No Charge in Intake System

[Chris M]

In a thread I started last year, all the drama was detailed. It wasn't just the body shop I was having issues with. Parts suppliers were causing me grief as well. Started off with an aftermarket radiator support that showed up with rust in the welds. It went back. The Ford Parts sourced support didn't have rust, but it was banged up pretty good.

The aluminum Ford Parts hood showed up with damage on the edges due to crap packaging. The Ford fender only comes in steel and doesn't come with the piece that is bonded to the front of the fender that attaches to the radiator support. That part didn't even show up in the Ford parts diagrams. Took a small army of employees and the parts manager to figure that one out. I opted for an aluminum aftermarket fender that came with the front piece attached as was OEM.

Then there were the numerous parts I purchased from various Ford part suppliers that just cancelled the orders with no explanation. It was maddening.

I would visit the body shop every month or so and talk to the shop manager. For the first three months the truck just sat on their frame rack. Eventually I got a little short with them and told them they needed to start working on it or let me take it to another shop that would. Eventually they got the frame work done and installed the radiator support.

They eventually called and said it was ready to pick up. Yeah, not even close. There were just bunches of totally stupid things like the newly-painted hood was resting directly on the fenders. The old hood was lying in the bed with the rubber bump stops still attached. They didn't even bother to transfer them. They had forgotten to weld on the pieces to the radiator support that the fenders attach to. The driver fender was completely missing the plastic separator that's supposed to be installed at the back of the fender. When I asked where the old fender was that I brought in with the plastic separator still attached that they were supposed to remove and install on the new fender, they said they had thrown the old fender away with the piece still attached. They ordered a new one but apparently Ford sent them a goofy foam separator that's garbage. Now I need to source a used palstic one and install it properly myself.

But it gets better.

The shop manager asked the employee responsible for the radiator support to come out and look at the fender supports he forgot to weld on. They were still in the bag on the seat. The guy actually suggested they just drill a hole through the supports and bolt them on. I was astounded. The shop manager said, "No we need to do it right and weld them on." The employee then asked if he should drag the welder out there and weld them on. The truck was sitting outside their shop. The radiator support had been painted, of course. The shop manager told him no that the truck had to go back in and the supports welded on properly.

At that point I was seriously pi$$ed and told the shop manager I would prefer to take the truck to a competent shop to be finished properly. Mind you this is a good 6 months after it was dropped off to them. The shop manager apologized all over the place and promised they would make it right and get the body panels attached properly and the missing parts installed properly.

I left it there and sent a letter to the owner detailing how absolutely ridiculous the work had been on my Ranger, among other things. He actually called me and agreed they had seriously dropped the ball and he promised to personally oversee getting the panels installed properly.

Fast forward a few weeks. I get a call from the shop manager asking me to come in and look things over. The fender supports were welded on but the clear coat on the hood and fender was rough with divots. I told the guy it looked like they had contamination in their air supply. They promised to respray and get it right.

Over the next few months I would get updates here and there. Apparently the owner decided their work around the battery tray was crap so he ordered a new battery tray and had that installed. I'd get a text from the shop manager that it was ready for me to inspect. I told him to have the owner inspect it first. A day later I'd get a text that there were some things that still needed fixed. That song and dance went on for a few more weeks.

Finally I was told the owner had done a final inspection and passed it off as ready. He confirmed that they did in fact have a problem with their dryers, which caused the contamination in the clear coat.. The paint itself looks good now. Not impressed with some minor fitment issues with the hood and new fender but I'll sort those after installing the proper separator and bonding it to the fender and inner fender as OEM. They didn't bond the passenger fender to the inner fender when it was reinstalled and even left the bolt out of it that secures the separator in place.

I'm starting to see rust peek through the paint in places on the radiator support at weld points. They apparantly didn't even prep and spray the welds with primer. Just astoundinly poor and unprofessional work. I'll sand and prep those spots I can find before the upper bumper cover and grill go on.

A guy in my first thread said I should 'manage expectations.' I expect "professionals" to do professional work. Period. Obviously the employees at this shop were far from professional.

I've been maintaining my own vehicles for about 45 years, mostly Audi and VW, but have worked on plenty of others - engine and clutch replacements, head gaskets, timing belts, exhaust, suspension, paint, panel repair and replacements, you name it. I've also rebuilt a fair number of motorcycles - VTX1800 and ZX636 for example. I simply don't trust most other mechanics and for good reason.

This rebuild project shouldn't have been nearly as complicated and frustrating as it was. My choice of a body shop I thought would be decent but turned out to be horrible was just bad luck. I had actually gone to a few other high-tier shops first but they would only do insurance work. No personal projects. So this shop had been my third choice.

I don't claim to be a pro, but I am thorough and exacting and will keep at this Ranger until it's the vehicle I envisioned when I first bought it.

On a parting note, after the final inspection at the body shop before the tow company was to pick up the Ranger, I was driving out as the shop manager was driving in. He stopped and we spoke briefly. He was driving an Audi Q7. He said it was a customer vehicle. I asked what they were going to be doing and he said replacing the right rear quarter panel. I cringed.

I had been following your other thread and am just amazed that you have been so patient and tolerant up to this point.

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[XionUAV]

Count yourself lucky it didn't make it all the way into the turbo! Orp you would be looking for one of those.

The rag was at the turbo inlet but even if it was resting against the veins, it's highly unlikely there would be damage. The rag would probably just keep the shaft from spinning, which in part may have been the case. Since it's the exhaust that spins the shaft, it would just sit stationary. Turbos are pretty tough

Next step is to get the MAP sensor on the intercooler wired then get a proper calibration on the new throttle body.

 

[XionUAV]

I had been following your other thread and am just amazed that you have been so patient and tolerant up to this point.

To be honest I am neither patient or tolerant. But when you have an end goal in mind, you just have to keep at it until you either achieve the end result you want, or you roll the thing into an abyss to never haunt you again.

 

[Big Blue]

The rag was at the turbo inlet but even if it was resting against the veins, it's highly unlikely there would be damage. The rag would probably just keep the shaft from spinning, which in part may have been the case. Since it's the exhaust that spins the shaft, it would just sit stationary. Turbos are pretty tough

Next step is to get the MAP sensor on the intercooler wired then get a proper calibration on the new throttle body.

My thought would be that if the turbo was stopped from spinning it would have caused enough exhaust backpressure that the engine would not have run at all unless the wastegate was pushed open. Still hard to believe with that much intake vacuum it ran.

 

[XionUAV]

My thought would be that if the turbo was stopped from spinning it would have caused enough exhaust backpressure that the engine would not have run at all unless the wastegate was pushed open. Still hard to believe with that much intake vacuum it ran.

I suspect the rag was at the inlet but not against the veins, allowing only a minute amount of air through. Didn't investigate further after pulling the stupid rag out.

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