Are parts hard to get for a Ford F-150?

[Lubener]

I have an 87 f150 4.9 w/manual. I had it the last 20 years and my father bought it new. I have never had any problems getting parts here in Ohio.. These older fords were mostly unchanged for many years and must still be a demand for parts so they are plentiful. I do have problems finding parts at times for my 87 Mercury.

 

[demarpaint]

I have no problem getting parts for an 88 E-150, I doubt a 7 year old F-150 would be hard to get parts for.

 

[MNgopher]

The issue in this case was it was a part for an apparently rare combination of equipment.

On one hand, while its nice to play Mr. Potato Head with ordering your ideal truck, it can result in situations like this where although the F150 is super common, you end up with a part used on a very small subset of them.

When it comes to the bread and butter parts, it is easy to find parts for these trucks - virtually anywhere. When it comes to a specialty part like this (which unfortunately controls a rather normal function), that's where the trouble starts.

Also, the Ford Parts numbering system makes a ton of sense once you understand it. Far from just a random jumble of numbers...

 

[bdcardinal]

How anyone could possibly complain about the Ford parts numbering system is beyond me. It makes a ton of sense, even with the prefix changes starting in 2000. Also the recent crop of new hire engineers don't understand proper base numbers which makes things more complicated.

If anyone wants a crash course I can send you some info. It makes a lot of sense considering everything is grouped by vehicle system.

 

[MRtv]

I live in Boise Idaho and never had a problem getting parts for my 97 F 150. Bought it back a year or so and I am changing out bearings, seals, CV axles and such. No trouble with parts. I have even gone to local junk yards and pulled a couple of parts from all the F 150s in there. Found a drive shaft in really good shape to replace mine which was giving my truck a nice wobble going down the road. No more wobble. Yesterday I got a pinion seal for the rear differential. In stock at local Ford dealership. Some parts I don't want to fuss with aftermarket. Some parts I want the real FoMoCo part like the pinion seal, rear axle bearings, and axle seals. All bought at local dealership and in stock.

Like it was said earlier you can't walk but a few feet and trip over parts for F-150. That is true here in Boise.

 

[HangFire]

I ran into the 7 year thing (or was it 10?) here in the US when I tried to get new keys for the 99 Taurus (this was about 5 years back). They couldn't look it up by VIN because "the database doesn't go back that far". I never had the key code because it was a used car and just didn't come with it. So, no new keys for me.

I said to the parts guy, "you just told me to buy a Toyota". (In reality, I had just bought a Toyota, but it wasn't until a year later that I replaced the Ford with a Honda.)

I don't miss that car.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
I ran into the 7 year thing (or was it 10?) here in the US when I tried to get new keys for the 99 Taurus (this was about 5 years back). They couldn't look it up by VIN because "the database doesn't go back that far". I never had the key code because it was a used car and just didn't come with it. So, no new keys for me.

I said to the parts guy, "you just told me to buy a Toyota". (In reality, I had just bought a Toyota, but it wasn't until a year later that I replaced the Ford with a Honda.)

I don't miss that car.


Ford's database now only goes back to 2007, some 2006 cars, to look up key codes.

 

[IndyIan]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ford-f150-auto-parts-obsolete-go-public-1.3746577

Does this sound legit? HVAC module not available for a 2009 F150?
I agree though with HangFire, not keeping a few lines of info in a keycode database seems to indicate Ford has too many customers...

 

[MNgopher]

You do realize the link you added is the same as the one that this whole thread is about, right?

 

[bdcardinal]

9L3Z-19980-K Is the EATC controller head for a 2009 F150 that has "Less Heated Rear Window, With Drivers Heated Seat." That one is obsolete.

Also 9L3Z-19980-S is for F150s with "Less Heated Rear Window, With Drivers Heated Seat." That one is obsolete also.

The other 7 that year are available. I bet you could get one of the other ones to work.

 

[PFP]

Originally Posted By: meep
another board mentioned that combination is so rare there were only a handful ever ordered that way - like single digits. It's the cooler delete option in that specific configuration that makes it very rare. that explains much.


Correct. In the news in Canada, it was mentioned that the truck in question had heated but not cooled seats and automatic temp control and a rear defroster (think I got the combo correct). Apparently that required a unique module and there were less than 5 in existence in salvage yard databases in North America.

The problem here is that Ford used a different module for its many configurations of HVAC, rather than a universal programmable module, which makes little sense at all for repairs but sense for penny-pinching manufacturing (maybe).

Apparently the part had no demand (maybe it rarely breaks) and Ford thus rendered it obsolete.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: PFP
Apparently the part had no demand (maybe it rarely breaks) and Ford thus rendered it obsolete.


Maybe. The usual reason an obscure expensive part gets dropped from parts inventory is that it gets dropped from production, and then stocks are exhausted.

 

[artificialist]

What I find is that bits and pieces of the interior can quickly become NLA, and so can some electrical items, but mechanical parts don't become hard to get. This is why I hate the factory audio systems that have amplifiers outside of the head unit. Also, it annoys me when the stereo is a weird shape and no DIN or Double DIN adaptor works.

This is why cars that have all those driver assist cameras and radars scare me. Some of those things will fail and in 10 years we will all be left with:
1. Trying to find the same part in the junkyard that didn't fail the same way your part did.
2. Rebuilds that last one year.
3. New aftermarket pieces that aren't much better than those rebuilds.

 

[ecotourist]

So it sounds like there's a reasonable parts supply, as long as you don't buy one with an uncommon combination of options.

As a prospective buyer of an older F-150, what sort of combinations should be avoided? That's a nice looking truck and deleting the transmission cooler and cooled seats but including a heated rear window (or something like that) doesn't jump up and yell "this is way out there"

PS I'd also like to avoid engines with spark plugs that come out by themselves or won't come out at all.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
I ran into the 7 year thing (or was it 10?) here in the US when I tried to get new keys for the 99 Taurus (this was about 5 years back). They couldn't look it up by VIN because "the database doesn't go back that far". I never had the key code because it was a used car and just didn't come with it. So, no new keys for me.


Why bother with the dealer? When I lost the key (I only had one) to a 1986 Mustang in 2004, I called the locksmith. He came over, and about an hour later and a few $$ I had a complete set of keys to the car. I did have to pay for them to come to me as I had 0 keys but it's really not an issue.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Why bother with the dealer?


If they could have made the keys, it would have been no bother at all. It wasn't out of my way.