MY trucks issues

[DarkFox1]

The computer uses VSS input to operate the following:

1. The idle air control valve

2. The canister purge system

3. The torque converter clutch

4. Cruise control

5. Distance traveled

6. Deceleration


you know.. when I engage cruise control.. myt truck acts as if it was just floored.. it floors it.. lets off.. floors it. letrs off.. and then settles at the speed I set it.

I think you have something here!!

according to radar units on the roadside my speedometer reads 2-3 mph higher than I'm going too

 

[V8-X]

DarkFox1 - You know the more & more I hear about your truck, the more it sounds like mine. My speedometer also reads 3-5 mph higher than what the roadside radar states. Now this is between 30mph - 45mph.

I notice when I'm on the interstate, I'll be keeping up with taffic and the speedometer will be reading 75mph-80mph. I know we are traveling slower something around 65mph. I'll mention this to the tech to see if this sparks his attention.

What would be the drivability symptoms of a bad VSS?

Just trying to find anything that could be a possibility.

 

[james t]

just an FYI- i had a state trooper buddie of mine radar me at 70mph- it showed 73mph. i have the same height tires as stock- 235/75/15's equal 275/50/17's exactly. most stock speedo's are off a little...

 

[DarkFox1]

yea, I dont expect it to be perfect, and its really something I've never thought about. I dont know.. but I dont think my speedometer gets less accurate as the speed increases.. I travel about 65 on the highway and I'm just alittle bit slower than everyone else out there..

and my truck is still not ready.. how can they test drive it for 7 hours?

 

[Jason_25]

Patience Fox

They may actually be doing something more than kicking the tires and saying "yep, seems alright to me".

 

[DarkFox1]

well lets hope so hehe

when I had him test drive it yesterday he drove it for 10 minutes at about 60 (parkway driving) then checked my fluid, came back in and had me drive it.. he said based on the list I gave him he thinks there may be a problem, but basically.. he doesn'yt beleive me unless he can see it do these things himself.

he tried to tell me "its almost 100,000 miles, it may be at the end of its life" then I informed him that htis is the SECOND transmission in 70k miles, he changed his tune

his son is a lot better ot work with, more worried about the customers opinions than his father.. but both seem to be very good people to work with.

when I drove it.. the only ting it was doing out of the norm was being slow.. which.. kinda furstrates me.. since there isn't one shop in this city that considers sluggish-ness a cause for alarm..

I'm perfectionist, it needs to do more than run.. it needs to run like new.

ya know something odd..

it seems to drive a lot better when its low on gas.. like 1/4 tank and below.. the less gas it has.. the better it drives, its not always like that.. but that seems tobe a frequent pattern

 

[V8-X]

Well the X went in for service today, hoping to find a problem with it. The X wasn't acting to strange this morning. Only noticed the problem a couple times on the way to the shop. Went for a test drive with the tech, which of course the X didn't act up except once at the end of the drive. All the tech talked about was the gas. I informed him that the problem started in July, before the use of Ethanol in the gas. Didn't seem to faze him though. I haven't heard back yet, but I'll post my conclusion when I hear back.

I questioned the TC & VSS, but didn't receive any feedback from him. He did ask about throttle response when this occurs, which I informed him that there is very little response when the intermittent problem occurs. He also stated it may be running fine since it was cold out, but would take a test drive later in the day when it's warmer out. I don't know why this would matter, any thoughts?

I believe my X is the same way, the lower the gas tank, the better performance I receive. Usually I get the problem most right after I fill up, so I believe I'm along the same lines as you DarkFox1.

 

[DarkFox1]

WORSE?!

picked it up.. the guy told me he test drove it all day cold hot.. whatever.. "nothing unusual" checked the fluids.. said it was a quart low.. so he put that quart in there and charged me the price of a quart of tranny fluid..

on the way home.. it was SLOWER.. 0-60 didn't occur cos it was 5:00 and traffic was bad.. but the truck would NOT downshift at all.. I had it floored trying to climb a hill in overdrive.. exhaust gurlging as loud as it can not going anywhere.

I hate this car

 

[V8-X]

Sorry to hear they didn't find anything. I believe I will get the same response when I get my X back. I'm planning on going to pick it up in about an hour.

I feel your frustration with this truck, something's not right but no one can find a problem or a fix it. How can you explain all the problems you've experienced, and no one find any sort of a problem, big or small.

If it's nothing with the engine or trans, I wonder where the problem is coming from. I'll let you know if Ford finds anything this afternoon, cross you fingers.

I wish there were 24hr shops you could take it to when the problem actually arises. Then they could drive it when you know the problem is acting up. It's like the truck has a mind of it's own. One through three start ups it's be fine, then the fourth start up the X will act likes it's on a coffee break.

 

[DarkFox1]

anyone wanna donate a supercharger? maybe I'm just asking too much of this peice of garbage

lemme know v8..

honestly I'm sick of this.. I can't stand driving it anymore.. yet theres "nothing wrong" ITS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THERE TO BE NOTHIGN WRONG..

 

[V8-X]

Personally I don't think you're asking to much from the X. All you're asking is for it to perform normally, which me and you both know ours aren't.

It sounds like you and myself take good care of our vehicles and are aware when any sort of problem arises. The only issue we have is convincing technicians that there is a problem. I hate that newer cars are all computerized. Who is to say that computer isn't lying or reading incorrectly. If there is a mechanical problem, how is a computer going to tell you if it's working properly or not? There needs to be less dependense on computers, and use real life experience or hands on testing (other than the computer).

