Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
A friend of mine stopped by last night, and as always the case with him, the talk turned to diesel engines. In this case, we got on the subject of the older Ford PowerStrokes, meaning the 7.3L and the 6.0L specifically.
The fuel-filtration system is so piss-poor in those trucks, that if you don't change the wildly-expensive filters at the recommended intervals, particularly if you live in a cold climate, you risk blowing off the ends of the injectors. Apparently, they don't like steam very much when water gets in the system.
The secondary filter is available in the aftermarket, but the design of the cap is different, as is the filter itself. Why? Ford patented the OEM filter, and to this day it's a captive item. Ford would not warranty destroyed injectors if you used an aftermarket filter, because even though it fits, it doesn't work the same as OEM. This came straight out of the mouth of a Motorcraft exec. Remember, this is the company that gave you the "permanent" air filter on the Focus... it never needs replacing! Price one sometime--it's a captive item, too--then explain to the customer that apparently it never occurred to Ford you might live 15 miles down a gravel road and have to follow someone once in awhile. Morons.
Running synthetic oil, particularly at extended intervals beyond what's recommended in the owner's manual, is going to cause you problems, especially if you work the truck hard (also verified by the local Ford dealer). You cannot run AMSoil for 25,000 miles in this engine like they will tell you you can. Yep, oil changes are pricey but they're still cheaper than a new engine or even replacing injectors.
The oil-pressure gauge in your PowerStroke-powered truck will read in the "Normal" range with as little as 4PSI in the primary oiling system, meaning the one that's feeding the main bearings. Pretty scary in any engine, but a compression-ignition engine?!. Yikes! This was verified using a mechanical gauge and two different senders in the shop where he works. That's 4PSI lower than the idiot-light pressure switch in a gas-powered Mopar of any stripe. He referred to it as an "idiot gauge"... "By the time it tells you there's a problem, you're already completely f__ked."
By early 1997, the 6.0L PowerStroke had caused over $75 million in warranty claims to Ford. Getting out of their planned light-duty V6 "F150" PowerStroke cost them another $75 million to buy out of the contract with International/Navistar. Why do you think they abruptly cancelled the 6.0L and missed months of sales? Why else would they design their diesels in-house now?
Why the hell would you design valve-cover gaskets that have electrical circuits running through them (this I already knew)?!
Any major work and some of what one would consider relatively routine, requires removing the cab of the truck. "I can't tell you how many times guys have pooped their pants when I told them the labor charges because I'd have to lift the whole freakin' cab off the truck." If you've never seen a local, small-town dealer try to remove the diesel engine from a Ford ambulance, pack a lunch and bring a Coke... in fact, pack a few meals, because you're going to be there a couple of days.
Say what you want, give me your anecdotal evidence to the contrary, and tell me about what you've read on the internet. This dude is in a dedicated diesel shop with customers from all over the country 10+ hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week. The man bleeds diesel fuel. For the record, in the gas world he's a die-hard Ford guy... yet he told me the Super Duty, regardless of engine (gas or diesel), is a freakin' junk bucket compared to a Dodge of the same year. That was one he really did not want to admit.
There was more, but I was getting rather inebriated and bored with that topic, so we moved on to the DuraTrash for a couple of minutes and then went back to gas engines.
The fuel-filtration system is so piss-poor in those trucks, that if you don't change the wildly-expensive filters at the recommended intervals, particularly if you live in a cold climate, you risk blowing off the ends of the injectors. Apparently, they don't like steam very much when water gets in the system.
The secondary filter is available in the aftermarket, but the design of the cap is different, as is the filter itself. Why? Ford patented the OEM filter, and to this day it's a captive item. Ford would not warranty destroyed injectors if you used an aftermarket filter, because even though it fits, it doesn't work the same as OEM. This came straight out of the mouth of a Motorcraft exec. Remember, this is the company that gave you the "permanent" air filter on the Focus... it never needs replacing! Price one sometime--it's a captive item, too--then explain to the customer that apparently it never occurred to Ford you might live 15 miles down a gravel road and have to follow someone once in awhile. Morons.
Running synthetic oil, particularly at extended intervals beyond what's recommended in the owner's manual, is going to cause you problems, especially if you work the truck hard (also verified by the local Ford dealer). You cannot run AMSoil for 25,000 miles in this engine like they will tell you you can. Yep, oil changes are pricey but they're still cheaper than a new engine or even replacing injectors.
The oil-pressure gauge in your PowerStroke-powered truck will read in the "Normal" range with as little as 4PSI in the primary oiling system, meaning the one that's feeding the main bearings. Pretty scary in any engine, but a compression-ignition engine?!. Yikes! This was verified using a mechanical gauge and two different senders in the shop where he works. That's 4PSI lower than the idiot-light pressure switch in a gas-powered Mopar of any stripe. He referred to it as an "idiot gauge"... "By the time it tells you there's a problem, you're already completely f__ked."
By early 1997, the 6.0L PowerStroke had caused over $75 million in warranty claims to Ford. Getting out of their planned light-duty V6 "F150" PowerStroke cost them another $75 million to buy out of the contract with International/Navistar. Why do you think they abruptly cancelled the 6.0L and missed months of sales? Why else would they design their diesels in-house now?
Why the hell would you design valve-cover gaskets that have electrical circuits running through them (this I already knew)?!
Any major work and some of what one would consider relatively routine, requires removing the cab of the truck. "I can't tell you how many times guys have pooped their pants when I told them the labor charges because I'd have to lift the whole freakin' cab off the truck." If you've never seen a local, small-town dealer try to remove the diesel engine from a Ford ambulance, pack a lunch and bring a Coke... in fact, pack a few meals, because you're going to be there a couple of days.
Say what you want, give me your anecdotal evidence to the contrary, and tell me about what you've read on the internet. This dude is in a dedicated diesel shop with customers from all over the country 10+ hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week. The man bleeds diesel fuel. For the record, in the gas world he's a die-hard Ford guy... yet he told me the Super Duty, regardless of engine (gas or diesel), is a freakin' junk bucket compared to a Dodge of the same year. That was one he really did not want to admit.
There was more, but I was getting rather inebriated and bored with that topic, so we moved on to the DuraTrash for a couple of minutes and then went back to gas engines.
