Ah yes, the POS Ford trucks...
I own such a piece and I've been there and done that with the FoMoCo people. Their first job is the take your money. Secondly, then they will try their darndest to make sure they don't treat you properly by feeding you the biggest lines of bull while looking at you solemnly in the face. Third, the service people will tell you that it doesn't matter what the sales people say because the mechanical stuff is what they do best and they have all the answers.
My quick story. '97 Explorer made thunk noise after backing out of the driveway and went into a fatal no start condition. The problem? The crank snapped in two behind the dampner.
The local Ford crook (dealer) said they'd never heard of this before. I pointed out the NHTSA site where I wasn't the only one. They said that they'd never heard of it before. I say NHTSA and they say I'm the first. Round and round we go.
The service department says that it's normal for this to happen because at 100k miles you really got your money out of the car. I tell him that my manual says to change the plugs, wires and so forth but I should just rip out those pages and plan on replacing the engine instead? He continues to say that their engines are only designed to last 100k but with frequent oil changes maybe 120-130k.
I appeal to the zone manager and the service manager says he'll set up a meeting for me. 2 days later he tells me that he's had the meeting for me, without any input from me and that Ford will not extend any assistance to me. I ask him which of us has my interest at heart and he says solemnly that he does.
I kept the broken part but I did not sue them in court. A metal expert would have cost me $2.5k that would not have been a recoverable cost. Then rental car would have eaten me up and so I paid nearly $5k for a new motor.
To this day I tell people just what Ford is like and I've pursuaded several diehard Ford people to buy something else. I wrote to Ford voicing my displeasure with their vehicle and even offered to give it back to them. Not surprisingly no one bothered to get in touch.
Keep up the fight and don't let the bastards put you down. You're well within your warranty period and don't take their word as the final answer.
