04 OUT OF SHOP shop 28 days with 550 miles

[Aluminator]

I talked to the dealer yesterday and they still can't fix the engine! They have a new computer coming Monday and hope it workes but said when it hits 30 days they will replace the truck.

Now what to do? If they order a new one it will take another 10 weeks or so to get it making it almost 6 months old in the model year. When do the new 05's come out? With all this BS I am starting to think that I don't even want this thing even if it gets fixed Monday.

Edit: Just to keep ya up to date I picked up the truck today with a new computer and everything seems normal!! With two days to go before they were going to replace the truck they sent the computer that the tech asked wo weeks ago and it looks like I am running once again. They only put 525 miles on it while i PUT 2,200 ON THE FREE RENTAL. Now I hope not to be posting any more bad things for a long time.


Dennis

[ 04-15-2004, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: Aluminator ]

[dmaxmule]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I hope you get a neww truck that is touble free. My dealer told me that there is only about six weeks left till the change over to 2005. Good Luck dmaxmule

[kilroy]

A friend that I know had a computer problem with his Powerstroke F250 and the dealer had the truck for three plus months. He himself only had the truck for a month. The dealership ended up buying the trucj back.

[Aluminator]

I would think that they could of exchanged the whole engine in a month! They tell me that the computer has to be programed to match the VIN or they would of removed one from another truck to try it. The only good thing that GM now gives you the same type of truck to use while you wait for repairs. Driving a 04 1/2 ton but it doesn't have a trailer hitch so my boat is sitting while the fish are bitting.

Dennis

[Kennedy]

They can pull a suitable computer from a donor truck and install in your truck, then program your VIN onto the replacement ECU. If this does not fix the problem, they can simply reinstall in the donor truck, reprogram and all is well. Time invested in this is less than 1 hr depending on time needed to R&R the actual ECU.


These newer ECU's are seldom actually bad...

[Aluminator]

I also asked they why they didn't tske the parts from another truck. NO ANSWER!! The dealer called today and said they got the parts in. I asked them what part they were talking about and he said a new injector---------- installed it and it didn't fix the problem!!! I asked him if he knew just how long the truck had been in his shop and he said they are counting the days. The way I see it they will be replacing the truck after this week! Friday is the 30th day.

Dennis

[dmaxalliTech]

I havent been following previous posts on this, but what exactly is the problem? What are we working on? Maybe I can help

[Aluminator]

DmaxalliTech,

If I still lived close to 28th street you would be the one trying to fix this mess but having moved away from Grand Rapids I am at the mercy of the CA tech.

With 500 miles on my 04 GMC at 65mph the engine started to rattle. Sounded like spark knock on a gasser and smoked like no tomorrow!! One of the injectors seemed to be dumping fuel. Slowed to 50 and it was only a few mins and it started all over again. Seemed the engind had to be warm and at near freeway speeds to make it smoke. I did notice that from day one it had a lag when taking off.

First test drive it ran fine and the tech was just slowing to trun around and it did it for him. He didn't have his computer with him so back to the shop to pick it up along with a helper to watch it. It took him 60 miles to make it smoke again and they got a good "picture" Up to acting up all read with in range on this computer. At the shop he got an alarm code and GM thought it might be doing something to the fuel system so he had to spend two days checking all connections till he found the bad one. With that fixed it didn't stop the rattle or smoke. GM wanted another "picture" so this time it smoked on the first trip and they sent out another snapshot. On Monday the 12th they said it was getting a new computer but when I called they only put in a new injector. Still didn't help. They said they would try to put in a new computer before the end of the week. Friday will be 29 days in the shop!! If not fixed they said they would buy it back but I am going to try to get them to replace it with a 05 and just wait.

Dennis

[NETMINDER]

I don't like this post - it reminds of being on the Ford forumns

[James S]

Hey Denis,

Do tell us what happened. We are all concerned and want to do whatever we can to NOT have a similar mess happen to anyone else in the future. How is your baby now? Now that you have her back, give her a good pampering this weekend, with a good cleaning inside and washing and waxing outside, to get rid of the "evil shop smell". Then you won't have that constant reminder that she was in the shop at all, and you can hopefully forget about it, and start really enjoying her like the rest of us are, especially that nice rhythmic idle in the morning as she happily warms up, and enhale that nice sent of clean-burning diesel.

James

[cowboywildbill]

Well? Did they fix it? And is it running OK? Let us know. Good Luck.

[Aluminator]

James,

You are killing me with the "evil shop smell" They cleaned up the smell and any dirt they left but I sure do know where you are comming from!!!
All in all the dealer did a good job! The problems came from Detroit since they wanted to not spend more than they had to. funny how quick things get done when they are being forced to buy back a truck.

Cowboy Bill,

All seems well and it is running like a watch! I tried everything I could think of to make it act up but it is like it should of been from day one. I am not one to get to pis*ed off and know that things do happen when we don't want them to. I also know that GM can and does make good trucks so this will just be another page in my lifes trip. I am going to ask the dealer if they will change the fluids as kind of a good faith thing but other than that I am happy to have it back on the road running well.

I also want to thaks everybody for their support cause this is what makes this site work so well!!

Dennis

PS. I came out with a new computer that works and a new injector that I didn't need.

[Fat Boy]

Hey Aluminator,

This is off topic, but I noticed you have a 27x10 boat. I'm considering purchasing a boat with a 10' beam and I'm wondering if you've had any leagal issues towing yours? I guess the first question would be, do you tow it? If so, is it on interstate highways? Do you need special permits?

Thanks,
Fat Boy

[Aluminator]

Hey Fat Boy,

Over 8'6" you should have a wide load permit. Here in CA it costs about $100 for the year. It is only good for the state highway system but I have never had any problems getting from my home to the freeway or again from the freeway to the launch site. It sure saves a lot of money over keeping it in the water!! Before my 01 Dmax I pulled it with a 1-ton GMC van. The Dmax sure makes it easy to pull. It weighs about 10,000. I tow it 40 miles down to San Diego. Today will be the first time for the 04 so I am looking forward to it.


Dennis

[cowboywildbill]

Thanks for the comeback, The suspense was killing us. I am glad to hear that they fixed the truck.
I think we need to have guy's like "demaxalliTech" cloned and then send one of the clones to all of our dealers, that way there would be someone to fix our stuff right the first time no matter where we went. "Ha Ha"
Good luck and have a good time on the water.