Hello,
I'm new here, and posted an intro in the "start here thread".
Tuesday evening I bought a 2003 SE 4WD with 144,000 miles from an independent dealer.
The next morning, when I started it, thick white smoke billowed from the exhaust.
I called the dealer who said that his mechanic had changed the plugs and put in a fuel injector cleaner, so run it, and "run the hell out of it" for at least 100 miles,
and it will clear up.
about 75 miles later the "service engine soon" light came on, and the truck tried to overheat, but i slowed down, coasted in neutral and kept the heat running on full HOT, so I
I at least avoided overheating it... I had an app hooked up to the OBDII guage, so the temp sometimes got up to 205 F, and once even 208 briefly, but overall, i was able to keep it at about 200 F or
lower as I drove about 12 miles home.
So, the truck has a "power train" warranty that will supposedly pay up to $1,000 towards fixing any power train warranties.
I'm posting here for some ideas and advice.
I can either head down the path of trying to have the vehicle repaired (I don't know what's wrong yet, but obviously I'm skeptical about trying to rebuild a new-to-me truck that gave me problems within the first 10 miles of driving it)... or I was thinking that maybe I should try to enlist the dealer's help in getting a low-mileage vehicle, maybe with body damage or rust, but a solid engine, and then doing an engine swap.
I'll have to see how helpful the dealer is... but I'm reasonable with people, and don't want to have to try to fight with them in court, since the contract says "as-is", so while i could try to make a case of fraud or some other claims, it would be an uphill battle.
Moreover, if I'm able to apply $1,000 from the warranty, and leverage the dealer's mechanics to (maybe) get a good engine with say 80,000 miles or fewer and get a swap, I think that might be a better tack, and I might get their help and cooperation, even if it cost a (hopefully) no more than $3K total, or an additional $2K out-of-pocket... it would probably be worth it for the piece-of-mind.
Any thoughts, suggestions or advice, especially on fix vs swap and/or approaches on trying to find a decent engine for a swap, how much rebuilds can run, whether it's worth trying... what to look for, etc?
i'm obviously feeling duped, but the money's spent and I need to manage the world the way it is, and try for the best outcome possible.
The trouble code thrown is P0021, which is described as "Cam shaft variable timing control, Bank 2".
The dealer said that they replaced the air filter and did an oil change and put in synthetic oil during the change (that seems believable... although I probably would used regular or a blended oil on a used engine with 144,000 miles).
I'm skeptical of the new plugs and fuel cleaner claim... I suspect that the dealer was either hoping it would go away, or maybe hoping the whole engine would blow, and that he could pass off the first $1,000 of any repair bill to the warranty company (I have a form from they stating the power train warranty with $1,000 limit... but it's not a whole contract with details)... or maybe the dealer was even hoping that I'd drive it hard and get some miles on it, and if it blew, that they could blame me.
I drove the truck home which was fewer than 5 miles, and the problem showed up immediately the next morning... so maybe the dealer was trying to get me to put some miles on it, to try to weaken any claims I might have if I tried to make them take the truck back...
Anyway, I'm inclined to try to solve the problem by finding a way to get the truck running well if I can do it without spending TOO much more money.
I accept that I was likely duped, but trying to sue, even in small claims court for only $5K or less, is a big hassle, and I might not win since it can be very difficult to get satisfaction when
a used car is bought with "as-is" paperwork...
So while I've shared my story, I'm really looking for thoughts and insights on how to proceed re: repairs or engine swaps, and ideas of price ranges, approaches, and sources for parts.
If there's any good news, it would be that I had my "ultrablue" wireless device in the OBDCII port, and their app running on my phone (image attached), so I was able to monitor the temp carefully, and keep it lower enough that I think I prevented the engine from over-heating (I would assume... because it never got hotter than 208 F, and that was only very briefly... because I know that overheating an engine can cause serious damage.)
Thanks, and good to meet y'all. ?
Phil Brown
Arlington, VA
Image from the cell-phone app attached.