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Just been Scanned!!!

REG

Full Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
62
OK, just had my 6 inch lifted (yeah there is most of my problem) 03 Z71 scanned.
The mech doubled over laughing..30 codes!!!!
So 75% were fixed and just needed erasing. but heres what Im left with.
B0098, B0100, airbag...C0221 and C0225 ABS.  where would you start on this..I'm thinking 2 new airbag sensors right off the start, and Im not sure about the ABS codes ???

Oh and about 2 weeks ago I replaced the MAF with a new one but its still saying P0171 and P0174 lean bank 1 and 2 as well as P0300 multi misfire.
Are all these trucks lemons? I swithed from an F150 due to misfires on ciol packs continuously but this ones got it beat so far :E:

Oh yes...truck has 162000 Kilometers approx 101000 Miles
 
misfire could be due to leaking intake manifold.
they are not lemons as mine is fine had it since 2001 over 140K and no issues.
 
P0171, P0174 and P0300 are common to an Intake leak... Easy gasket replacement job. Also want to be prepared to replace Knock sensors and harness when you pull it off. The Intake Gasket was a poor design and Felpro makes a much better replacement.

Funny how we are talking about a truck with 100,000 miles and 12 years old as possibly being a lemon with these few minor issues... Back in the 80's and 90's a vehicle more than 5 years old or 100,000 miles was pretty worn out and ready to be replaced...

My '03 truck has 250,000 miles and things have gone bad and needed to be replaced but the truck will likely be on the road another 100-200k miles... My current back up vehicle is a 2001 cavalier with 150,000 miles on it and that is all rusted and a piece of crap for comparison.. But the cavalier is a throw away car and GM trucks are built to last.

Rodney
 
Well Rodney,

I have only owned this one for about 2 months...its eating up money everytime I turn around. It replaced my 01 Supercrew F150 that had 178000Kilometers on it.....go ahead ask me if I think I made a wise decision and if I upgraded. In all the years I owned the ford all I ever replace was a couple of COPs. minor compared to my new money pit. However, this one has had 7 owners and 3 accidents one of which was a rightoff, so I guess problems are to be expected.
 
I sincerely hope things work out for you with this truck.

But 7 owners in 100,000 miles with a couple of wrecks tossed in for good measure, don't give me a lot of confidence in what you have to work with.

If the transmission and fuel pump have never been repaired or replaced in this truck, you are closing in on the average lifespan of either of those.

Some last much longer, but many do not.

Either one can put a pretty big dent in your wallet for repairs.

And this doesn't even consider transfer cases, diffs and other big ticket items.

If you are not interested in investing some blood, sweat and tears into making this truck whole, then perhaps it would be a good time to get something a lot newer with a little better history.

There are too many other good, used vehicles out there to make yourself miserable over this one.

The perfect AVA for you is out there somewhere, you just have to find it.

Best of luck!

(y)
 
Oh yea with history like that it sounds like the truck was beat to heck and I wouldn't have touched it with a 10' pole unless was for the right price...

When I bought my truck I paid $3500 under retail with 186,000 miles on the ODO but the truck looked like it was only a year or two old and they gave me a 1 year extended warranty on it. Seeing similar trucks for $4k-5k more and about 50k miles less I took the chance and figured I had to spend a lot in repairs to get close to it being a wash over the other trucks.

Still don't regret it... 4 years and 55,000 miles later...

Rodney
 
Unfortunately trading it up again isnt in my budget. Right now Amazon.ca  is my best friend. Have replaced my MAF from there and i have 2 font ABS wheel speed sensors, a set of Fel Pro Intake Manifold gaskets and a front impact sensor being shipped to me. That should keep me busy for a bit, and solve 1/2 the problems. Stopping on way home from work today to pick up a Haynes manual and a new Multi meter so I can go chasing some grounds ect.
 
As far as the ABS sensors in the hubs go, my opinion is that you would've been better off getting the Timkin branded hubs with the sensor included for a few dollars more. The front wheel hub bearing generally go at around 100,000 miles. The hub bearings grinding in there could also be part of the issue and not just the sensor themselves. It would be much better to replace the whole assembly for like 20 or 30 dollars more than to replace just the sensors and find that the hub was going bad or have the hub give out a 1000 miles or so later.
Amazon is pretty good at returns so you may want to consider purchasing the hubs now and returning the sensors when they get to your door.
 
Good luck with your repairs.
I understand your frustration with  your AV but I wonder if you knew it's history before you bought it? I personally would not buy a vehicle with such a history regardless of make.  I doubt even a Ford with such a history would be a great vehicle either?
You asked in your first post in this thread if all AVs are lemons, it can seem that way if you spend all your time in the problems section of this or any owner's website for any vehicle, yet when you look around at the threads mentioning high mileage and repeat owners you will see many would buy another AV if possible.
Again good luck with your repairs and I hope they get solved soon and you can start enjoying your AV.
 
Good luck with that truck. I hope it works out.

Oh, and mine is nine years old with 140K miles. I think you should compare your AV (with accidents and multiple owners) to an AV with fewer (or no) accidents and one owner. 

:welcome:
 
I would check your fuel filter, quick and easy. It it bolted to the frame underneath the truck on the driver side. It is right about where the driver seat is and doesn't cost much. My brother owned 2 f150's and he doesn't buy Fords anymore.

I know mine has clean history and it's not going anywhere for a long time.
 
Well if upgrading is not in the stars anytime soon you will need to just bear with it as you work your way through the needed repairs. The more you can do yourself the better off you are. You basically bought someone elses problem and will hopefully learn not to buy ANY vehicle with such a history.

