Jim Warman

Four times a year, I get red service DVDs... (once they turn to yellow - guard them with your life because that will be very likely the last iteration of that disc..... we are missing one yellow disc covering one year only - and they only want $3500 for it). Anyway, I religiously load the DVDs for those times when "the internet goes down". If one of my guys comes to me and says he can't access a service manual - I will kick him in the ass - and then show him stuff that he should already know. IF your shop is receiving the discs and "someone" is sitting on them, "that someone" should be shot with a ball of his own shit, set on fire and removed from your Xmas card list. FWIW... there is always the chance that a technique or procedure may be altered after something has been in the field for any length of time. The mothership openly and often states that we are to access the online manuals as they are the most up to date source of documentation available. In the event that they are not available, we go to the "next newest" source. If we follow this credo, we can always state that we "followed the latest specifications and procedures available to us at the time". FWIW... manuals are made by people that make manuals.... not by people that work on trucks.

Currently reading Tom Clancy's "Shadow Warriors"... also flipping through Sir Harry Ricardos "The High Speed Internal Combustion Engine"... Yeah, it was written in the 30s but there's some good stuff in there. Product knowledge is important for a healthy career so I like to thumb through "Description and Operation" sections in the WSMs. One "hobby" is surfing automotive history sites.

The check valves were installed to reduce fuel pressure fluctuations. Not being an engineer, and not having tested the efficacy of this claim... what can I say? "Back in the day", it was common for owners of small block Chev engines to flip their air cleaner lids upside down. The sound when the carburettor secondary bores opened was impressive and owners would equate this with more horsepower. For my own self... there are times when my truck can get extra special dirty. Sometimes, it can be a while before I get the opportunity to clean it. Once I do clean it, it always seems to run better/quieter/smoother. Perception is a powerful force. Look at some of the other stuff that "they" do.. the zoodad mod for one. Perpetrators often claim improvements.... Just by drilling holes in an air cleaner... sometimes in the wrong part of the air cleaner. For Joe Average... I think most of this stuff is over rated.

What I am saying.. if you want to call something a control group... it has to be a CONTROL group... pissy mood aside, scientific evaluation must be done scientifically if it is to mean something. Your control group would be nothing better than "anecdotal". I've seen O-ring failures before the advent of ULSD fuel... after the introduction of this fuel, the incidence of O-ring failures seemed to increase... Was this because of the age of the O-rings... or because of the fuel? I have absolutely nothing that will sway the proof one way or the other. Without proof, the best thing I can say will be prefaced with "I think....". For your consideration... using the internet, I see that the coldest it "usually" gets in Grenada is over 75F. One would expect that the coolant temp in a properly functioning system shouldn't exceed 240F in this locale... A 165F difference. In Slave Lake, we have at least a few days every year of -40F and, in the hottest days, towing a trailer, one might expect to see coolant temps on the order of 220F (our hottest days resemble Grenadas coolest days..) a range of 260F. This extra 100 degrees is more than likely going to have some kind of affect on many underhood items. Cast aspersions on me all you want (I'm a "ginger" too, wanna use that?) citing Grenada as a control group is flawed thinking... Bottom line.. you have no proof that ULSD is the cause of these failures. I have no proof that it isn't. DUHHH!!!

Bruce, I wish I could share your optimism... but these problems are coming at a time that isn't really 'convenient' (there's a better word but I have writers block-head). Customer confidence in the product can be easily disturbed... especially given the sticker price of modern autos. In the "what's in your bay" thread, there are a couple of problem children I neglected to include - something I'll fix when I get the time, I hope.... One includes a customer with a 2011 F350 - his first Ford in 25 years. Mechanically, we are in the cat-bird seat.... but time and again we prove that the "software" is a step and a half beyond the capabilities of the hardware. I fondly recall "pilot injection" on the 6.0. The plunge from 6 volt systems to 12 volt systems was a major breakthrough. Then came transistor radios, alternators, CD ignition and then electronic ignition... Today, the modern automobile is much like the computer on your desk... by the time you get it unwrapped, it is obsolete. A smooth launch would be trouble free.... customers don't give a rats ass if the problem is software, hardware or technician driven... My customer is having trouble with a Ford... only a Ford... and, to him, this makes a Dodge, a Chev or any other possibility a viable choice. I like being busy.. that means it is up to me (and my fellow inmates) to keep Ford customers in a Ford and to attract "brand X" purchasers to the fold. Yes, the 6.7 launch has been "smoother"... It's a lot like being only a little bit pregnant... right?

