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Question on Fords policy

1K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  fordfan30 
#1 ·
I searched and couldn't come up with anything. Please forgive me if this question has been asked already.

I have a 06 F250 with the 6.0. Had the head gaskets blow in late December of last year. I did some research then and found out about the Arp studs and how they should be used to correct the problem. Went down to the dealership and asked if they were gonna use the studs instead of the bolts. Not only did my service rep tell me they were, the mechanic did as well. To make a long story short I was having some dual pipes put on over at Rudy's in Durham yesterday and found out they used the same bolts as before. Now i'm no mechanic and had no idea what to look for after the job was completed last year. So this is a big suprise. I contacted several dealerships this morning and they all pretty much said the same thing. "We are only allowed to use ford parts". So basically i was lied to from the beginning. Don't know why but it is what it is now. My question is. Why would ford use the same exact inferior part to fix a problem knowing full well it's not the long term solution to the problem? From a business standpoint it makes no sense at all. If the head gaskets fail again under the 12 month 12k miles they are liable for the cost of the repair again. It makes absolutely no sense. Not to mention customers being extra pissed off that it's happened twice. Has anyone here had the gaskets blow a second time after the initial warranty work? Has anyone had any luck getting ford to use the ARP studs during the first failure? Any help would be greatly appreciated..........Btw, i love the site. I'm already addicted to it.
 
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#2 ·
Very common to hear that the dealership will only use Ford parts and not aftermarket stuff, especially if you're not supplying the aftermarket part. It sucks that you were lied to, but it was the easiest way to avoid an argument. Obviously you don't want to take your truck back there in the future.

Quite a few people have had luck getting a dealership to install studs, but you'll have to supply them and more than likely have to slide the tech a couple hundred bucks on the down low. If you're serious about pursuing it, don't even bother talking to the service manager. He's not the one turning the wrenches.

The only other thing I can add is that not all techs will install the studs correctly, and even if they do it won't do you any good if your heads aren't in spec or are cracked.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply Snake. Yeah, i definitely won't be going back to that dealership or any other ford dealership again. Lucky for me, i found "Rudy's" in Durham NC. Unbelieveable customer service. I have never seen an automotive/performance shop like these guys, EVER! Very helpful and knowledgable. Sucks that i have to redo the heads, egr delete, oil cooler replacement, etc, but when i get the funds my truck will be in good hands. I met Aaron, Ben, and a few others yesterday and was very impressed. First class operation all the way.
I love Ford and have been a loyal owner for many years with many trucks and Suv's but i have to say this whole experience has left a real bad taste in my mouth. I have too much money invested in the 250 to get rid of it now so i'm gonna have it repaired right, once and for all. I just wish Ford would step up to the plate and get these vehicles repaired the right way instead of putting a band aid on.
 
#4 ·
Well it sucks you were lied to and I agree with all of that. If you will, lets look at this from a different angle. The truth of the matter is that the factory head bolts do in fact hold up on a healthy stock motor and even a lot of tuned ones. The weak link isnt necessarily the bolts themselves as it is the fact that there are only 4 per cylinder as opposed to 6 and when the oil cooler ruptures or egr cooler craps the bed or however you want to let coolant into the combustion chamber, pressures rise too much and due to not enough clamping strength from the 4 bolts per cylinder, the head rises, stretches the bolts and blows the head gasket. Now even if you delete both the egr cooler and oil cooler and have excessive timing you will still blow the head gaskets with studs in place. I hope I am making sense here. The head studs are not the cure to cancer for these motors they allow us to build them up for more performance but at the end of the day if you get coolant into the combustion chamber and/or run excessive timing from tuning then you will still blow the head gaskets. Therefore, looking at it from that stand point, it would stand to reason that Ford would stick with their OEM tested parts vice some aftermarket part that they would have to research to prove could replace theirs. I can tell you from having owned all three car companies vehicles that I think Ford has the overall best quality in their vehicles. God bless GM and I have had plenty but I think the fit and finish and looks are just better on the ford vehicles IMO.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the input Windrunner. The only arguement i have is that my truck is stock. Never tuned or anything else until yesterday with the pipes i had put on. My heads failed under normal use. Wasn't towing anything at all. Hell, i was on a job not 15 minutes from the house for over 4 months when this happened. I have always done all the scheduled maintmence before ford's recommendations. Never abused this vehicle the slightest. I disagree that the bolts hold up under normal use based on my experience. As far as 4 bolts/studs per cylinder i have no idea about. Like i said, i'm no mechanic and definitely have very little knowledge about diesels. I've been reading here and on other forums for a while and am trying to soak up as much info as i can but from the stuff i've read the arp's are the way to go. The guy's at Rudy's confirmed that yesterday to me. Not saying every motor is gtg 100% of the time after switching to studs but the likelyhood of having another h.g. job is far and few between. After financing i'm into this truck about 70k and the last thing i need is to come out of pocket another $4300 to get it right, but i've gotta protect my investment. I'm in it for the long haul, until the wheels come off. lol.
 
