Note: Too long; didn’t read summary at the bottom as to not spoil the story.
As my intro post to the forum shows, I bought a 2019 SCREW Raptor on Monday (3/4) from local dealer inventory. It had 12 miles when I test drove it, under 40 miles when leaving the finance office.
Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon (3/6), I decided to do a Boise to Anderson Ranch Reservoir drive to put some break-in miles on it. I know break-in requirement is debated by some, but I decided to baby it for the first 1,000 miles to be safe.
While on the interstate, I did think to myself at one point that it felt a little underpowered, even though I was going light on it. I justified it as caused by the heavy crosswinds, there was nothing out of the ordinary on the gauges or warning messages.
Upon exiting in Mountain Home, the truck began “shuddering” for about 3 seconds, then was fine for 3 seconds, and then started shuddering again. At that point the engine light began flashing, but no other messages displayed and I no gauges were in the red.
I looked up and saw a Ford sign right there, I decided to make a right rather than left, I wanted to head towards the dealer (or at least get out of off-ramp traffic). Immediately after making the right turn, the engine died with 156 miles on the odometer. In the middle of the road, white smoke poured out of the exhaust in the rear and from the hood (much more from the rear than the hood). It looked like the truck was on fire, passer-by offers of fire extinguishers were made from helpful Idahoans.
Popping the hood to check for fire, I did notice the coolant reservoir was well below the MIN line with maybe 1/8 or 1/10 in the reservoir. I called the dealer to see if they could help me get the vehicle over there, a helping hand notified police so they could assist with traffic control and safely pushing out of traffic.
After stopping traffic and getting the truck turned into the drive that connects to the Ford dealership, the service techs showed up with a fork lift and tow chain. They noted coolant around the motor, checked oil and confirmed it looked good, and then tried to start it – they said it seemed to be seized. We pulled it back to the service area at the dealership and I was put into a rental car from Thrifty as the dealer was out of loaners – it was getting late, it would be the next day before they could look into it further.
I drove directly to the dealer I purchased at to loop them in on what had happened. Credit to Lithia Ford of Boise, they immediately said they were going to tow the truck back, at their expense, so they could look at it and take care of me. Once they had the truck, they would be able to get me out of the thrifty rental and into a new F150 to drive while diagnosis and repair began.
That night I scoured the forums… I read accounts of blown radiator hoses due to poor spring clamps, crossing my fingers that it was something minor. I also dreaded the more technical advice that white smoke from the exhaust is coolant burning off in combustion, all the causes were not good in a new truck (cracked cylinder head or blown/cracked head gasket or cracked engine block).
I received a call first thing in the morning from the Lithia service department, they confirmed they spoke with the dealer in possession of the truck and flatbed tow was confirmed; it would probably be Friday before there was more info. It was no more than 3 hours before I received a follow-up call that they had the truck, the engine was indeed seized, and that Ford had authorized a new motor to be shipped. I was in a meeting and couldn’t ask for any additional details.
Two hours later I was able to make it down to the dealership, but there really was no other diagnostics information as Ford didn’t want them getting into the engine (I presume they’re wanting to do their own diagnosis). I was told Ford engineers would do the engine replacement.
Not to knock service departments or Ford, I already knew that I didn’t want a truck requiring a new motor after 156 miles; that would be fun explaining to every prospective buyer reviewing the service history.
Lithia took care of me, they asked what I wanted to do – and I asked what options were on the table. The very first option presented was that they would take the truck back and execute a rescission agreement on the sale, and I could decide if I was interested in the other Raptor on the lot.
In the end, I’m taking an order allocation and will begin the wait for a Raptor configured to my specifications. It has been an unreal week of highs and lows, but Lithia did the “right thing” by the customer in my book – I couldn’t ask for a better experience or support in this kind of unreal situation.
TL;DR – 2019 Raptor engine seized at 156 miles; no diagnosis into cause yet; Ford authorized a new motor; dealer rescinded sale and took back the truck; I’m placing an order and beginning a long wait.
