Ford 4.6 and 5.4 - Avoid Aftermarket Filters!

[Laneco]

I am posting this because there are quite a few Ford 4.6 and 5.4 liter engines out there, in DDs, motor homes, pickups, work vehicles, etc. If you want to preserve your Ford factory warranty, use FACTORY oil filters. Some after market oil filters come apart and plug the small passages up and you lose oil pressure to one bank. Conceivably, you could lose it to both banks, but we've only seen it (my company) on one bank. The repair is not covered under warranty. If you continue to operate the vehicle and engine failure occurs, that will also not be covered under warranty. This is the service bulletin:

21049 1997-2010 MULTIPLE VEHICLE - 4.6L/5.4L - ENGINE TICKING AND/OR RATTLE NOISE
MULTIPLE VEHICLE LINES WITH 4.6L OR 5.4L ENGINE MAY EXPERIENCE AN ENGINE TICKING OR RATTLE NOISE THAT SOUNDS LIKE A STUCK TAPPET (HLA). THIS MAY BE DUE TO THE DETERIORATION OF AN AFTERMARKET OIL FILTER. VEHICLES WITH THIS CONDITION HAVE LOW OIL PRESSURE AT ONE CYLINDER HEAD ONLY, WHILE MAIN PRESSURES ARE NORMAL. DISLODGED MATERIAL FROM THE AFTERMARKET OIL FILTER BLOCKS THE CAM CAP OIL PASSAGE, EITHER AT CYLINDER #4 (RIGHT BANK REAR) OR CYLINDER #5 (LEFT BANK FRONT). FOR VCT EQUIPPED ENGINES, INSPECT THE VCT VALVE BODY AND THE OIL PASSAGES UNDER THE FIRST CAM CAP. DAMAGE TO ENGINES CAUSED BY AFTERMARKET OIL FILTERS ARE NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY.
EFFECTIVE DATE: 10/22/2009


angela

[Scott R]

Having worked for Toyota and GM as a wrench I watched both of them deny various warranty claims over the years due to aftermarket oil filters. It's always a risk under warranty to install non oem parts, including filters.

Like wise both would deny claims for non-factory air filters as well. We used to lose a lot of MAF's on GM's, if we found an aftermarket filter it was then customer pay. Sometimes GM would split the labor with the customer, but sometimes it was an expensive item.

Both of the manufactures I worked for would find almost any reason to deny a claim, but those two were at the top.

[pwd72s]

Thanks Angela...Motorcraft (Ford) filters are made by purolator. Darned good filters, in other words. Running my 4.6 Bullitt Mustang with Mobil one & Motorcraft
filter.

I've become lazy in my old age...until warranty expires, the car will remain stock & get "by the book" service at a dealership. Then when screw-ups like below happen, I can legitimately raise hell...with legal help if need be.

From a Bullitt posting board:

"Took my 08 bullitt in to the shop to rotate tires and the service dept cleaned my air filter and treated it with K&N pre lube treatment thinking of it as a K&N style filter. Going to summitt racing to get a new one, the old one had 16000miles on it anyway. I didn't complain they meant well, but screwed my filter as it's not a k&N. I told the guys that the ford filter doesn't use a prelube treatment."

This guy got a new stock air filter, plus a MAF sensor cleaning...

[speeder]

My recent Ford experience is limited to PSD trucks, (engines were actually made by International), but the same thing applied. The Motorcraft filters for the PSD are patented and any aftermarket filter is not the same, sometimes in significant ways. An example would be the design of the oil pressure bypass on OF. It's a no-brainer to use factory filters on newer vehicles, IMO.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by speeder

My recent Ford experience is limited to PSD trucks, (engines were actually made by International), but the same thing applied. The Motorcraft filters for the PSD are patented and any aftermarket filter is not the same, sometimes in significant ways. An example would be the design of the oil pressure bypass on OF. It's a no-brainer to use factory filters on newer vehicles, IMO.

Fram's new slogan: "Pay me now or...just pay me now."

[HardDrive]

Good to know, thank you. Just picked up a 5.4 F150. Will check filter tomorrow.

[A930Rocket]

I've got 190k miles on my 2001 F150 w/ the 5.4. Oil changes every 3k at one quick lube place or another.


Knock on wood it keeps going...

[sc_rufctr]

Thanks for the info. I always try and use OEM parts on my cars.
I've tried to cheap out on parts in the past but it always came back to haunt me in some way. Lesson learned.

But... You'd think they could make a decent after market oil filter that didn't fail like this.

