I'm posting to see how many others have had the following issue with their V6 3.0 engine -- especially Ranger owners:

Rough Idle
Error codes P0171 P0174
Smell of Gas At Startup

The diagnosis from the dealership will be the following:

Exhaust Valve Seats are worn creating a vacuum leak.

The bill from a Ford dealer to fix this issue is approximately $2600.

Here's the back story.

My Uncle, who's now in his eighties, has been a loyal Ford customer for many years -- is on his 2nd Ford Ranger. His latest truck is a 2006 Ford Ranger Sport V6 3.0 It was purchased new from a dealership mid 2006.

At 57000 the truck started having issues with a rough idle. After having the plugs changed, air filter replaced, MAF cleaned, we discovered from the dealership that it needed a $2600 valve job. Apparently the valve seats had been pounded in, creating a vacuum leak.

Keep in mind, this is a $2600.00 valve job for a vehicle that's well maintained, only has 65K miles on it, and had ALL it's regular upkeep (oil changes, scheduled maintenance, etc...) at the same Ford dealership.

After talking to about 10 mechanics, they all agreed that this is extreme, and any well maintained vehicle should not require a valve job at 65K miles.

Upon doing some research -- including on this forum, I discovered from Ford techs that this is a "Known Issue" at Ford with v6 3.0 engines -- to the point where TSB (Technical Service Bulletins) have been issued for previous models with this EXACT same issue.

When I went to the dealer, they were very forthcoming that this is a "known issue" and they themselves were also irritated with Ford about this. To their credit, the dealership offered to discount the price of the repair.

I contacted customer service and got the reply that "Ford will not be paying for any part of this service" because it was out of warranty -- Ford only offers very limited coverage to engine parts unless you purchase their extended warranty.

I was extremely frustrated by the curtness I was treated with by the Ford representative -- especially given we were clearly "loyal ford customers" -- this was not our first Ford -- and I was very cordial with them through the process.

My concern is, just as with my uncle, many other people have had this same issue and just paid the bill -- not realizing that Ford most likely knows there's a manufacturing problem and, I believe, should be covering repair costs -- as well as alerting their customers about the issue.

Not only is this a financial issue, it's also a potential health risk because it results in breathing in gas fumes and possibly an engine fire in extreme cases.

If you've had this issue, I encourage you to respond to this post. I know we're not the only ones that have had this issue. We may consider legal action with Ford.

Thanks,

Michael

 

To add to the records:
http://www.aboutautomobile.com/Compl...Exhaust+System

2006 Ford Ranger Exhaust System Complaints
Complaint Number: 10395302 Incident Date: March 20, 2011 Date Added to File: April 8, 2011
Description of the Complaint:
Vehicle stalled in middle of an intersection at 46,00 miles and was found to have lean codes P0171 and P0174-they replaced the intertia switch. Vehicle went in for service and a po306 cylinder misfire, but paperwork stated could not duplicate. After repair, vehicle kept giving me the check engine light if I filled the tank up with gas, but would clear itself before I would get to the dealer. One day I am makeing a left hand turn and the check engine light had come on about 5 minutes before. The ford ranger sputters across the intersection and then speed up very fast. Ii was lucky not to get smashed,as the light changed while my vehicle was sputtering. I immediatly took my truck to my trusted auto technician (not a ford dealership)who told me I had po codes po304 and po316.The tech provided me with TSB number: 05-26-3 date of issue 12/31/05-(they knew my vehicle would fail before I purchased it!) the TSB states 3.0l-2v vulcan engine. MIL on various misfire related DTC's P0300 - po306 and P0316 issue 12/31/05 my 2006 ranger with 69,000 mi displays all for the issues indicated on this TSB. This malfunction causes the MIL lamp to continually display trouble codes P0302 and P0316. Because of this, my vehicle will not pass the ca state emissions inspection. The TSB states that if diagnostic tests indicate an engine exhaust valve seat recession, the cylinder heads will need to be replaced with the new service heads and is to be covered under emission warranty. I took the vehicle to the ford dealership. Pacfic ford redid the diagnosis and stated the issue was outlined in the TSB. They also stated that the parts were not covered by either the new vehicle or emissions warranty coverage. I called the ford crc and was told there was nothing they could do to assist with payment to correct their defective part. The failure is not being corrected at this time.