Keith Browning

We are on our 4th in 2 1/2 years.. It seems there is not only a technician shortage as compitent and decent managers seem to be scarce as well.

On THIS truck I suspect not. The reason being that most of the time I only need to drill a pilot hole and broken studs usually come right out. Not this one.

The secret to EFFECTIVELY using oil dye in diesel engines in particular is to use the proper amount of dye for the amount of oil in the engine. All dyes that I have seen have a formula for how much to use. I use Dye-Lite All In One UV tracer dye by Tracerline which requires one 1-ounce bottle of dye PER 5 quarts of oil. So on an engine with a capacity of 12-15 quarts of oil you must use three 1-ounce bottles. Next, I have confidently determined that dirty engine oil in diesel engines adversely affects the performance of the dye due to the heavy soot in the oil which I assume covers up the dye, I strongly recommend changing the engine oil and filter prior to adding dye if the oil is due for service. As a side note, the required amount of dye is most important with engine oil. When using the dye in lighter lubricants such as transmission oil you may not necessarily need to use 1 bottle per 5 quarts. in our truck transmissions that push the 20 quart capacity depending on model you may in fact get away with using only one or two bottles. The same goes for power steering and even fuel systems.

I finally had the opportunity to use my Beydler Drill Guide. This was an exceptionally corroded truck - a 2012 F550 with a 6.8L V10 engine with 8700 miles on the odometer. It's a municipal truck that apparently is used for snow removal here in Northern New Jersey where the use of brine solution for ice control on many of the roadways is becoming more common. Apparently this stuff is more corrosive than rock salt in my opinion as I have never seen corrosion this bad, this quickly and on so many vehicles. The corrosion is actually eating away at the metal around the exhaust studs after they break... A close-up of the drill guide template installed over the broken stud. Another close-up with the drill guide now installed onto the template. The Beydler template installed on the cylinder head and ready to attack! Drilling perpendicular and on center as advertised using a Beydler supplied drill bit at slow speed and using lubrication to prevent damaging the drill bit. The result is a straight hole down the center. At this point an attempt to remove the broken stud with an extractor was made but unsuccessfully. No problem This was followed up from here with a larger drill bit and a thread tap in an attempt to preserve the original threads but this too was unsuccessful due to corrosion. The hole was then drilled to the final size necessary to prepare for a thread insert. Cutting new threads in the cylinder head. This is a special tap that cuts threads to accept a thread insert. Installing the thread insert effectively restoring the stud bore with the original thread size and pitch. The final result was excellent! The broken fastener was confidently removed with no additional damage to the cylinder head caused by drilling off-center. End game. All of the broken fasteners removed and new studs installed awaiting new manifold, gaskets and nuts. And for those of you wondering how there appears to be so much space between the cylinder head and the frame/shock tower, the secret is to unbolt the engine mount from the cross member, jack the engine up and place a piece of 2X4 between the cross member and the engine mount and remove the jack. This effectively raises the engine up and away from the frame allowing very easy access to the lower fasteners and provides a couple extra inches to get in there with a right angle drill and work. Do this one side at a time.

Now that you mention it Matt all these have been F450/F550 trucks so far.

NAPA part number: 600 3605Ford part number: 5C3Z-12224-AAlliant part number: AP0021

Some time ago we had a discussion about a tech that left a brake fluid cap loose on a minivan eventually leading to a fatal collision. I ran across this little example this week on a 2011 F-350 that had fairly new brakes on it. Are you fucking serious? He got a new cap and a brake fluid flush before leaving our dealership.

The term "universal" with relation to fluids of any kind of scares me particularly those that do come with listed "exceptions." When it comes to engine or transmissions that cost many thousands of dollars the liability factor really bothers me... not to mention the dealerships reputation and mine to be frank. To each his own. If Ford Motor Company tells me I can use X-fluid in place of X, Y and Z fluids the so be it. I recall Mercon 5 being deemed backward compatible with all previous fluids but not to replace Mercon SP/LV. At leas then if there was a fluid related failure you have some backing. Taking it upon yourselves to approve any non-approved fluid is chancy IMHO.

So now I have come across a few of these now. The "cold" side plastic CAC tube splitting and blowing apart at the throttle body connection. Anybody else see this at all? If you look at the tube closely it almost looks like a really crappy mold that was cobbled together or even pieces that were fused together. I cant figure out if this is being caused by excessive heat from EGR gasses blowing back (which I doubt) or if the part is just poorly made. I say I doubt EGR is the issue as any other time I remove this tube there is no carbon in the tube. Tubes that come apart have low or no boost and the EGR gasses in the intake have no resistance and will blow out the intake or the broken tube.

I am actually getting pretty annoyed with the performance issue it's creating. I have even noticed that when closing the PTS window with or without IDS open it often hangs for close to a minute.