If you run OASIS using P164A as a concern code, you will find an SSM dated March 25... sorry, can't remember the number... Don't know about you guys, but telling the customer "maybe next week" is starting to get old. First on the 4X4 concern and also on the NOx sensor shit... This "great" product launch is starting to run out of steam...

Well I certainly could have gone for a broader or older demographic... but the last of the 7.3s you will to see in a Ford pickup or van would be approaching 10 years of age... We can mince words all you want... As for Grenada being a control group... yes, I can see where the climate in Grenada mirrors the climate in Slave Lake... I may be mistaken but a "control group" is that group which experiences identical conditions as the target group except for the ONE thing we are trying to measure. And one thing you have negelected... "zero fuel system failures YET". FWIW, I have seen a LOT of right side fuel lines rub through on the clamp that holds the line to the cylinder head at the back of the air box. We aren't going to suggest that these are from ULSD fuel, are we.... (Kieth, "air box" is a term I picked up from Detroit Diesel two strokes - intake manifold doesn't seem like an adequate term... hence....) Shit happens... and then we move on. Old parts wear out... old rubber becomes brittle.... (Maybe we should start dumping a couple of quarts of type F in the fuel tank like Grandad did?) FWIW... if ULSD WAS the reason for these O-ring failures.... and all of these O-rings are made from the same kind of rubber - would we not expect ALL of the O-rings to fail?

How about an Edge w/ MyFordTouch and every other electronic nightmare novelty and a 6.7 that has all the power in the world until you hook a trailer to it. Let's not forget the 6.0 with DieselCare and it really should get 8 injectors. The impossible merely takes a little longer....

Ever since I got the internet in my house, I find myself getting older much faster than I used to.... Think about it this way... Before ULSD fuel, the rubber parts in a 7.3 fuel system were only a little bit old. Then they brought out ULSD fuel and these same parts got older...and SOME of them even started to leak. Without a "control" group, I find it hard to blame the fuel. This knee-jerk reaction is hardly scientific and certainly not worthy of any manner of professional verification without substantive proof. By professional, I mean you and me, boys and girls. We have no business being in the practice of unsubstantiated assumptions. At this point in time, most 7.3 PSDs are approaching 10 years of age. I would suggest that having 10 year old rubber goods fail for no other reason than old fucking age isn't much of a stretch of the imagination.

Caution, memory thing happening - for '02 I think the only concern you'll have in transposing PCMS is whether the truck is a stick or auto.... FWIW, sorry to hear about the Taurus.... my Gawd!!!! Does nobbody have any pride??? I used to drive a Yugo but it got stolen and now I drive a Trabant....

We get about 2 or 3 a year.... the usual customer complaint? Power steering quit...

You need both kits. The 328-00008 test kit contains 10 of the reserve alkalinity test strips and 10 of the corrosion inhibitor test strips.....

"Old speak" maybe? There'll always be one that you haven't heard yet... I could use 'gudgeon pin' just for the sake of using 'gudgeon pin'. Crankshafts used rope packing instead of seals.... we'd call it a propeller shaft.. release bearings could be throw-out bearings... Some of these terms may be obscure to some folks (depends on if you've lived a sheltered life or not, I guess )yet common place to others? I guess one mans creamed chipped beef on toast is another mans shit on a shingle.... Besides... I might actually keep some of you on your toes....

