I bought a used F150 last year with about 140,000 miles knowing it would need timing chains so i built that into the offer and did ok on a clean truck.
I was looking around the internet on a noise it began making and found out about the well known cam phaser problem. I even found the TSB on it. Sure enough that sounded like mine so to be sure i follwed advice and changed the sensors first. No dice. Noise a little quieter but still there so i took it to the local Ford dealership to confirm it.
Girl called me back several days later to tell me the "tech" said it was the sensors. Kind of hard since they were brand new. Several days later i called her and surprise! Cam phasers so went in to talk about it. I had already looked them up online to get an idea of what to expect. They came up with 3 options
1) replace cam phasers with a bunch of parts added i didnt recognize. $1,650
2) Phasers and timing chain job due to mileage. $2,600
3) New Engine? $7,000
Told them id think it over, went home and got on the internet. Essentally you take off the valve cover, pop off the old phaser and put on the new one, new valve cover gasket and close it up. Instead of a page full of parts i ordered 2 phasers, a wedge tool to keep the timing chain tight and gaskets for $150 and im doing it myself. Guess they havn't figured out the internet is out there and that type of crud aint flying anymore. Not sure what all those other parts are but $150 beats the heck out of $1,600.
Where did that new $7,000 crate engine come from? "We like to give the customers several options". Yeah, well one of mine is never come in here again
I thought i had scrubbed the stupid sign off my forehead before going in but some must have still been on there.
Oh, the $125 Cam Phasers i ordered online the Ford Dealership wanted about $400