Service recommendations near Charlotte NC - Ford V10 misfire

[willald]

The V10 in our 2012 Georgetown (see signature) has developed a misfire. You can only feel it at idle and when initially accelerating, a slight vibration. Engine cranks and runs OK once you get going, and neither wife nor daughter even noticed anything was wrong until I pointed out the vibrating that occurs at idle. Seems like at least one of the 10 cylinders is not hitting. Check engine light came on after driving about 10 minutes (exercising it Saturday). The smell of unburnt fuel is very noticeable in the exhaust.

Been through same thing before with a V10 in Ford Excursion that I used to own many years ago. Turned out to be a broken wire going to one of the fuel injectors. Fixed that one myself. Doubt I'll get that lucky this time. Will be looking under the 'doghouse' later today to see if I can tell whats wrong, but I'm guessing it'll be either a coil pack, spark plug, or possibly a busted vacuum hose.

Any suggestions of what else to look for, would be welcome. 🙂

Now, here's the main question: In case I do decide to take it somewhere to have this fixed, where is a good place for such near Charlotte, NC that will work on the Ford F53 chassis/V10? I've found two places I know that work on them, not sure which is the better option:

1. Classic Ford/Lincoln in Shelby, NC - Been there before for a warranty fix on the V10 years ago, they were great then. But, that was many years ago, and they've changed names/hands since then.

2. Camping World (Formerly Tom Johnson Camping) in Concord, NC - One of only RV dealers around here that has the facilities to do chassis/engine work on Class As, and they do a lot of it. Have never used them for chassis work, though, very leery of ANY Camping world for service work.

Which of these seems like the better choice? Or, might anyone know of a shop around this area that would be better? I realize independent repair shops are typically better, but I can't seem to find any around here that will work on these big rigs. Many auto/truck dealers, independent repair shops, and RV dealers don't have the facilities to handle (or just don't want to deal with) chassis/engine work with these rigs.

As always, all suggestions, opinions, etc. are appreciated and welcome. 🙂

[cbr46]

willald wrote:
The part he got from Ford was one large assembly going from behind the engine all the way up to both fuel rails on either side of the engine. Sooo, it is now all new fuel lines going from about middle of the transmission all the way up to the two fuel rails.

We had that problem when we first brought home our (new to us) 11 year old. No bite marks that could be seen. I figured it was ethanol related. The selling dealer chipped in half of the part cost.

To prevent any future ethanol issues I try to run as much fuel through it as possible 😉 About 1800 gallons last year, all weekend trips.

Glad you're up & running.

Best,
- bob

[enblethen]

Thank you for the updates!

[willald]

Update (and resolution to this): Well, the guy I'd been working with on this (Mark) came out today, and replaced the broken fuel line, and the broken wire for that one coil.

The part he got from Ford was one large assembly going from behind the engine all the way up to both fuel rails on either side of the engine. Sooo, it is now all new fuel lines going from about middle of the transmission all the way up to the two fuel rails.

He also looked everything else over, and found no other evidence anywhere, of any damage.

Engine runs like brand new again, we are back in business (although not planning any trips for a while). No more smell of fuel, either.

Very impressed with the work he did, how knowledgeable he was, and how reasonable he was $$ wise with this. If anyone near the Denver, NC area needs any kind of RV related work, you can trust this guy, give him a call - Mark Hammill, 704-635-3265 (Yes, I got his permission to post this). He apparently does RV coach work as well, not just chassis.

I got some rodent repellant spray, and sprayed it very liberally on the ground, all the way around the perimeter of the RV. That, and will also make it a point, especially in these cold months, to exercise the RV more and get it out more often so critters have less chances to mess with it. I had been doing such about once a month, but due to the craziness around Christmas, it had not been exercised in about 2 months. I think that's one of the main lessons learned here - We really, really need to get these things out and exercise them at least once a month, for numerous reasons.

[willald]

enblethen wrote:
It is "Break" in wire caused by rodents according to the OP.

Actually, its kind of hard to say if the broken wire is an internal break, or if it was done by a rodent. The break is right where the wire comes out of a long, thick conduit holding several wires for all the coils. I have a picture of it, but don't presently have a way of posting it on here. Gonna have to figure out a way to do that.

The fact the broken wire is very close to the chewed fuel line, makes me think a rodent may have had something to do with it. OTOH, as I mentioned previously, this is not the first time I've dealt with wires wearing out and breaking like this on Ford V10s, so who knows.