When I bought my truck I looked at a beautiful loaded truck but in 5 minutes I found more issues than your listing with yours.. I offered $8500 for the truck. They wanted 10500 and the retail on this truck was 15,000 at the time but the truck looked like it was treated poorly. What I am getting at is sometimes you buy a vehicle with your fingers crossed and take a chance. But for the right price.

I would strongly suggest getting a scanner yourself. If you have a laptop then I would suggest a scantool.net scanner with their free software. I have their SX which connects to a laptop with standard USB connector. If you don't have a laptop then I would suggest getting a win 8 tablet from Microcenter. They have a nice 8" screen one for about $100. You can upgrade to the ScanXL Pro software if you REALLY want to get to the nitty gritty but their free software that comes with the hardware will do quite a bit. I use the 8" microcenter tablet quite a bit to scan my vehicles because it is MUCH easier to handle than my laptop. It might seem like a pain to spend $150 for a scanner but the tablet really is a fully functional computer as well and full windows. The ScanXL pro software will allow you to access stuff a normal scanner won't and will read ABS codes without issue. I was able to MANUALLY read my Airbag codes with some help from someone else who walked me through it.

In the end, if you get everything fixed you should be very happy with the truck. I just hope for your sake you don't get nickled and dimed to death because these trucks really are solid trucks...

 
Thank you all for your input. I will be keeping it for a few years anyway.
To be truthfull its a very nice looking truck...runs perfectly...with the exception of the idol when its warming up, and the 3 dash lights.
OH PS, I spoke too soon I havent actually ordered the parts from Amazon yet...they are in my cart waiting to be purchased...lol...im still shopping.
Since I basically have 4 areas to tackle..1) ABS
                                                          2) Air Bag
                                                          3) the idol problem when cold (P0171, P0174, P0300) Manifold gasket?
                                                          4) And Tcase no 4x4
Where would you start? What order should I tackle this stuff? I'm thinking 3, 2, 1, 4...any thoughts?
 
Oh and to answer the question of did I know of the problems prior to buying...no...
Totally my own fault. I jumpped too fast at the shiney pretty nickel. It looked good at 6K...when I drove 3 hrs to look at it i cut it up to the owner til I got him down to $4800 thinking I could fix the visible stuff easy and cheap. Bad call on my part.
After chasing lights and codes, I finally did a carfax which explained alot. Even though the Black book value here on this truck was in the high 7500-7900 area, the seller and his crooked saftey inspection mechanic obviouly discussed the owner getting rid of this one quick as possible.
Live and learn.
 
Ugh... I hate working on the 4x4 at this point. I chased a problem for a few months last year, and have one rising back up now. I am going straight to the harness once it's back in the garage though. Your 4wd codes will be stored separate than cel codes, you may be able to get an autozone or similar to read them for you.
 
REG said:
Oh and to answer the question of did I know of the problems prior to buying...no...
Totally my own fault. I jumpped too fast at the shiney pretty nickel. It looked good at 6K...when I drove 3 hrs to look at it i cut it up to the owner til I got him down to $4800 thinking I could fix the visible stuff easy and cheap. Bad call on my part.
After chasing lights and codes, I finally did a carfax which explained alot. Even though the Black book value here on this truck was in the high 7500-7900 area, the seller and his crooked saftey inspection mechanic obviouly discussed the owner getting rid of this one quick as possible.
Live and learn.
If you got it for $4,800 and can fix the gremlins for a couple grand I think you have gotten an OK deal.  If other gremlins keep popping up and you end up many thousands of dollars to fix issues from the past wrecks then maybe not.  Only time will tell.

As far as the order of issues goes, I think your thoughts are reasonable.  If you only use 4WD in the winter, it makes perfect sense to save that for last since you probably won't need it for many months.  Good luck and I hope you're able to fix the issues for a reasonable price.
 
I'd take care of the idle issue first.
It is likely pretty straight forward and you're already headed in the right direction.
My advice is while you are in there you should inspect the knock sensors. It's a soft spot on these trucks. If the previous owner(s) did any offroading and got water in there or if they washed the engine bay and water got to the sensors, they'll eventually malfunction.

Cheap insurance to replace the sensors while replacing the gasket and it costs only a few dollars extra.
Check the forums for instructions on how to seal off around the sensor so you never have to worry about it again.

Chase the airbag after that and save up to get the 4X4 fixed before winter gets here.
 
OK, totally off this topic but just as important lol...Apparrently I have heated seats because my back was cooking like bacon on my way to work this morning. I know I have Lumbar seats, but I see no buttons anywhere for heated. WTF? Summer is almost here I cant be having hot leather!
 
REG said:
OK, totally off this topic but just as important lol...Apparrently I have heated seats because my back was cooking like bacon on my way to work this morning. I know I have Lumbar seats, but I see no buttons anywhere for heated. WTF? Summer is almost here I cant be having hot leather!

One of the reported symptoms of a failing seat heater element is the seat heaters turning on by themselves and getting HOT HOT HOT!!

The first time mine went bad was just as you described.

I was sitting on line at the bank drive through in the middle of the summer time and my seat back got HOT!!

At first, I thought I might have just hit the button while rolling down the window, but later found the heater element was burnt to a crisp at the point of the short.

Mine ended up being the heater element pad in the driver's seat back had shorted out.

This is a DIY project and has been discussed on this forum several times.
 
Probably wrong here...but the only buttons above my dook lock and window I assumed were for the auto peddals. but the buttons are wore to a point there is no picture on the buttons.
 
Snyder80 said:
Here's a pic of mine. The left set of controls is memory seat. Middle is seat heater. Right is pedals.


Same here.
 
now im really confused. i only have the 2 peddle buttons! :eek:
 
If you don't have the controls there, any seat heating may not be factory...

Look down near the seat controls. Many times a switch will be added there.

If not... I'm really confused too!
 
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