04' turbo grenades! - Diesel Forum

jschuman · 02-28-2009, 01:54 PM

Well I should have listened to my buddy who told me not to trade my 7.3 for the 6.0. 11 hours into our drive up to OR we are dead in the water. First 10 hours it ran great, camper on back with motorcycle trailer in tow.

11 hours in I heard a pop, a whoosh then tons of smoke out back. Still ran but with severe lack of power and a intermittant winding noise. Checked all fluids they were all good.. We ran it about 30 miles to get out of the mountain pass and then on the last
Hill we hit, tons of smoke, then sounds like we were grinding metal and it sounded real bad so we pulled over and towed it to the father-in-laws... No oil left, dipstick was completely dry...

Sorry so vague, I know squat about these engines...

Frustrated in Oregon -

hooknline · 02-28-2009, 01:58 PM

sounds like you popped the tube to the turbo off. Not uncommon and easy to fix. The grinding...IDK

rock_doctor · 02-28-2009, 03:35 PM

It sounds like you lost the turbo pressure tubing (cac). They have a history of popping off. Then (unfortunately) it was driven like that for a half hour with the turbo trying to make boost but not actually connected to the engine. In turn, it was spinning like crazy and it finally self destructed, which will allow the oil to leak past the seals in the turbo. You will probably find the missing oil dripping out of the exhaust system. When you take it to ford, assume you need a new turbo and maybe an intercooler (not common) or just the cost to clean and reconnect the cac tube that disconnected (which is common). The cac tubes also had a history of blowing off on the 7.3s, this has happened on that engine also... Good luck, but it is a "franklin fix".

jschuman · 02-28-2009, 03:48 PM

thanks for all the great info.... Wish we hadn't kept driving but at first we thought it was a fuel injector as we lost one of those recently...

tattoocharlie · 02-28-2009, 04:04 PM

hopefully theres oil left in the motor,i lost a turbo due to oil seals,talked to ford they said not uncommon,but alot of people keep driving and damage their motor due to lack of oil.good luck

jschuman · 02-28-2009, 05:27 PM

Hoping we didn't damage the engine... Oil pressure, temp and tranny gauges held the entire time...

fordboyyfm · 02-28-2009, 07:27 PM

the engine would stall before it gets damaged, no high pressure oil to run it.

rock_doctor · 02-28-2009, 07:29 PM

Luckily the injectors in the 6.0 are oil driven so when the oil is too low to produce a descent oil pressure the injectors die shutting off the engine. This has become a concern for the 6.4 folks as their injectors are electric. So the engine keeps running... You need a turbo and you can consider replacing the intercooler. See what the techs say, as the blades in the turbo scrape the sides of the turbo case (the wining noise you are hearing) it can send metal into the intercooler. I don't know if there is enough flow to eventually blow them into the engine. You can actually get a reman turbo and a new intercooler (depending on what others say) and probably do the repair yourself or find a independent shop that works of diesels. good luck

dwc032 · 02-28-2009, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschuman

Well I should have listened to my buddy who told me not to trade my 7.3 for the 6.0. 11 hours into our drive up to OR we are dead in the water. First 10 hours it ran great, camper on back with motorcycle trailer in tow.

11 hours in I heard a pop, a whoosh then tons of smoke out back. Still ran but with severe lack of power and a intermittant winding noise. Checked all fluids they were all good.. We ran it about 30 miles to get out of the mountain pass and then on the last
Hill we hit, tons of smoke, then sounds like we were grinding metal and it sounded real bad so we pulled over and towed it to the father-in-laws... No oil left, dipstick was completely dry...

Sorry so vague, I know squat about these engines...

Frustrated in Oregon -

. One problem with your 6.0 and it sucks huh? Ive had my problems with my 6, but it willrun circles around my old 7.3 I had. The 6 is a great motor just gotta take care of it.

tattoocharlie · 03-01-2009, 12:28 AM

the engine would stall correct,but running low on oil on a high comp engine is never good for it.thats all i was trying to say

jschuman · 03-01-2009, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwc032

. One problem with your 6.0 and it sucks huh? Ive had my problems with my 6, but it willrun circles around my old 7.3 I had. The 6 is a great motor just gotta take care of it.

Not really sure what to think... I put 75000 miles on my 7.3 and besides normal maintenance it ran perfect... I've had my 6.0 for 3 months and already lost an injector and a turbo at 45000. But it certainly tows better than my 7.3 and is (was?) quieter...

So yeah I guess I'm a little dissapointed. The previous owner was meticulous according to maintenance records. Trying to stay positive but aren't these engines supposed to carry you through a few hundred thousand miles?

I'll be relatively ok if it's just the turbo I have to deal with...

Thanks to you all so much for your advice!!!

jschuman · 03-01-2009, 12:40 AM

Speaking of the turbo, I found a rebuit one locally, but the seller lists it as good for a 1999-2003 f250/350. He hasn't answered my question if it will work on my early '04 6.0...

Anyone know?

dwc032 · 03-01-2009, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschuman

Not really sure what to think... I put 75000 miles on my 7.3 and besides normal maintenance it ran perfect... I've had my 6.0 for 3 months and already lost an injector and a turbo at 45000. But it certainly tows better than my 7.3 and is (was?) quieter...

So yeah I guess I'm a little dissapointed. The previous owner was meticulous according to maintenance records. Trying to stay positive but aren't these engines supposed to carry you through a few hundred thousand miles?

I'll be relatively ok if it's just the turbo I have to deal with...

Thanks to you all so much for your advice!!!

Well I also put 285000 on my 7.3 and all I had to do was put a couple trannys in it. So yah I guess they 6.0 just isnt as reliable.

Ive never had the 6.0 leave me stranded, so I guess I can feel your frustrations. When I lost my turbo it did the same thing as yours and I lost the turbo pressure tube. Ive have since got it replaced with an updated turbo (whatever that means) and it has been awesome for the last 40000. It know has 120000 and has been trouble free. Good luck with yours!

Strokin60 · 03-01-2009, 09:47 AM

it wll not work on the 6.0. The 1999 to 2003 was designed for the 7.3 liter engine, not the 6.0. In 2003.5 ford introduced the 6.0 with a variable geometry turbo.

jschuman · 03-01-2009, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strokin60

it wll not work on the 6.0. The 1999 to 2003 was designed for the 7.3 liter engine, not the 6.0. In 2003.5 ford introduced the 6.0 with a variable geometry turbo.

Bummer. Thanks I'll keep looking! Only have a week vacation and not sure the wife wants to bargain shop for turbos! Might just have to bite the bullet and pay the $800...