Welllllll, push tube ain't so Canajun nor is it so Grampy Jim-ish.... A reference to a Cummins service tool "Specifications: 3375522 Cummins Service Tool: Injection Timing Tool. (3375522) The tools is required to determine the relationship of injector push tube travel to piston travel so that fuel injection occurs at proper time." From an advertising brochure extolling the virtues of the DDEC engine "The overhead cam allows for direct actuation of the fuel injectors without push rods or push tubes. The result is high fuel injection pressure and better fuel economy." From the manual for installing the TECbrake on a 3406 "4. Insert the rocker adjusting screws into the push tube ends." And from the manual for installing a PACbrake on a Cummins "Check that the bottom end of each push tube is seated in the cup of the cam follower.' What's in a name? Back in ancient times, a "push rod" was a push rod - solid with no hole up the middle. Then manufacturers discovered they could make a sronger piece without adding weight by making them tubular... Called "push tubes" by some and "push rod tubes" by others, some die hard old timers could not give up the name "push rod". Still later, manufacturers discovered they could make these hollow push rod tubes part of the oil delivery system and used them to transport oil to the - hmmmm, I'm not sure if we should call it a "valve cover", a "rocker arm cover" or a "rocker box"... Younger people hear these misnomers and mispronunciations and keep the old flames (if not burning, then at least) smouldering. (Nothing new here... it's Wenzday here in Alberda and in May I should be going back to Emmonon - prolly have a sammich for lunch.... but I'm sure you get the picture). Somehow I got used to using the term "push tube" for those pieces that are part of the oil delivery system and "push rod" for those that aren't. It's been about 50 years since the last automotive automatic transmission was manufactured that had a rear fluid pump in it. Most of the techs I know have never even seen a transmission with a rear pump in it... yet everyone (even me when I get caught up in the giddyness) feels the need to call the transmission fluid pump a "front pump". Bill.... the 6.0 certainly did have problems with "growing oil". T'would be early aught three and leaking injectors were all too common. At one point we were making bets on how much "oil" we would drain out of a motor.

I see this TSB is no more....

As I understand some of the legal mumbo-jumbo, the first consideration might be the calibration as part of the vehicle reliability package. Most recalibrations are, at least in part, designed to reduce the number of "nuisance alarms" - codes and MILs that occur because a 'tolerance' is too tight... They might include changes to the number of excursions outside operating parameters that a reading is allowed per key cycle or perhaps the number of consecutive key cycles the fault has to occur in to set. Part of the recal might be in regards to the emissions control system itself... Scheduling or denying output events under some operating conditions (like the denial of EGR function at idle on a 6.0 or the denial of EGR action during PTO operations where the motor actually becomes a stationary powerplant rather than a motor vehicle) in order to improve the reliability or function of an output device. In many areas, AFAIK, emissions testing consists of a visual and a code scan. A later recal should reduce the possibility of a nuisance code from affecting the emissions testing of any particular vehicle. While all this only covers "factory" tunes, many will be surprised to learn that several aftermarket products either have CARB approval or have CARB approval pending. Where things might get a wee bit sticky.... from what I have found (and I haven't been trying that hard), CARB approvals come from the affected devices being tested on engines that are most likely very close to stock to begin with (including functioning EGR system, functioning DPF systems and so on, where applicable). At the same time, just because CARB feels that a device is clean enough to use on the street, it does not automatically follow that it will not have the opportunity to affect the service life of a vehicle or subassembly... and, engineers being engineers ( and enjoying varying stages of employment and employability ), I don't see anyone signing off on a strangers program.... And that opens the door for some food for thought..... What are the chances that the guy writing the fuel curves for Ford is the same guy writing the fuel curves for Edge or whomever in some cases (No offence intended to any of our august contributors... some might even know where part of the germ of that idea came from....). Now, to answer Kieths question. Many repair strategies include, as a very early step, reflash to the latest calibration. Now, the guy either wants his truck fixed - or he doesn't. If they tell me to reflash a truck before I change parts and I don't, it might get branded as an ineffective repair. I don't think that this is a real good place to be. Still more reflashes come in the form of a FSA. Ford can insist that warranty coverage expired when the customedid not have his module(s) reflashed when he was advised. Nitpicky? You bet.... In this litigious world we live in, you can get sued for about anything the plaintiff can generate sympathy for.... and if a jury is involved.... when was the last time some hack worked on his or her car and left grease on the door handle or the radio on the wrong station or the seat in the wrong position or.....

I think there's been a few pinion bearings change up... 8.8 aluminum is one I recall. That's not too bad as long as you don't try to mix cups and cones. Using the wrong pinion nut with the wrong crush sleeve is going to be way too easy to do - come pinion seal time. FWIW, I have no idea how critical the nuts are - but I dont want to find out the expensive way.

Helloooooo.... Rex, is that you???

