[KellyHB1]

Ok, My truck is being repaired by an independent mechanic since the dealer really messed my engine up with warranty repairs ranging from EGR cooler replacement, oil leaks, exhaust leaks, fuel leaks, ect... I bought this truck new and maintained it with motorcraft products on the recommended schedule. Now the truck is out of warranty and had the oil cooler go out along with the ripple effect of taking out the systems related to that; HP pump, EGR cooler, and now found that the branch tube is cracked.

My mechanic mentioned that this may have been caused by shoddy workmanship from the dealer mechanics. This was shown by having bolts in the wrong place, impact wrench tightened bolts on the "w" rail, and when he showed me one of the down tubes, it looked like it was damaged by vice grips because it was not round ( looked like it was pinched).

Now He is going to fix this by taking the engine out... etc...and hopefully I will have a running truck again by the end of next week. You can imagine how shellshocked I am having a truck with 90,000 miles with these kind of repairs. ( My vacation money....I guess now, a staycation!)

What next? I am thinking about selling this once it is running again, although I love this truck! I don't think I can afford these ongoing repairs! Is the dreaded 6.0 engine really capable of going 200,000 miles like they all say? Is the transmission going to drop out next. ( I have maintained the transmission as per recommended and I drive like an "old farmer", so I don't think I have been very hard on her)

Had I known about the funky oil cooler, I would have replaced it early on.

so, again, What next?

 

[a2elvis]

Sorry to hear about all the problems with the truck. The oil coolers typically only last about 50-60,000 miles and most of the problems on the 6.0L seem to stem from the oil cooler. So eliminating or at a minimum monitoring oil temp is critical on the 6.0L. Keeping the oil cool and clean is the biggest thing on these trucks.:thumbsup:

 

[San Diego Z06]

a2elvis-What about adding additional oil coolers to the trucks? There are some very good aftermarket oil coolers I've used on race cars that will last forever. Why are these OEM oil coolers failing? They shouldn't fail. I don't get it. Do you know?
Thanks,
Paul

 

[KellyHB1]

Shall we say "planned obsolescence" on Ford's behalf! Just a thought.... Like I said, I maintained this truck as recommended and did the additive with the coolant, etc...

 

[speedrcr78]

I have 330k on my F-550. It has been a tow truck since day one. It is hands down the best truck that I have ever owned. I have replaced an oil cooler and 1 set of injectors. It still runs great, dont give up yet.

 

[KellyHB1]

Good news for me! Last night I picked up my repaired truck and I can not believe how great it sounds! And, It turns out that the branch tube wasn't cracked, so the repair wasn't as expensive as the mechanic speculated.
It turned out that when the mechanic tilted the engine to get it out, exposing the branch tube, he saw that the gasket on the branch tube was all pinched and cut up ( another shoddy repair from ford dealer mechanics!). He then decided to try replacing the gasket and then do another pressure test. Guess what? She held pressure! So he buttoned everything up, started her up, drove her, then ran diagnostics. No error codes indicated, all functions reading within normal factory spects and she sounded strong!
I got to pick her up last night! He thought the engine was strong, injecters were at 98% and he felt that the truck was once again reliable... I think I'll keep her!

 

[RocknRoll]

Good news! Its still important to stay proactive on these trucks. Maintenance, like others have suggested, is very important. In order to answer your "what next" question, it would probably be important for members to know what you've done so we can help in suggesting "what's next". Headstuds,egr delete, coolant filter, fpr spring upgrade, banjo bolts, intake, exhaust, coolant flush(elc?), sct tuner, air dog etc. Just to name a few!:thumbsup:

 

[KellyHB1]

Good suggestion, RocknRoll! Please know that I am not a mechanic, but in talking to mechanics, I try to educate myself in the processes needed to maintain my truck.This was the first truck I bought new off the lot, so I wanted to make sure to maintain my investment. I have flushed the coolant system and used the additive yearly, changed oil ( only motorcraft filters, oil parts) 30,000 service ( recommeded by ford) 60,000 service and transmission flush/ service. EGR tube replacement ( warranty at 65,000) Main Seal leak warranty repair at 67,000.
Now that I just got my truck back at 90,000 from being repaired, It now has upgraded oil cooler system ( universal w/ lifetime warranty) EGRsystem, hp, new down tube ( from being damaged by Ford mechanics) serviced and cleaned turbo, new gaskets from being worked on this time, air dogs checked and serviced, engine mount bolts replaced from being lost or sheared from incorrect installations from Ford, FICM checked and resecured from missing screws left out by Ford. Diagnostics indicate that injectors are at 98%.
The engine sounds great and runs excellent. I let the Hubby drive it ( he drives aggressively!!) and We couldn't be happier!

The only thing I was thinking about was the possibility of adding real oil and coolant temp. indicators. All I have is the idiot dash indicators. Temp indicators would have been a better way to see the difference in the oil and coolant temperatures before the engine sustained damage. When my truck broke down, it seemed to run well until the engine just quit running when I was driving it.

 

[ex mounty]

Good plan. Electronic monitors like the Egde Insight or scangauge2 are fairly inexpensive (especially the scangauge2 @ $165) additions that will pay for themselves.

 

[rcgreg]

270K on my truck - EGR Block & Injectors. One o ring plug, Rev-X in oil, seafoam in fuel. Runs great. You got a lot of miles to go yet before wearing it out !

 

[ex mounty]

You may want to reconsider using seafoam in your fuel. It contains alcohol that will absorb water into the fuel. Water in your fuel will definitely harm your injectors.
The rev-x is a good idea if you have had or are experiencing injector "stiction" issues.

 

[KellyHB1]

I am not familiar with Seafoam or rev-x. I will look into it. Thanks for the info!

 

[ex mounty]

Rev-x is a good oil additive (if you already run full synthetic motor oil) that will help with injector "stiction" issues. What "stiction" is is that when the truck is cold, the injector "stutters" and idles rough. The condition clears when the truck is up to full operating temperature.
If you do not have the issue, don't bother running it.
Seafoam is a good product in the GAS burner world. It does not belong anywhere near a 6.0

 

[rcgreg]

Rev-x is a good oil additive (if you already run full synthetic motor oil) that will help with injector "stiction" issues. What "stiction" is is that when the truck is cold, the injector "stutters" and idles rough. The condition clears when the truck is up to full operating temperature.
If you do not have the issue, don't bother running it.
Seafoam is a good product in the GAS burner world. It does not belong anywhere near a 6.0

Thanks for the info - didn't know about the alcohol in the seafoam -I will save it for my wife's jeep.