vehicle I have ever worked on!! My buddy's Dodge (Cummins) has enough room under the hood to put another entire engine in there. It's really making me think about switching to Dodge, but I love (used to) my Ford.

A heater hose is usually two hose clamp and you're done. This thing, along with ridiculously located bolts, also has a quick disconnect at the firewall (heater core). That "quick" disconnect took almost an hour to release! I got the bolts out without removing the turbo (good thing I'm very flexible), but not without shredding my arms. They should bruise up nicely by tomorrow!

I changed my serpentine belt a while ago. Ford charges over $200 to do it because you have to remove the shroud, radiator and fan assembly. Again, are you fucking kidding me?!?!? I was able to do it by just removing the radiator mounts and a wire harness. That let the radiator move back about an inch. It was a pain, but that one inch was barely enough room to get it done.

It really sucks working on this thing, but I save a fortune!!

Fuckin' Ford!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rabbie303]

My buddy has a powerstroke and he said the exact same thing. So much crap is crammed into those ford engine bays it's not even funny. My ram 1500 has a ton of room too, aside from the back 4 plugs on the drivers side. But it's night and day difference.

[07D675CO]

The engine bay in the 6.uhoh is terrible. I had a 7.3 and it was much easier to work on.

[madvlad]

Everything is complicated, they make stuff that way so you don't DIY lol

[teamextreme]

You could always take it to a shop....:lol:

[Kim-n-Dean]

Well, that was fun!! Sweat equity, the only way to go!! The money I saved today will be spent on hookers and blow tonight..


Everything is complicated, they make stuff that way so you don't DIY lolIt sure seems that way!

I have a friend who is a diesel mechanic at Courtesy Ford. He pops the hood and removes the turbo for everything. He said he's such in the habit that he's almost removed the turbo to add coolant to the reservoir.

[Ph03niX]

Is this not one of the sexiest trucks you've ever seen? Buy a Ram. Definitely my dream truck.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w179/fiberwerx/2010%20Dodge%20Ram/018-1.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/fiberwerx/media/2010%20Dodge%20Ram/018-1.jpg.html)
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w179/fiberwerx/2010%20Dodge%20Ram/DSC_7297.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/fiberwerx/media/2010%20Dodge%20Ram/DSC_7297.jpg.html)
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w379/autopartsmopar/2013-Ram-1500-front-view-off-roading_zps8c5965fe.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/autopartsmopar/media/2013-Ram-1500-front-view-off-roading_zps8c5965fe.jpg.html)

[#1Townie]

Ram is okay.

My 7.3 is much better than my 6.4. Seems like everything is a caboff requirement. Its designed to make you want to just give up and let the dealerships do the work.

But to be honest I wouldn't buy a dodge these days as they are having or at least were having issues with transmissions.

Seems these days doesn't really matter what you buy its all garbage made with recycled garbage from China.

[One-ops]

We talking cummins or hemi? Love the rams. Love the ram runners too but. The pic of the silver one didn't end up well though. That's the guys from zipp and he came in a litle hot showing off. That truck rolled right off the floor at sema to do this though. I still like the 3rd gens more right now. I kinda like the Power wagon more then the ram runner though. Building my own for a mix of both. Have you seen the high clearance bumpers yet? Some power wagon guys were the first to do it. Check out http://youtu.be/clBvuqjqi0w and http://mercenaryoffroad.com/dodge-third-generation-b-front-bumper.html the a bombs frt and rear. I like the tube style more. To much money and no towing for me to own a diesal plus it's already to heavy as a gasser off road. Diesal are BA yeah. If I were to buy one right now I think it would have to be the 11 and up ford. The 68's in the rams suck. The electrics and breaking past tuning is killing them left and right.

[birchyboy]

Acura may be about as bad as Ford. Changing the spark plugs on the RDX requires removing the intercooler.

[Jmetz]

Just picked up a Ram 5.7 hemi and am very happy with it so far. Well except for the gas mileage. :lol: My brother also just picked up a 5.9 Cummins and he is very happy with it as well.

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee511/jmetz9/EEA2B176-4B4F-4DDC-8B03-6129ECE2BF63.jpg

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee511/jmetz9/82A47B3F-B91E-49E5-9D64-E440DEDDC14F.jpg

[birchyboy]

Looks good! What year?

[bulldog]

Had a similar issue with my last car; 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse. I like to do most the work myself and had always done my own spark plugs till I got to this car. 3 sparks plugs were easy, but the other 3 were nearly impossible to get to without taking off a lot of items from the top of motor. They smashed in that 3.0 V6 into that tiny car and was nearly impossible to work on the engine because of this. Ended up just trading the car....lucky plugs were only at 100K miles.

Had same issue with replacing headers on it; one side so easy, other you must need some special bending strong impact wrench to get to those bolts; which are practically welded on from engine heat.