Over the years, I've come across the odd piston cooling jet laying in the bottom of a 7.3 oil pan... truth be known, when changing oil on one of these, the smart money will be on rapping the bottom of the pan with a rubber mallet and listening for the tell tale sound of something bouncing on the pan floor... As for what causes the cooling jet to change locations... I think "shit happens" about sums it up.... if your piston is hitting the jet - you have a lot more problems than you needed and it might be time to start checking for a bent rod. As for how necessary the jet is... if the truck is idling or being driven lightly, you don't even need the piston cooling effect... Start driving hard and getting the combustion chamber temps up - say, when towing a trailer or heavily loaded - the need for the extra cooling increases...

The 6.2 looks very interesting with the valve covers off. The valve springs are huge compared to everything else we've seen over the last years... And the rocker arms are equally large castings.

Some of you might not be aware that there has been a change in the pinion nut/crush sleeve for the 10.5 Ford rear diff. The new crush sleeve is the same as the F150 crush sleeve and (according to documentation) requires the use of a pinion nut with a white backing rather than blue. This new crush sleeve appears to crush very easily (and quickly) - I overcrushed my first sleeve in a long, long time. I'm assuming that you could use the old nut/crush sleeve part numbers on a new pinion.

Maybe I should have worded that a bit different... they asked for the compression test AFTER the relative compression/catalytic converter findings but before the broken camshaft finding - all the same... still pretty funny. Afterthought... no misfire codes but it did have a CMP code of some sort.

Well, we've seen our first serious 6.2 failure... The bank 1 cam is broken under the #1 journal cap... Truck barely runs, pops into the intake, relative compression absolutely hates 1, 2, 3 and 4. The tech uncorked the exhaust to see if he had a plugged converter (at 5500 kms)and noticed that bank 1 converter is stone cold while bank 2 converter is hot... Hotline asked for a mechanical compression test to see if the concern was "bank specific".... Oddly, VCT_ADV and VCT_ADV2 both read 0 degrees.

For those times that you feel Ford has dropped the ball, have you reported the concern through SPECs?

We are forever faced with judgement calls.... and the way we present them - and the way the customer takes them - can have a great influence on how an inter-action is going to go... Let's begin with a customer that is a little shy about going to a dealer to begin with... I can't say for where anyone else lives, but here in Gods country, a dealer is $20 to $40 an hour more than an independant shop.... (spare me the "training" aspect... joe customer doesn't know squat about that BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T TAUGHT HIM ). This guy has had a couple of bad experiences in the past and isn't surprised that his latest visit is a mirror of whatever. I would think that, at this point, the whole purpose of his dealer visit was to "prove a point" should be an obvious conclusion. Anyway... Let's consider the term "partially fixed". We are assuming a customer has a deep pocket. After all - when we do a warranty repair, we are blessed with the opportunity to replace any and all suspect parts (as long as we have prior approval). The manual says "remove this bolt and discard it".... and we tell the customer that "this bolt" costs $30 some. Fuck.. let's put ourselves in the customers shoes for a bit... A dealer estimate will usually come in at "it's my way or the highway".... An independant shop will usually come in with a "good - better - best" estimate.... Good will get you back on the road.... better will give you some small assurance of extra time to save some coin for either further repairs or a down payment... and best will be something you should be able to count on for continued use of this vehicle. For some reason, dealer techs can forget that they are dealing with somebody just like them.... present them with a mega dollar bill and the situation undergoes a drastic change. Now... this customer is a little arrogant????? I get the feeling he embarked on this project for a reason that most of us wouldn't like.... The missing bolt is bad enough.... the VC bolt at the very back isn't the stock bolt - not a big deal on a 7.3 (other than why is the bolt like it is) but might cause concern if the head was say 12mm or what-have-you. The dipstick tube? This ain't no small deal.... It is all about customer perception... the sooner we realize that we are here for the customer... the sooner we see that the customer isn't here for us... the better things will be. This trade has adopted a defensive posture. We defend the right to do shitty work... when we are pressed hard, we defend that right by saying "we don't get paid enough" (extrapolating that, it turns into "we don't get paid enough to do it right" but that's a different story) This guy set out to make a point... and the dealer named in the story helped him in spades. This isn't the time to get defensive and try to justify what can only be called "malpractice". This is the time to speak out and drum inadequate people out of this business so that those with a real desire and the skills to perform repairs are properly remunerated.... Every last one of us should feel revolted that some "tech" somewhere has set us up for this kind of embarassment.