While we tend to think of older Ford F-150 models as simpler and more reliable than newer ones, the truth is, even the best of the best tend to face their fair share of potentially serious issues over time – oftentimes, thanks to poor repair work or a lack of maintenance. In the realm of the eighth and ninth generation Ford F-150, David Long of The Car Wizard YouTube channel has dealt with this on a couple of occasions – once, with a 1990 Ford F-150 experiencing some strange issues, and later, a 1995 model that was the victim of botched repairs completed by another shop. Now, Long is back with another troublesome pickup.
This 1996 Ford F-150 came into Long’s shop because the transmission was shuddering at speeds of around 60 mph, along with a rough idle when its 5.0L V8 is cold. With 140k miles on the clock, these types of things don’t come as a huge surprise, but as it turns out, the owner was likely to blame here, as they had already replaced a handful of parts on the truck, all in an attempt to fix its issues – but that only made things worse, really.
Trouble is, rather than sticking with OEM parts that are of high quality, the owner decided to cheap out and install no-name Chinese parts on this Ford F-150, which tend to be of poor quality. This also resulted in the truck throwing additional codes, one of which was caused by the customer, who didn’t install a ring that went with the new harmonic balancer. Long won’t be messing with the torque converter, however, as it may wind up voiding the warranty on that particular part.
Ultimately, the owner of this Ford F-150 is happy to pay for these extra labor and diagnostic fees, as this was their grandfather’s truck, so it obviously carries lots of sentimental value. However, this story also serves as a bit of a cautionary tale for many that may want to jump in and start tinkering with their vehicles themselves, and yet, perhaps lack the knowledge and experience to do so without messing things up further.
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