3/21/07

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday told dealers to temporarily stop selling certain 2008 F-series Super Duty diesel pickups after receiving reports of flames shooting out of the vehicle's tailpipe.

Ford said it was recalling 37,400 F-Series Super Duty trucks with 6.4-liter diesel engines. The majority of the pickups -- 29,000 -- were still on dealer lots, the automaker said.

Ford spokesman Dan Jarvis said it received three reports of flames coming from the truck's tailpipe, caused by leaking fuel that ignited in the exhaust system's diesel particulate filter near the tailpipe.

"It's really something that we noticed early on and we're moving swiftly to fix the problem," Jarvis said.

There have been no injuries or vehicle fires connected to the recall. There has been one report of a grass fire in Texas that was quickly extinguished, he said.

Jarvis said the flames could only occur in engines with leaking fluids, which he said was very rare. Two of the complaints involved leaking fuel injectors and the other involved leaks coming from a crack in the turbocharger shaft.

The automaker will have dealers upgrade software for the powertrain control module, which will power down the engine under higher-than-expected temperatures in the diesel particulate filter. Similar software updates will take place at the Louisville, Ky., plant where the trucks are built.

Jarvis said the stop sale order should only last a few days as dealers reprogram the software. Owners of the remaining 8,400 trucks will be notified about the recall in early April and will be able to have the software upgrade at no charge.

In a separate action, fewer than 10,000 of the trucks will have the battery cable rerouted to avoid chafing against a shield in the engine compartment that prevents water and mud from getting into the engine.

Ford said the recall does not affect gasoline-powered pickups or those with 6.0-liter or 7.3-liter diesel engines.

Does that mean that the 29,000 trucks that are still on the lots were manufactured AFTER the recall was put into effect? Or does it mean that those trucks were fixed while on the lot, so they've already had the recalled item fixed?

And, if the fix can only be done at the Louisville plant, will all the trucks have to be sent there for the upgrade? It seems like that doesn't make sense. What if someone lives in Alaska and needs to have the software upgraded? Will Ford replace their truck while it's being sent back to KY?

Flames sound good to me..... whats the problem

There's a video circulating the 'net of the flames from the trucks.

Here. :)

I wonder if that is legit.

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Come on.... :eek: Someone rigged that thing

Listen to the motor. Something is very wrong with that truck

I've seen that video...don't know if that is the truck making the sound or something behind the camera guy. Would be great to get people to stop tailgating though! Three trucks known to do that outta 37K, 8K or so on road...the rest still on lots. I've learned long ago...never buy a vehicle in first year of production. Wait a year for the bugs to get worked out.

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...... BRIAN ......

I would agree with that. I'd wait for at least the second year of production.

It turns out that video is real. it is one of the trucks in question.

Read for yourself

"Our good buddy Mike Levine at Pickuptruck.com did the legwork and got in touch with Ford safety spokesperson Dan Jarvis to talk about the video we showed you yesterday that features a 2008 Ford Super Duty pickup spewing flames from its tailpipes. Jarvis confirmed that the truck in the video is one of the three pickups Ford described last week when it issued a recall to address the problem. While not entirely certain which of the trucks it is, Jarvis said it's one of the two trucks that was purchased in Canada, probably the one that was started in extremely cold temperatures (appx. minus 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit) and not given sufficient time to warm up before being driven. That situation could make short work of any engine, and the resultant blown bearing seal in the turbo that leaked combustible fluid into the exhaust system should not necessarily be considered a defective part.

Clearly, Ford is very concerned about the reputation of its new 6.4L Power Stroke, which is evident by how quickly it took action with a recall to address three isolated incidents that resulted in the same outcome, i.e. flaming tailpipes. The real issue in each case appears to be this newfangled Diesel Particulate Filter, versions of which are used not only by the Ford Super Duty, but also the Heavy Duty GMT900 and Dodge Ram pickups. Considering that all three heavy duty pickups use a process of regeneration to burn away accumulated particulates in their respective DPFs, the potential for flaming tailpipes exists in all three trucks if an unmetered amount of flammable liquid gets in there somehow. We're certainly not cutting Ford any slack here, but considering it likely sells more heavy duty trucks equipped with diesels than the other two automakers, statistically speaking this was bound to happen to a Ford first. Only time will tell if we're right and other diesel-equipped late-model pickups start getting hot under the collar."







Ford responds to flaming Super Duty video - Autoblog

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Damn. Thats not good. I could cook a hot dog off that :thumbsup: That truck would be great for camping.

Two recalls before most of the trucks have even left the lots, not good. I think I would definitely wait until the second production year on this one.

Looks pretty cool though!

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the sharpest tool in the shed
1989 Mustang 5.0 GT (25th Anniversary Edition)
~hobby car~

Ya it looks great. But Ford really needs to work these issues out before vehicles hit the streets.

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Navistar sues Ford (again) regarding upcoming F-150 diesel engine

Posted Jun 7th 2007 12:33PM by Jeremy Korzeniewski
Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Government/Legal, Ford
Wow, talk about a strained relationship! With so much money passing hands between Ford and Navistar, you might think they would find a way to negotiate a deal regarding their diesel engine partnership(s). You would be right, assuming you think that starting yet another lawsuit is a way to patch things up. That's right... another lawsuit. This one is still about diesel truck engines, but instead of the large 6.4 liter Power Stroke, this one cites a smaller 4.4-liter diesel engine slated for the F-150 truck in 2009 or 2010. Navistar has been Ford's long-time supplier of diesel engines that carry the "Power Stroke" moniker for Ford, and Navistar is claiming that if Ford goes to market with the 4.4-liter engine, it would constitute a breach of contract. At this point, it seems unclear whether Navistar is claiming to have designed the engine in question, or if it believes it had a contract to do so, but either way, things could get even messier between the two companies.

[Source: Automotive News (sub. req'd) via AutoblogGreen]


To recap: Ford started having problems with its (flame-throwing) Power Stroke engines from Navistar. Ford stopped paying Navistar for the engines, because it decided Navistar owed it for warranty work incurred from the last-gen Powerstroke diesel. Ford sued Navistar. Navistar stopped shipping engines. A Judge intervened, told Navistar to start shipping engines again and Ford to start paying. Ford started work on its own diesel engine. Navistar sued Ford for $2 billion. Navistar sues Ford again, this time for "hundreds of millions of dollars" – which is today's sad story. I think that about covers it.

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Remember when that Ford / Firestone problem with the tires on the Explorer. Navistar better be careful if they want to keep their Ford relationship going.