NHTSA Complaint #10543335 — 1998 FORD F-150

INCIDENT #1 INTERMITTENT ELECTRICAL CONTACTS IN ENGINE BAY AFFECTING CHARGING SYSTEM, EMISSIONS, AND DRIVE SYSTEMS. FORD DEALER DIAGNOSED AS "BAD ALTERNATOR" AND "BAD WIRING HARNESS". AFTER I BROUGHT IT BACK WITHOUT HAVING REPAIRS DONE, I CLEANED AND LUBED ALL CONNECTORS. ALL PROBLEMS WENT AWAY. I ENDED UP HAVING TO BUY A NEW BATTERY DUE TO DAMAGE DONE BY THE FAULTY CONNECTIONS. THE PROBLEMS HAD BEEN INTERMITTENT AND PROGRESSIVELY GOT WORSE BEFORE I CLEANED AND LUBED ALL CONNECTORS, THIS PROBLEM COST ME A BATTERY, AND ALMOST CAUSED ME TO WRECK AS THE BATTERY DIED AT NIGHT ON THE HIGHWAY. WITH NO BATTERY AND NO ALTERNATOR, THE VEHICLE STALLED, LIGHTING DIED, ETC. INCIDENT #2 LEAKING TIMING COVER GASKET AND LOWER INTAKE GASKETS. AT THIS MOMENT THE VEHICLE HAS 127K APPX MILES ON IT, AND IT IS CURRENTLY SITTING AS I WILL NOT DRIVE IT UNTIL IT IS REPAIRED, ALL MILES PUT ON VEHICLE HAVE BEEN "LIGHT" MILES (NO HEAVY TOWING, NO OVERLOADING OF VEHICLE, NO EXCESSIVE SPEED, ETC). FORD ISSUED A BULLETIN STATING THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH GASKETS UP UNTIL ROUGHLY 1/16/98. THEY THEN ISSUED A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION REMEDY THAT DID NOT COVER THE FULL GASKET SET OR ALL AFFECTED ENGINE MODEL YEARS. ACCORDING TO THE BULLETIN, MY ENGINE (MFG DATE PRIOR TO 9/97) IS AFFECTED, ACCORDING TO THEIR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION REMEDY IT IS NOT ELIGIBLE. IN MY BOOK, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE THE BASIS OF A RECALL. ENGINES HAVE DIED WITH AS LITTLE AS 50K MILES ON THEM, I HAVE NEVER HAD A VEHICLE THAT I WAS HONESTLY SCARED TO DRIVE UNTIL NOW. I WILL MOST LIKELY BE PERFORMING MY OWN REPAIRS ON THIS VEHICLE DUE TO FORD'S INCOMPETENCE. *TR