[07D675CO]

Acura may be about as bad as Ford. Changing the spark plugs on the RDX requires removing the intercooler.

That has one of the top mount ones doesn't it?

[Jmetz]

Looks good! What year?

2009

[birchyboy]

That has one of the top mount ones doesn't it?

Yes

[#1Townie]

Yeah those little trucks are cute.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/nvrider/IMG955720_zpscdff5a7a.jpg

[NUTZ]

Ram is where it's at for sure.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/busaguy05/893670_3801578374308_1763623137_o_zps343dc20e.jpg~ original (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/busaguy05/media/893670_3801578374308_1763623137_o_zps343dc20e.jpg. html)

[Grim2.0]

Acura may be about as bad as Ford. Changing the spark plugs on the RDX requires removing the intercooler.


That's not even a damn joke changing a headlight bulb on a 04 TL requires pulling the whole fucking quarter panel unless you can twist, contort and break your arm into position, oh and your hand must fit inside a 1/4" dia hole.

[asp_125]

Had a Nissan Frontier V6 whose spark plugs were like that. The rearward pair were buried right back against the firewall, requiring flex drivers or tiny hands to get at. But with plug service intervals going up to 100,000 miles, car designers are not too concerned about accessibility for them.

Could be worse, the earlier 4.2 L V8 Audi motors - to replace the timing chain require complete engine removal.

[milehizx6r]

Holy shit, this started out as a FORD post and now we get Dodge, excuse my English, SUCKS, then Nissan, ?? I worked at a Ford dealership for 12 years and yes the 6.0l and the 6.4l were piles of shit. I agree, and yes the 7.3l is a proven badass, but nothing beats the Cummins. It's overall the best diesel out there.

[Drano]

...nothing beats the Cummins. It's overall the best diesel out there.

Actually, this does! :P
http://www.dieselpowermag.com/features/chevy/1207dp_dmitri_millards_single_cab_duramax_drag_rac e_truck/

[derekm]

I bought a dodge... once.... :)

[One-ops]

Yeah but that 68 trans sucks ass in them.

[rforsythe]

The times I had to work on my '05 6.0, I blocked off a fair bit of time for the "get to the actual part you were there to work on in the first place" exercise. Sometimes just having an extra set of hands made a huge difference, but yeah it's a pain. Definitely cheaper to DIY though, and the work isn't usually technically difficult, just tedious. I'm told an overhead creeper is awesomeness for it.

I am loving my 6.7L, but also still have warranty for a while in case it ever does need work. If you thought the 6.0 bay was crammed, you should see this thing.

[#1Townie]

but nothing beats the Cummins. It's overall the best diesel out there.
Detroit diesel does. All day long.

[Wrider]

And what kind of 1/2, 3/4, or 1 ton vehicle does a DD come in exactly?

[#1Townie]

You do know Cummins makes blocks out of those categories right?

[Wrider]

Yes I do, but this discussion in general is tailored toward those 150/1500, 250/2500, or 350/3500 vehicles.

[#1Townie]

Hahahaha really? Well if you want to get down into it it was just about fords ability to make working on your truck a giant pain. And then it evolved into other trucks.

So really its about trucks. Mostly diesel.

Statement still stands.

[derekm]

my pops just picked up a 15 f250 xcab* short bed... holy shit the gen2 6.7 owns.
On a side not his 04 xcab short w 375k, all repairs by dealer f250 is available at a great price!




*(he refuses to except a crew cab work truck)

[salsashark]

**Not related to working inside the engine bay, but definitely a "What the hell was Ford thinking" type thing...

So, my 2012 F150 w/ the ecoboost has been a great truck. Hauls bikes and campers just fine, helped plenty of people move, and comfortable to ride in, which is what I wanted. But why, in all things holy, would you engineer a cardboardish belly pan held on with plastic thumb screws?!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yFPzPD74SRA/VIsAbPx_ciI/AAAAAAAATEI/Op8WkoB-mL0/w1000-h750-no/f150_shield.jpg
(not my pic, but same issue)

Twice, I came home from having a service done to find the screws loose or completely undone and the pan thing hanging down. Then, it decided to make a suicidal jump driving home one night and I drug it close to 20 miles (fiber board's not that noisy when being drug down the highway)... Damn thing held on though. Folded up, burned and road rashed, I yanked the thing off and threw it in the garage. Haven't decided if it's worth screaming at Ford to get new parts or or just leave it off and forget about it...

But seriously Ford, WTF?! Fiberboard on a $40K+ truck???

[birchyboy]

Seems that belly pan is a hot topic. There's a guy in Canada that made a nice looking replacement for it.

[#1Townie]

Hahahaha buys ecoboost.. Doesn't understand why it has light weight parts.

[salsashark]

I understand completely... still no reason for plastic fasteners when a simple bolt would work as well... and, given the size of the plastic one's, it would most likely weigh the same.