As my intro post to the forum shows, I bought a 2019 SCREW Raptor on Monday (3/4) from local dealer inventory. It had 12 miles when I test drove it, under 40 miles when leaving the finance office.
Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon (3/6), I decided to do a Boise to Anderson Ranch Reservoir drive to put some break-in miles on it. I know break-in requirement is debated by some, but I decided to baby it for the first 1,000 miles to be safe.
While on the interstate, I did think to myself at one point that it felt a little underpowered, even though I was going light on it. I justified it as caused by the heavy crosswinds, there was nothing out of the ordinary on the gauges or warning messages.
Upon exiting in Mountain Home, the truck began “shuddering” for about 3 seconds, then was fine for 3 seconds, and then started shuddering again. At that point the engine light began flashing, but no other messages displayed and I no gauges were in the red.
I looked up and saw a Ford sign right there, I decided to make a right rather than left, I wanted to head towards the dealer (or at least get out of off-ramp traffic). Immediately after making the right turn, the engine died with 156 miles on the odometer. In the middle of the road, white smoke poured out of the exhaust in the rear and from the hood (much more from the rear than the hood). It looked like the truck was on fire, passer-by offers of fire extinguishers were made from helpful Idahoans.
Popping the hood to check for fire, I did notice the coolant reservoir was well below the MIN line with maybe 1/8 or 1/10 in the reservoir. I called the dealer to see if they could help me get the vehicle over there, a helping hand notified police so they could assist with traffic control and safely pushing out of traffic.
After stopping traffic and getting the truck turned into the drive that connects to the Ford dealership, the service techs showed up with a fork lift and tow chain. They noted coolant around the motor, checked oil and confirmed it looked good, and then tried to start it – they said it seemed to be seized. We pulled it back to the service area at the dealership and I was put into a rental car from Thrifty as the dealer was out of loaners – it was getting late, it would be the next day before they could look into it further.
I drove directly to the dealer I purchased at to loop them in on what had happened. Credit to Lithia Ford of Boise, they immediately said they were going to tow the truck back, at their expense, so they could look at it and take care of me. Once they had the truck, they would be able to get me out of the thrifty rental and into a new F150 to drive while diagnosis and repair began.
That night I scoured the forums… I read accounts of blown radiator hoses due to poor spring clamps, crossing my fingers that it was something minor. I also dreaded the more technical advice that white smoke from the exhaust is coolant burning off in combustion, all the causes were not good in a new truck (cracked cylinder head or blown/cracked head gasket or cracked engine block).
I received a call first thing in the morning from the Lithia service department, they confirmed they spoke with the dealer in possession of the truck and flatbed tow was confirmed; it would probably be Friday before there was more info. It was no more than 3 hours before I received a follow-up call that they had the truck, the engine was indeed seized, and that Ford had authorized a new motor to be shipped. I was in a meeting and couldn’t ask for any additional details.
Two hours later I was able to make it down to the dealership, but there really was no other diagnostics information as Ford didn’t want them getting into the engine (I presume they’re wanting to do their own diagnosis). I was told Ford engineers would do the engine replacement.
Not to knock service departments or Ford, I already knew that I didn’t want a truck requiring a new motor after 156 miles; that would be fun explaining to every prospective buyer reviewing the service history.
Lithia took care of me, they asked what I wanted to do – and I asked what options were on the table. The very first option presented was that they would take the truck back and execute a rescission agreement on the sale, and I could decide if I was interested in the other Raptor on the lot.
In the end, I’m taking an order allocation and will begin the wait for a Raptor configured to my specifications. It has been an unreal week of highs and lows, but Lithia did the “right thing” by the customer in my book – I couldn’t ask for a better experience or support in this kind of unreal situation.
TL;DR – 2019 Raptor engine seized at 156 miles; no diagnosis into cause yet; Ford authorized a new motor; dealer rescinded sale and took back the truck; I’m placing an order and beginning a long wait.
