Chevy guy maintaining a Ford

[KD4UPL]

I come from a long line of satisfied Chevy owners. I've always taken good care of my trucks and they've taken good care of me. I'm now faced with a disappointing situation.
My new boss has provided me with a work truck. It's an '03 F350 SRW 4x4 with the 6.0 diesel and 123,000 miles. I've heard lots of bad stuff about this particular year and model of engine. I'll be responsible for keeping the truck maintained properly and I'd prefer to get home every night.
It needs an oil change. What is recommended for this thing as far as oil, filter, change interval, etc.? I've always run Shell Rotell in my Duramaxes.
I hear that coolant is a problem. Should I change it? How often and with what? What do I need to do as far as basic maintenance?

I can get away with spending company money on oil, filters, etc. I know I can't get away with fixing things that aren't broken and adding "accessories" like extra gauges. (unless I buy them on my own dime.)
As far as I know this truck's drive train is bone stock. I'm I driving a time bomb or do some of these engines actually last without major problems?

Thanks,

[TKOPerformance]

Let's cover maintenance first. Oil change every 5k, Rotella 5W40 T6 full synthetic, factory filter. Fuel filters every 12.5k, factory filters. Tranny fluid/filter every 30k, Mercon SP, factory filter.

Gauges or something like an Edge is not optional on these trucks. You need to very closely monitor things like ECT and EOT and how they relate. This will signal internal engine problems before they turn into costly mistakes. If you see more than a 15 degree difference between ECT and EOT your oil cooler has given up the ghost. EGT on any Diesel is a must monitor also, and stock trucks do not have them. I'd have that discussion with the company's owner. If he runs his company like I run mine he'll be concerned with downtime, because that's a real killer in terms of the bottom line.

Coolant filtration is a very good idea. All medium and heavy duty Diesels have them. They were omitted as a cost saving measure by the OEMs on light duty trucks. The Ford gold coolant is not good either. I'd highly suggest a coolant flush and swap to ELC (CAT EC-1 rated) coolant and installation of a coolant filter kit.

Actually the '03s have some advantages over later model trucks. They have a better design EGR cooler that is much less failure prone, which is also often the cause of head gasket failures. The have no failure prone STC fitting in the HPOP, and no dummy plugs in the oil rails to leak. The trade off is that the early style aluminum bodied HPOPs can be failure prone. Head gaskets can be an issue on any 6.0; the only solution is studs. The cost of that will likely be a hard sell.

[03powerstrokeuser]

X-2. IF you take care of the maintenance like you did on the Chevy's, you will be fine! I drove and loved my Chevy's as well! It's all in the maint. and (EVERYTHING) mentioned above... I've been driving my infamous 6.0's for 10 years now. I will also recommend gauges. They will help you trouble shoot it if needed and can keep a small repair bill from becoming BIG one. Talk to your boss more about it. The small investment now will pay for itself the first time it tells on the coolers. I'll leave it at that.

[T diesel]

Regarding filters. watch this video....
Motorcraft Power Stroke Diesel Filter Comparison 2.0 - YouTube

5-40 synthetic diesel oil is DEFINITELY the way to go!
Rotella t-6 is around $21.99 a gallon in Ct.

[KD4UPL]

Thanks for all the advice so far guys.
TKO, I hear you on the synthetic oil. Change every 5K? Wow, I've never used syn. oil but I thought the big advantage of it was long oil change intervals, like 10K or more. Not so with this engine, huh? That's going to make for some expensive oil changes.
I'll have too look into getting some kind of gauges. If they're not too expensive I might be able to make it happen.

[TKOPerformance]

Here's the thing, it is expensive, and if you read manufacturer's recommendations they will say you can go longer. The problem is that oil is cheap and everything oil runs through in a 6.0 is expensive. The biggest difference between the Ford injection system and other systems with which you may have had experience is that the Fords use high pressure oil to fire the injectors. Any dirt, carbon, debris, etc. in the oil runs through the injectors, and can cause them to wear out and fail. At $220 each for Ford remans (plus a $180 core) you start to see why everyone is so anal about oil changes.

