Apologies for the length, I'll preface by saying I'm not a mechanic and can do basic maintenance and have taken on a few advanced fixes, would appreciate any perspective or options on my 2013 F150 Fx4 3.5L with 182k. Was driving from Dallas to Fredericksburg last Friday night, just south of Marble Falls on 281 felt a kick from the front and truck threw itself into limp mode and lost all power, was able to glide off in the grass when the low oil pressure light flashed as well. Turned the truck off then attempted to restart and got nothing. Got the truck towed back to Marble Falls,
First shop did a quick assessment and told me the engine wasn't getting any compression and likely the timing chain broke, but with mileage and age of truck didn't think it was worth paying for a tear down of the engine and that I'd likely need a new engine. Luckily, I had the timing chain and kit replaced in Aug 22 and it was still under warranty (dug threw receipts and found it). Long story short, my garage in Dallas sold out to Brakes Plus a couple years ago so had to call them and was able to convince them to honor the warranty. They just opened a location in MF and had the truck towed literally across the street.
Brakes Plus did a partial tear down and used a fiber optic camera on the engine and said they found #3 cylinder was oil soaked and determined the piston rings were worn out/failed and caused engine to hydrolock resulting in the timing chain to snap. They are recommending engine replacement with turbos for $14k. I expressed concerns that the next thing to go would be the trans and they came back with a quote of $17k to do both since a lot of the tear down overlaps.
I want to trust Brakes Plus assessment, but is it possible the timing chain broke first and the #3 cylinder piston rings are a result of that happening? The sequence they provided is convenient as they won't have to honor my warranty and they are off the hook for repairs, so just wanting to make sure I explore that avenue before going along with it.
With the mileage and age, I don't think I'm going to be putting a new motor in it, is best option to salvage or try to sell to someone who can do the repairs themselves? From discussions, I did learn I got the life out of this engine, most fail around 150k, so will definitely be going back to the V8 on the next one.
If in the Austin/MF area and looking for a garage, I highly recommend M.E. Gene Johnson Garage (2 locations), Pops and his son Nick were the first shop I sent it to and they could have easily told me they needed to tear it down to assess, but were honest and trustworthy from the start and only paid $100 for them to do a diagnostic.
First shop did a quick assessment and told me the engine wasn't getting any compression and likely the timing chain broke, but with mileage and age of truck didn't think it was worth paying for a tear down of the engine and that I'd likely need a new engine. Luckily, I had the timing chain and kit replaced in Aug 22 and it was still under warranty (dug threw receipts and found it). Long story short, my garage in Dallas sold out to Brakes Plus a couple years ago so had to call them and was able to convince them to honor the warranty. They just opened a location in MF and had the truck towed literally across the street.
Brakes Plus did a partial tear down and used a fiber optic camera on the engine and said they found #3 cylinder was oil soaked and determined the piston rings were worn out/failed and caused engine to hydrolock resulting in the timing chain to snap. They are recommending engine replacement with turbos for $14k. I expressed concerns that the next thing to go would be the trans and they came back with a quote of $17k to do both since a lot of the tear down overlaps.
I want to trust Brakes Plus assessment, but is it possible the timing chain broke first and the #3 cylinder piston rings are a result of that happening? The sequence they provided is convenient as they won't have to honor my warranty and they are off the hook for repairs, so just wanting to make sure I explore that avenue before going along with it.
With the mileage and age, I don't think I'm going to be putting a new motor in it, is best option to salvage or try to sell to someone who can do the repairs themselves? From discussions, I did learn I got the life out of this engine, most fail around 150k, so will definitely be going back to the V8 on the next one.
If in the Austin/MF area and looking for a garage, I highly recommend M.E. Gene Johnson Garage (2 locations), Pops and his son Nick were the first shop I sent it to and they could have easily told me they needed to tear it down to assess, but were honest and trustworthy from the start and only paid $100 for them to do a diagnostic.