#6 ·
I hear ya man. All I was trying to get at is that there are a lot of guys still running stock head bolts that did the egr cooler delelte or upgrade and rebuilt the oil cooler and watch their temps and have no problem even with tuning. Therefore it was more than likely that something failed causing the head gaskets to fail and if that happens then it can happen with studs as well. Nevertheless, studs make it less more likely of a repeat, especially if the job was done right. Glad to hear that Rudy's worked great for ya. I wanted to take my truck to them but I live in west TN so it was just to far.
 
#8 ·
That is about all you can do sometimes IMO with these motors.
 
#9 ·
So if its still under warrenty then blow the head gaskets and this time buy the arp's and have them put in. Since they lied I wouldn't feel bad at all doing it.
 
#11 ·
My ARP's were put in by the dealer, buy I had to supply them, then the tech put them in wrong, he forgot to put the washers on them, luckily I noticed before they dropped the cab back down, so he redid them, I've got 60k+ miles on them with no problems at all.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for all the input guys. Unfortunately i wasn't given the opportunity to buy them for the install. Like i said, i was led to believe they were supplying them. Coughing up the coin wouldn't of been an issue had i known. Bought 3 new vehicles from this dealership and 1 from their sister dealership and this is the thanks i get.......Live and learn i guess.
 
#14 ·
I hear ya man. I would submit to you that that dealer sucks and I wouldnt buy anything from them again if I were you. However, it is the same with a lot of every other car manufactures' dealers and while they may suck, that doesnt necessarily mean that the brand of car they sell sucks. I know we want to tie the dealer to the manufacturer and it is always a balancing act between how good a dealership is doing sales wise and what kind of service you get from them. I know it shouldnt be that way but lets face it we all know there are good and bad dealers out there for the same car company.
 
#15 ·
A VA dealer quoted my buddy $800 for just the studs. He was told they were doing a head gasket replacement on his DRW, needed the truck for 4 days and these were now being used by Ford.

SO I said that seemed high for studs then remembered H11's require deep pockets. I went over an looked at the truck. No studs installed!! They only replaced the EGR valve.

Dealership said it was a mistake...they had several trucks being worked on.....:blah::blah::blah::blah::blah::blah::blah::blah::blah:

Needless to say ask around before going to a dealer for work. Some are MUCH better than others, some don't deserve to put air in the tires.
 
#16 ·
I wouldn't even waste my time with having a dealer install them. They wont deck the heads, so what's the point?

I had ARP's put in under warranty once, it was the shortest my headgaskets ever lasted, I don't think I made it 10k miles.

Do it once, do it right, do it yourself! Or pay a good shop to do it.
 
#17 ·
I presume you did the headgaskets yourself the second time. How long has it been this time?
 
#18 ·
If you don't have a coolant filter on to remove the casting sand and ditch the Ford Gold junk coolant you will have HG problems and egr-oil cooler problems the Gold can't take the heat the silicates drop out and plug the oil cooler:eek: the only fix is a coolant filter, coolant flush and ELC coolant:doh:
Some dealers will install ARP studs if you buy them.
2 stroker
 
#19 ·
I supplied the dealer with studs and the tech with incentive when mine let go and I still had warranty. 30k miles and no problems.
 
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