NHTSA Complaint #10176302 — 2000 FORD F-250 SD

WHEN I STATED MY 2000 FORD F250 SD WITH THE 7.3 DIESEL ENGINE THE MOTOR RAN ROUGH AND WOULD NOT DEVELOP ENOUGH POWER TO MOVE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER ALMOST AN HOUR OF IDLING THE MOTOR DEVELOPED ENOUGH POWER TO MOVE. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER THE NEXT DAY AND WAS TOLD THAT THE PROBLEM WAS A DISCONNECTED/LOOSE WIRING HARNESS TO THE INJECTORS AND GLOW PLUGS. MINOR PROBLEM TILL I FOUND OUT IT WOULD TAKE ALL DAY TO FIX AND COST $675. I WAS TOLD THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH MY TYPE VEHICLE. SO I SPENT THE MONEY AND THE DEALER INSTALLED A $17.00 PART TO LOCK THE CONNECTORS IN PLACE. THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED. EVEN A FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENT OR A PERSON WITH ANY COMMON SENSE WOULD KNOW TO INSTALL A POSITIVE LOCK CONNECTOR FOR AN INTERNAL WIRING HARNESS. I'M JUST GLAD THE PROBLEM SHOWED UP WHEN STARTING AND NOT ON THE HIGHWAY GOING HIGHWAY SPEEDS WITH A HORSE TRAILER BEHIND. *NM