Why would a person in their right mind take a car that's working fine into a shop to get inspected? You take your car in because it's not performing properly, not just to spend $100 for nothing. At least that is how I feel about it. I hate to say this, but I wish more people out there had the same problem as we do. Then maybe someone would take us seriously and know what the problem is caused by.

 

[DarkFox1]

exactly.. I'm a perfectionist.. I dont drive my car until something falls off before I go to the shop, I pay very close attention to what every car we have does and if there is ANYTHING that happens out of the ordinary, even once I make note of it, I dont let problems go overlooked.

I agree cars and computers do not add up.. all of the shops either test drive.. or computer diagnose and thats as deep as they go.. even if I tell them to do more they conclude there is no reason to go any deeper because "it runs just fine"

 

[V8-X]

My thoughts exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's like they know you have a problem, but can't find it. Then they hope that it gets worse and you bring it back for another $100 charge. I'm waiting for the Ford shuttle, so hopefully when I get to the shop the X is ready to go.

If they don't find a problem, I'll just have to live with it I guess. After $500+ worth of diagnosis fees, you think someone would find something. I guess I'll just have to save up enough for a down payment on a new vehicle. I've only owned manual trans Fords prior to this truck, and this is the only Ford I've ever had problems with. Guess no more Auto Trans for me. I'm a big Ford fan, so I'll stay with the family. I may just go back to the Ranger's or F-150's, since I've never had any problems with them.

I feel your pain!

 

[DarkFox1]

this is my 1st ford... all of our vehicles have always been GMs, we have around 7 vehicles total, only 2 of them being ford, and only these 2 were made in the past 10 years.. whats more.. between these 2 vehicles we have more problems than on any of the other vehicles..

I seriously doubt I will be buying another ford.. this thing has left such a bad taste in my mouth I'd just assume drive it off a bridge as to consider buying another.. honestly.. what kind of company makes avehicle.. and not only can't fix it when a problem occures.. but can;t even find the problem to begin with??

 

[DeagleDave]

anyone else thinking DarkFox and V8-X are same person?

sorry they didn't find anything...did you have em check that Torque Converter thing you were looking into?

 

[V8-X]

Sorry to hear your first experience with a Ford had to be like this.

I just think that with so many sensors and computer operated equipment on these newer vehicles, that they won't have the longevity that the older cars do.

I wouldn't put it just on Ford that can't fix their own creation, I have a friend with a 95 S10 that no one can figure out his problem. He's already dumped $4000 worth of parts into this truck, and it still runs like crap.

I don't blame it on any particular maker of automobiles, but the companies that manufacter all the sensors and computer junk. To bad they won't go back to making cars the way they used to in the 50's & 60's. These cars were easy to find & fix a problem. It just means more money to the automaker every time something goes wrong these days. Sorry, just had to vent. I'm out to get the X, I'll let you know what I/they find.

 

[DarkFox1]

no, unfortunatley the guy told me he saw "no reason to look any further" and therefore wouldn't check the TC or the vss w/o charging me a good deal of money..

I'm considering just saving up and blowing a few grand in performance stuff to get this thing to actually GO for a change.. I know none of the shops will ever find this problem.. they're too dependant on those damn computer diagnostics


unless I have 2 personalities.. I dont think we're the same person lol

I'm grateful in a way that I'm not the only one with this issue.. that means to me that I'm not as crazy as previously beleived.. that also means that there could possiblly be 1 single item causing this, since it easily happens to more than 1 vehicle with the same symptoms.. its unlikley that a combination of things could have happened in the exact same order

 

[DarkFox1]

just took it out to get gas.. 203 miles on 18.5 gallons..

now it wont shift out of 1st until 4k rpm instead of 3k rpm.. ARGH the 4R70W SUCKS!

or maybe the ODBII EEC V sucks

 

[V8-X]

DarkFox1 - Well I have good & bad news. Good news first.

Good News - Evidentally the tech took the X for a drive and was unable to find anything, and as usual stated "it's just fine." Then one of the shags that has a V8 X took it for a spin and came back to the tech asking what was wrong with it. The tech was shocked! Finally I have found someone that drives a V8 X that can confirm there is a problem. I knew it wasn't all in my head. The shag stated many of the same problems I did (slow to accelerate, little throttle response, etc...).

Bad News - They weren't able to find the problem today. So I have another appointment for the X to go in on Monday. Not to bad of news, but I am unable to confirm th problem at this time.

Sorry, DarkFox1 and myself are not the same person, but it seems like we have the same truck and problem.

After all this time, I finally have a tech believing me that there is a problem. It took the shag that drives a V8 X to convince the tech. OH, how wonderful it feels to actually have someone beleive you. I thought I was going crazy for a while. So DarkFox1, I'll let you know what Ford informs me of on Monday. Now that they know there is a problem, I just hope they can find it.

This just goes to show you that techs aren't spending quality time investigating into the customers problem. They just go off what the computer says and charge you $100, if they find the problem or not. I think a lot of techs have gotten lazy now a days, since computers came out. Like they don't want to get their hands dirty.

I'll keep everyone posted with what Ford finds on Monday, and DarkFox1 I'll make sure I inform you since our X's seem to be twins seperated at the assembly plant. Hope you find this as a pick me up. It sure made me feel better knowing there is actually a problem with the X, not my head

 

[DarkFox1]

forgive my stupidity.. but what is a "shag" ?

yea.. these people dont beleive me! if it doesn't happen to them.. it doesn't exist.. makes me so mad.

glad to hear you're having luck.. no dice around here