Phasers - Preventative Mindset?

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Jkysh

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Long story short - my truck went to the dealer for some warranty work today. Needs a new front drivers side wheel hub. They will be replacing both IWE's as well as my passenger side axel seal, with fresh front diff fluid.

I spent some time in the shop while the truck was on the lift with the tech and he mentioned *if* I wanted to, they have phasers in stock, he has done "hundreds" of them, and wanted to let me know it would be about a 2-3 day turn around.

My question is: given the current strike, part availability, and pending uncertainty in the truck over time, is this something I should take them up on? My truck is experiencing absolutely zero phaser noise upon cold starts, and I change my oil every 4-5K with amsoil religiously. I am just hesitant to take them up on this at this time as there are no symptoms to warrant opening everything up. Truck is running very strong and am very much enjoying driving it.

Appreciate any thoughts / insights on this greatly !
 

HighwaySentinel

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Although your long story is short, it needs to be a bit longer. Is your truck even in the identified range of those to be repaired? If not, I wouldn't worry about it. If it is, and since the parts are not bad, maybe you can get away with just having the software update applied to prevent them from going bad. I may be way off base with that thought, but I'm sure someone will chime in if that's the case. And of course they are eager to do it...if you are paying. It is a few thousand to get it done.
 

FordTechOne

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What he offered is against warranty policy; dealers cannot offer to perform warranty repairs on systems and components that are functioning properly. That should raise a lot of red flags.

If you had recall 21B10 completed, the chances of a phaser issue drop significantly, especially if it was completed at low mileage. There is no reason to open up a perfectly functioning engine to replace parts that aren’t bad; it’s a completely unnecessary risk.
 
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Jkysh

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Although your long story is short, it needs to be a bit longer. Is your truck even in the identified range of those to be repaired? If not, I wouldn't worry about it. If it is, and since the parts are not bad, maybe you can get away with just having the software update applied to prevent them from going bad. I may be way off base with that thought, but I'm sure someone will chime in if that's the case. And of course they are eager to do it...if you are paying. It is a few thousand to get it done.

The truck is a 2019, and has the recall 21B10 completed prior to my ownership. I have confirmed this with my local dealer as well.

I wouldn't be paying, I have an ESP - they are telling me however they are "able" to do this under warranty despite there being no symptoms - which admittedly raised my eyebrows.

What he offered is against warranty policy; dealers cannot offer to perform warranty repairs on systems and components that are functioning properly. That should raise a lot of red flags.

If you had recall 21B10 completed, the chances of a phaser issue drop significantly, essentially if it was completed at low mileage. There is no reason to open up a perfectly functioning engine to replace parts that aren’t bad; it’s a completely unnecessary risk.

Was a bit surprising to me as well. The dealer is a large dealer here in Ohio - was told to "just mention I have a rattle at cold start" and there would be no issue. Im simply wondering at this point if the tech would perhaps get some extra billable hours for the job.

The recall 21B10 was 100% completed prior to my ownership, I have a print out of the job being done. It was done at 24K miles by the original owner. I will take your guidance here as the bible, and appreciate the confirmation I had prior to asking. No sense in opening it up to fix a problem that isnt there, and shows no signs of its head rearing.
 

HighwaySentinel

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Was a bit surprising to me as well. The dealer is a large dealer here in Ohio - was told to "just mention I have a rattle at cold start" and there would be no issue.

Wow. That's shady. Get whatever you need done and then I would probably not ever go there again.
 
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Jkysh

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Wow. That's shady. Get whatever you need done and then I would probably not ever go there again.

Just to clarify - this is a very large and reputable Ford dealer here in Ohio. Massive shop, huge service volume and fleet service. Im inclined to believe their ability to process warranty work is a high volume location for Ford. Did not get any sketchy feelings at all, and ive been through my share of that with stealerships. I spent about an hour in the shop area with the tech who will be doing this work and had a great experience.
 
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Jkysh

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Okay. They are offering to do warranty work that is not needed and told you just to mention you hear a sound that you don't actually hear and there will be no issue. Yep...completely above water.

Am I supposed to complain about a veteran tech working for a reputable large volume truck / cab chassis dealer in truck country offering me a covered warranty item service as preventative maintenance? The offer was not shoved down my throat by any means, it was simply mentioned in conversation IF I wanted to have the work done, which I didnt and dont. Perhaps here in the Midwest things are handled a bit differently.
 

FordTechOne

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Am I supposed to complain about a veteran tech working for a reputable large volume truck / cab chassis dealer in truck country offering me a covered warranty item service as preventative maintenance? The offer was not shoved down my throat by any means, it was simply mentioned in conversation IF I wanted to have the work done, which I didnt and dont. Perhaps here in the Midwest things are handled a bit differently.
No, but if they’re violating the manufacturer’s warranty agreement what other shady things are they up to? That’s enough to trigger a major audit and have their franchise pulled.
 
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