Injectors do not need to come out to replace the rocker rails. I recall someone posting here that an instructor or an engineer had told them that the high pressure lines [CAN BE] or [have been successfully] reused up to 4 times. I too have done so without any known consequences however I do replace them when swapping out rocker assemblies leaving the injectors right where they are. What I do reuse every time is the fuel rail supply lines which are impossible to replace in chassis with the engine assembled. Never had a leak there and since it's an external connection it's easy to detect a leak there anyhow.

Tony the screwy thing about diagnosing this concern is that there may be no detectable external fuel leaks yet the system sucks in air when shut down. So yes - it sometimes takes a little trial and error to replace the right part or line to resolve it but you should not be getting fuel out of the weep hole. Sounds like you probably got it. As I recall, the o-rings in the steel line fittings and the rubber lift pump hoses were the biggest problems I encountered. Steel lines meaning the metal tube going to the fuel filter housing and from the housing to the injection pump. That rubber bleed off/return hose from the filter header as you mentioned is also a prime suspect. (pun intended)

The nozzle made for the DRF bottles is nice as it produces less leakage to clean up (mine always leaks a little where it screws onto the bottle) it is self venting so the flow is smooth and quick and when the tank is full it stops flowing - you KNOW the tank is full. And of course, you then do not have a funnel full of DEF sticking out of the filler neck that now you have to contend with.

What happened to the o-ring?

That IPR screen looks similar to one that has had the oil cooler out of it and a lot of the sand and dirt that got into the reservoir. Did you wipe it off? Does it feel gritty?

Another common drivability concern I used to see was stalling after accelerating and returning to idle. The governors on these pumps do wear but as many diesel guys are, I would get curious and pull the cover off of the governor and have a look. More often than not there was a bit of rust and gook inside the housing. If I think really hard I may have seen one or two with a sticking throttle as well. It has been some time since I have put my hands on one of these now, but it's like riding a bike.

Very common concern with these. There are many leak prone areas that allow air to enter the fuel supply system and the fuel injector return lines during shut down. When this happens the supply system and filter can drain so that when the engine is started it immediately ingests air in the injection pump and it loses prime - the engine stalls and is very hard to restart usually requiring purging to do so once this condition progresses. Inspect all of the fuel lines from the tank to the fuel pup on the right side of the engine block and then the lines up to the fuel filter housing. THen the rubber lines from the filter housing, pump and injector return lines and the collars at every injector. You m ight just be better off replacing parts on a truck this old. Parts meaning hoses, clamps and collars with new O-rings. Also the fuel pump can leak. I have attached (TSB 97-2-15) the diagnostic guides for the older engines in case you need them tsb97-02-15.pdf

Come to think of it I do not believe the 2004 6.0L has any engine derate strategies in it's calibrations. An overheat condition on a 6.0L will not initiate an engine de-rate condition as far as I know. In fact, those of us that have come across engines that have melted down can confirm that they will run at full power until the engine locks up or loses injection pressure. I have seen three such examples over the years and there are pictures around here of melted oil filter standpipes as examples. This condition can et a P0298 – Engine Oil Over temperature Condition. DTC P0298 will turn on the Check Engine light... the temp gauge will likely be pegged and possibly illuminate the red engine light. The code sets when the oil temperature rises above 100*C / 230*F and sustains for a certain amount for time. (I cant seem to documentation find how long that time is)

Good to hear that you are keeping busy through this. If I was not working I would go out of my mind. Sometimes when I take a week off from work I have had enough rest by the time a week comes to an end and I am itching to get back to work.

Geez matt -what the heck is going on there?

'welcome! The only misbehavior I can report as of now is that if you have the PTS website open and THEN start IDS it freezes. So, before opening my web browser in the morning and logging into FMC Dealer I start IDS. I don't blame WIn 8 or the laptop for that. Seems like a software issue concerning IDS. I am currently using IDS 91.02

I PDI'd one today with the Ecoboost - stripped cargo van with the medium roof option. It boogies along empty, the ride quality was surprisingly decent and the handling is tight for a full sized van. At average height I can stand in the cargo area. The overall design is growing on me but the gray cladding body side panels and bumpier look shitty as does the cheap looking, piecemeal plastic interior trim and dash panel. Really Ford? It's 2014! Mixed impressions on under hood serviceability. From the top it does not look too bad however from below the engine and transmission look encapsulated. Have fun getting to the turbos let alone anything transmission related. Anyone spot the rubber universal joint at the transmission output shaft?

We just took in trade a 2005 F250 6.0L with 97k which has had NOTHING done to this engine ever. Degas bottle was skeeeeeevy had some minor oil leaks and ran okay when warmed up. Cold start it hinted at running rough and was sluggish. I am almost impressed.

I hate it when he does that. Cheers!

It's not made in Turkey so I am guessing not. We actually delivered one today! Still have not put my hands on one yet.