[fastfredracing]

I have seen a fram filter that exploded on a 5.4. As far as we know there was no damage, the oil pressure shot right up after replacement , and there were no funny noises, truck is still running good a year later. Looked like someone put an m 80 inside the thing, it just blew up, and shot oil everywhere.

[byfdinky]

I've only used a Motorcraft FL1995 oil filter for my 7.3 turbo diesel partly because it's the only filter that fits it from the franchised parts store and partly because it's the stock filter. Always us a Fram HP4 for the work truck, it is just made stronger, and only a Mahle for the Porsche! Did we just see a cut Fram compare to a cut Mahle filter comparisionon on this site?

[Laneco]

I do not want to sound like a fear-monger, but my company is finding dealerships are not honoring warranties with much greater frequency than a few years ago.

I had a Chevrolet Equinox (not mine, one of our managers) that used the OLM (oil life monitoring) system. It does not measure particulate in the oil, it measures the drop of a particular item in the oil that is linked to decreased oil life. The OLM system does not have a tattle tale or a memory. The manager did three oil changes in 42,000 miles. Now admittedly, that was ridiculous, but the OLM system still showed good oil at each change. This motor sludged up and died. The dealer would not warranty. Literally, there was pooled sludge in the pan and the OLM still showed good oil life even with a blown engine. We argued the point extensively and they covered 50%. My company has more than 9,000 vehicles on the road, which makes us a pretty big player with the "big 3" US automakers - and we could only get 50%. I doubt an individual would have gotten a penny. An individual would have paid the full $8,500 for the replacement engine.

Whatever you do, whatever you drive, maintain it and DOCUMENT it...

angela

[Buckterrier]

Wow thanks Angela. I just picked up an F150 5.4 too trailer the Carrera. Didn't know!!

[mikesride]

Check out the Moss Magnuson Warranty act. It claims that if you must use the oem filter to maintain your warranty then it must be supplied to you at no cost! Then watch then tell you your Wix or Purolator filter will be juuust fine!!! Don't be afraid of any good quality oil filter out there. ( I don't include Fram in that)

[Laneco]

I'm a big WIX filter fan myself. But as far as Moss Magnuson goes, you are NOT protected if the aftermarket part is linked to the failed item. So if the aftermarket filter fails, and the failure causes the engine failure, then the engine is not covered. Moss Magnuson offers great protection in other areas. It took away the dealer's ability to refuse to cover your engine failure because you put chrome wheels on the vehicle, etc. The dealer has to prove the part you installed caused the failure. If they can, then guess who pays the bill.

Aftermarket + part linked directly to failure = SCREWED.

angela

[kaisen]

"Direct Causal Relationship"

[mikesride]

Actually I had warranty on a Tranny refused by a gmc dealer cause my rims were over-sized and even the fact that I re-flashed trans module they claimed the extra load caused failure. Costly way to learn! But as I have read the the act states that a direct replacement part of equal standard has zero effect on the manufacturers warranty. Plus the motocraft filter you buy at your local dealer is often NOT the same manufacturer of the filter the car/truck left the factory with. I see how they can claim that a part that fails and causes damage is not the fault of the OEM manufacturer, that makes sense. If I use a brand of fuel, say, Shell a (couple years ago), and it leads to the failure of my fuel pump (as it did) it is the fault of the fuel company. Then that becomes a situation that must be dealt with by the aftermarket supplier ( they all run insurance) Shell paid for my repairs. In other dealings with major oil filter manufacturer Champion Labs ( think luberfiner) they will and have stood behind damage caused by a defect in their product. tHE BOTTOM LINE IS DON'T PUT CRAP PARTS ON YOU CAR OR TRUCK!

[pwd72s]

And when there are no BP stations near me, I'm supposed to somehow import the stuff?

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

And when there are no BP stations near me, I'm supposed to somehow import the stuff?

"Recommends" is different than "Requires"

BP pays Ford for the advertisement. Just like oils.

[Hendog]

I was informed from the PO when I bought the truck that an aftermarket oil filter will cause the engine to sound like it's not running right; I forget what symptom he indicated: noisy(?). So, I've always let the dealer do the oil changes.

I didn't know about it being a possible warranty issue, so this is good information; I have 10 mos left on it.

[A930Rocket]

I had a 99 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab fall under the Moss Magnuson Warranty (act).

The truck blew a headgasket at 35k miles, but I had the extended warranty. It was at the dealer something like 18 times for 45 days in 6
months for breakdowns, engine probs, etc.

Tried to arbitrate for a lemon law and lost ( no wonder since it's funded by the dealer ).

Got a lawyer and boom. Settled in 1 month.