Ultimately bypass oil filtration would be advisable, but cost is likely going to kill that where it stands. Some injector suppliers will actually extend their warranty if bypass filtration is installed.

The other side of it, and why the weight and composition of the oil is so important is that the spec'd 15W40 weight oil was found by Ford to be too heavy, especially when cold. Ford actually issued a TSB on this recommending 5W40 as the new weight for 95% of all ambient temperatures encountered in operation.

The reason synthetic is better is because the injectors can suffer a condition called stiction. This is where deposits in the injector can cause the spool valve to stay open too long, or not open fast enough, causing all manner of driveability issues. Often injectors were replaced in an effort to solve this, which it does, but it is also expensive once the truck is off warranty. It was bad enough that Alliant, the injector manufacturer, issued a bulletin to Ford stating that they must do several tests to ensure that stiction was not the cause of the injector issues before returning the injectors to Alliant for replacement under warranty. The easist way that most people have found to avoid stiction is to run synthetic and change it often. The synthetic is slicker and less likely to form deposits so the chance of encountering stiction is greatly reduced.

[2 Stroker]

I would start with a coolant filter to remove the casting sand and any other junk in the system then get a good set of gauges, I like the Edge Insight CTS to check deltas then if good after about 5k do a coolant flush ditch the Ford Gold junk and install CAT EC-1 Rated coolant. Then you need to check fuel pressure under 45lbs at WOT kills injectors most 6.0s are low on pressure (blue spring update) install a fuel pressure gauge. As stated 5k on the oil change run Syn oil i run Amsoil with a by-pass and change at 5k but i work my truck hard because when it is running it is pulling my 5er(Amsoil oil about $32 gallon). If you pull 10k on fuel filters solo 15k, trans filter inline 30k, run cetane boost in the fuel and once a week drive it like you stole it helps to keep the egr valve and turbo clean and working.
2 stroker

[bobsherrie]

Originally Posted by TKOPerformance

The other side of it, and why the weight and composition of the oil is so important is that the spec'd 15W40 weight oil was found by Ford to be too heavy, especially when cold. Ford actually issued a TSB on this recommending 5W40 as the new weight for 95% of all ambient temperatures encountered in operation.

Could you provide the TSB number or a copy so I can become better informed?

[TKOPerformance]

Here's some info from Ford, look at the weights specified in the "stuff you need" section at the bottom.

http://www.powerstrokediesel.com/doc...ange_Guide.pdf

I promise you I've seen the revised chart, but for some reason I can't find it now, despite several searches. Hopefully someone will chime in with it.

I've read a lot of info on oils from a lot of different people, most of whom seemed pretty knowledgeable. You'll find oil weight and brand recommendations are all over the board. Some swear by 15W40 conventional, others 10W30, others 5W40 full synthetic. It isn't hogwash either, a lot of these guys have oil analysis to back up their claims. I think in the end frequent changes are more important than what oil you use. I've run 15W40 for years changing it at 5k. While I did notice a difference between the Rotella and the NAPA brand, specifically the NAPA oil would allow the engine to get noisy as a change approached; the Rotella didn't do that. But if you'd like to get as confused as possible do a search and see all the differing opinions out there!

[KD4UPL]

Okay, so I changed the oil and filter and greased the front end. I used Rotella T6 and a Motorcraft filter. I know the filter that was in it was aftermarket because it was permanently attached to the housing cap. So, I had to buy a cap too. I had thought the truck seemed to crank kind of long to start. Hopefully the proper filter will fix this problem.
I found 6 zerks on the front end: lower ball joints, tie rod ends, drag link ends.
Did I miss any?

[TKOPerformance]

Lower ball joints must have been replaced. Stock ones have no zerks. That's it. Later model's have even less. God forbid we were able to keep everything greased. It might last forever then. Lord knows Ford would go bankrupt just selling 40-50k trucks. They need that parts business too.