Either way, that part will be easy to fix.

[enblethen]

It is "Break" in wire caused by rodents according to the OP.

[tarnold]

When you say broken wire, is this an internal brake, or a for real left piece and right piece?

[willald]

dodge guy wrote:
God job and lucky you didn't go up in flames! The lower fuel pressure definitely caused the slight misfire. How many miles? You definitely don't hear to much of those types of fuel lines rupturing.

It has 27k miles. Engine, whole drivetrain has been absolutely flawless from day 1 up until now.

I think, the misfire was caused more by the broken wire I found on one of the coils than low fuel pressure. Low fuel pressure probably contributed, though.

This was not a fault at all with the fuel line, Ford, or the engine. This was/is a rodent infestation issue, that fuel line was very clearly chewed on. I sent pictures of it to a friend of mine who lives out on a farm and deals with rodents all the time, she said definitely looks like rat bite marks on the fuel line. Soooo, time to go get some rat traps.

I'm just glad we caught this in the offseason, not on a trip, and like you said, that we caught it before it went BOOM.

[dodge_guy]

God job and lucky you didn't go up in flames! The lower fuel pressure definitely caused the slight misfire. How many miles? You definitely don't hear to much of those types of fuel lines rupturing.

[enblethen]

Gates Nitrile NBR fuel line is rated for 225. Problem is finding correct size crimp rings to connect it.

[BurbMan]

Oh no kidding?!?! I was thinking you don't hear much about Ford fuel line issues so that would make sense...time to break out the dryer sheets!!

[willald]

BurbMan wrote:
Man it's your lucky day! That broken wire is definitely the misfire, but had it not been for that you never would have looked under the hood and found the fuel leak! Surprised you didn't smell fuel?

Fuel injection runs at very high PSI so you can't just use a "piece of hose", glad you are having the mobile mechanic fix with Ford parts. You might want to have him give the engine a "once over" to see if he sees any other developing problems.

Yeah, we did actually smell fuel, but it was pretty faint, and I figured that was cause of the misfire. A cylinder not firing means some fuel is not getting burnt.

Agree, no way I’d just use hose and rig this. Not with fuel injection pressure. I could get it towed to a repair shop using emergency road side service we have, but I’d have to first back it out of the driveway and get it on the road (they won’t tow it if it’s in your driveway or so I’m told). I didn’t even want to drive it the 100’ out the drive to do that, with it spewing fuel like that! Nah, it ain’t moving again til this gets fixed right.

Definitely gonna have him look everything else over, yes. Does look like this fuel line rupture had some ‘help’’ and didn’t just happen. Looks like it was chewed by a rodent of some kind (can see bite marks on it), so need to make sure nothing else got chewed.

[BurbMan]

Man it's your lucky day! That broken wire is definitely the misfire, but had it not been for that you never would have looked under the hood and found the fuel leak! Surprised you didn't smell fuel?

Fuel injection runs at very high PSI so you can't just use a "piece of hose", glad you are having the mobile mechanic fix with Ford parts. You might want to have him give the engine a "once over" to see if he sees any other developing problems.

[willald]

Few more updates:

Found a mobile repair guy, am working with him on this. Seems like a good guy. Sent him pictures of the ruptured fuel line, and gave him the VIN. He is ordering the parts from Ford now to fix it. Once he gets the parts, he will come out here and fix it. No way was I gonna drive that thing anywhere, with it spewing fuel like that.

Will give his contact info on here to help anyone else that may need such help, once I get his permission to post such (and see that he does a good job and doesn't rip me off, hahaha).

Noticed while looking at it again, that a wire going to one of the coil packs is broken (sounding awfully familiar, like the issue I had with the V10 Excursion many years ago, haha). Sooo, that (broken wire) also explains why it was misfiring. That's an easy fix, though, fortunately.

[willald]

ford truck guy wrote:
A few yeas ago I had stopped in the area for work on my way to Florida... While there I heard a noise and went toKeith Hawthorne Fordbefore they opened..

When they arrived they asked me what was up, within 30 minutes the truck ( 6.4 diesel ) was in their shop and they diagnosed a fuel pump going bad.. It was rattling on the frame.. They did not have one in stock, nor did the warehouse BUT they found 1 at another dealer about 45 minutes away.. They sent a tech there to get I was up and running that afternoon ....

Yep, know that place. Good guys there, I'm not surprised at all they went the extra mile to get you running again. However, I've found they don't want to work on Class A RVs just cause of liability concerns.