[69cj]

Ultimately bypass oil filtration would be advisable, but cost is likely going to kill that where it stands. Some injector suppliers will actually extend their warranty if bypass filtration is installed.


I would pass on the bypass oil filter system. They are expensive and won't buy you anything. The 6.0 shears oil and no filter in the world will prevent that, thus the 5,000 mile oil changes even with synthetic.
You can get a ScanGauge ll at Autozone for app. $159.00. It will give you all the engine parameters needed except fuel pressure and egt's. For app. $70.00 you can do the blue spring upgrade to the fuel press. reg. Your injectors will thank you. As far as the tranny filter goes, it's the ext. filter that needs changing every 30,000 miles. The internal filter only gets changed at rebuild time. It stops trees and boulders from going thru the system.

[Roush4_6]

Here's a good place to start if you want to read TSB's on our truck.
http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/60bulletin.htm


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

[bobsherrie]

Here is what I found on the intellidog web site link that Roush4_6 provided. Note that there is a TSB number mentioned but also it is stated that is no recommendation for synthetic oil. I know that there are advantages to using synthetic oil in some cases like cold weather but a blanket statement that one must to use synthetic oil is incorrect.
I have had very good results with dino 15w-40 towing and 10w-30 blend in the winter months. If I lived further north I'd consider synthetic. JMO



6.0 Oil Recommendations:
Some trucks with the 6.0 may exhibit hard starting, rough running and lack of power in cold temperatures, particularly on a cold start. This may be due to the oil being to thick for the operating conditions. Ford is recommending to use the following oils for the listed operating temperature.

SAE 15W-40 is the preferred oil above 30 degrees, but it is acceptable for use down to 10 degrees, and is recommended for towing down to this temperature.
SAE 10W-30 is the preferred weight between -10 to 30 degrees.
SAE 5W-30 and 5W-40 is acceptable for use below 30 degrees, and 0W-30 is acceptable below zero.
(All temperatures are in Fahrenheit.)
The oil used should meet Ford's specification of WSS-M2C171-D or API CI-4 PLUS, CI-4/SL or DHD-1. CH-4 is acceptable for use if CI-4 PLUS is not available. TSB #05-16-6.
Keep in mind that CI-4 oil is designed for the increased soot contamination and higher coolant temperatures of cooled EGR systems on a diesel; CH-4 is not.
Nowhere does the TSB mention synthetic versus conventional oil recomendations or ranges.
Ford has not released anything recommending NOT to use a specific brand of oil.

[TKOPerformance]

I've read about the oil shearing too. A lot of people claim this is overplayed. Others claim that the engine really prefers a 30 weight oil and if you run a 40 weight no matter what kind it will effectively shear it into a 30 weight. A lot of guys that had a lot of free time and did a lot of oil analysis came up with this stuff, but there are still divergent opinions.

I disagree that the bypass filtration doesn't buy you anything. It buys you better filtration. Oil is super critical on a 6.0 due to the injection setup. The cleaner the oil the better. Bypass filtration filters better. That being said I don't run bypass filtration myself, so to an extent I'm telling you to do as I say not as I do. I am convinced that if cost isn't a factor its a good idea, and may do it myself at some point, but for now 5k changes with good oil will have to get it done.

There is no filter in the trans pan in these trucks. It's just a fine screen. That's why you don't need to replace it. The remote filter is the filter for the trans, the so called "toilet paper roll".

No, you don't have to use synthetic, and Ford has never stated it is mandatory. I'm a believer that frequent changes are better than infrequent changes with expensive oil. The issue I see is that the injectors in these trucks suffer from stiction, and synthetic is less likely to form deposits, sticks to parts better, and is generally slicker. I firmly believe that synthetic will make a difference in injector lifespan, and I look at is as injectors are expensive and even full synthetic oil is comparatively cheap. That's the logic behind the recommendation.