Jim Warman

Here, in Canada at least, the warranty buffoons have been displaying their own personal brand of lunacy yet again. Effective some time nest year, some 6.0 items will drop off the prior approval required list - head gaskets and injectors are two that I remember.... however, FICMs and FICMs on the half shell will require prior approval. For my taste, this sounds like a day late and a dollar short... but WTF do I know? To the warranty juggalos... I can only say -

Here you go....

... who is a brand new grandpa!!!!

Warranty monkeys? What do they have to do with technical publications?

Jeez... I wish I had written that... a very good read...

Oh my God! A volt drop test is one of THE most generic tests there is... Back in the day.. way back before current limiting circuits, ignition coils and starter solenoids were 9 volt devices.... built this way for what should be obvious reasons. Most of the other devices you will encounter on a car or truck will be designed around something closer to 14.5 volts rather than 12. Having said that.... a device will only operate properly if an adequate voltage drop is experienced across the device... Let's try and simplify it... Your system voltage, if the truck is running, should be about 14.5 volts... If it isn't running, it should be (by Fords reckoning) at least 11.5 volts. If you are sane and allowed to vote, 12.6 is wiser and a fully charged 12 volt battery would likely read in the 13.2~13.6 volt range. Now is not the time to get bogged down in tenths of a volt.... However.... and this is where it gets real generic.... in an ideal circuit, you will have about one half volt drop across the positive side of the circuit and similar across the ground side.... The first thing to remember is that you are measuring this shit because there is a problem. Now, here is where I get insulting.... The WSM "assumes " that you are a technician and that, as a technician, you possess the basic skills and knowledge that we assume a technician has.... All that not-with-standing, the fact of the matter is that there is no "special tools, with specific load ratings, based on the (size of) the circuit being tested". With some minor exceptions, it doesn't matter if the circuit flows 2 amps or 20 amps or even 200 amps.... if you aren't dropping near system voltage... SYSTEM VOLTAGE at the load or device, you may have a concern. And, for some reason, you are measuring this. In all truth, I did not expect some of these responses to something as simple as the concept of a volt drop test and I see this as an indication that it is time for some intensive familiarization.... At this juncture, I see too many techs lacking a clear idea of what a proper volt drop test is.... and what volt drop readings are telling them... FWIW, a properly performed volt drop test will never lie to you.... Your method will have you replace the module and then repair the circuit.... Fuck... I wish I was young again... back then, I knew everything.

Well.... a few suggestions and thoughts.... This new breed of diesel is, by my myopic reckoning, bringing a whole new level of self diagnostics... Still no VGT position sensor, but some interesting looking stuff. Diag sheets? Well, with OASIS Quick Start and interactive diagnostics..... why would we need diag sheets.... And the push towards technician competency... Resistance is futile... you will be assimilated... I hope I'm wrong... but I don't see diag sheets coming soon unless the psychoanalysts were wrong... and I do see where "run of the mill" techs will be swallowed up in this new grand scheme of things... leaving the innovative techs to flounder and then pass from the system. Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean I'm not being followed.

And the devils advocate steps up to the podium.... It isn't confidence that breeds mistakes... getting in a rush makes mistakes - I'm sorry that Ford pays only .3 for a task that takes .5. If you aren't about to perform the task correctly -don't bother... Inattention to detail makes mistakes.... using an impact inappropriately, failing to use a torque wrench when using a torque wrench is wise... changing oil and not verifying the correct level with the dipstick. Interruptions makes mistakes... allowing your attention to be diverted in mid task can leave untorqued fasteners in it's wake. Each and every one of us is more than likely guilty - some of our oversights are pifling in the grand scheme of things... some have far reaching consequences. You need to be confident in your abilities to perform the tasks set before you... to be confident in your skills and to be confident in your attention to details. "Do or do not - there is no try"...

Indeed, Kieth... Labour Op 14200A45 (Wiring repair - Diagnostic PinPoint test) pays a proncely sum of 0.3.... Now... we can fart around doing all manner of goofy shit - or we can take our DMM to the nonfunctioning load and bing-bang-boom, in a matter of seconds (plus additional time for component access), we can decide if we have a pooched load (or device) or if we are chasing a power side fault or a ground fault. We can get on with the business of earning money as we gain access to and inspect connectors, wiring harness and other such mundane tasks... More importantly, should the customer be a retail customer, you can save him money (and impress him enough to insist that YOU do ALL his work) by minimizing wasted time, needless parts replacement and even complete an electrical repair so that you can move onto the brakes and balljoints you might be able to sell. Almost any fiddle player can play a fiddle in the orchestra - only one of them will be chosen as the lead violinist. Side benefit... it makes it look like you know what you're doing..... customers like that for some reason.

If you find a source for parts, let me know... "Back in the day" we could even buy the individual balls for the recirculating ball nut. I don't see many current steering gears leaking but I see far too many with excess play in the lower sector shaft bushing. However... if your only problem is the sector shaft seal, you should be able to replace that with the steering box "in situ".

Unless you are testing a charging system output, starter draw or parasitic draw, amperage isn't a very good method for diagnosing circuit concerns (certainly, current ramping a device on a lab scope is a viable diagnostic aid for driveability concerns) involving non-functioning loads. Indeed, there is always a chance that a circuit fault could have a circuit drawing design current flow yet leave you with a device that isn't performing as it should. If you have a lamp that doesn't light or an electric motor that doesn't motor, hooking up a ammeter isn't going to tell much other than you have no current flow (if there was, the lamp would light or the motor would motor - at least a bit). Remember, in a series circuit current flow is equal throughout the entire circuit - total voltage drop in a circuit is the sum of all voltage drops in the circuit - and volt drop will be different depending on where it is measured. This is one of Kirschoffs fundamental laws. We can use our voltmeter to find "unintended" or "unauthorized" volt drops that will have us with a weak or slow turning motor or a dim lamp. Volt drop testing is so painfully simple, amazingly accurate yet vastly underused as a diagnostic method....

That's the deal, Greg.... a volt drop test is a volt drop test... Whether the circuit is designed to flow one amp or 100 amps - you wont want to see much more than about a half volt drop on a power side circuit or a ground circuit. The idea is to have adequate volt drop across you load or device. If you have unintended resistances in the circuit, current flow will be limited... and there will be insufficient voltage to ensure the operation of the device. Sadly, the way most of us have been "doing it" is neither efficient nor correct... load testing a circuit is better than open circuit volt testing but far too often we test the circuit with a load that doesn't replicate the true operating conditions.

I can't speak for other engines, but I came across this on PTS...

Something our Edmonton instructor re-affirmed for me. When using PPTs, we need to look at what the terst is asking us to prove or test... and then use the best test for the task. Using one of these.... and a DMM, you can determine if the problem is the load (or device being driven), the power supply of the ground with 3 volt drop readings. Two things most techs will overlook... you absolutely need to measure battery voltage before you begin volt drop testing - if you don't know what voltage your system is experiencing, what are you measuring... (I always recommend either a fully charged booster pack or a "clean" battery charger be used and, if diagnosis is taking a while, recheck your system voltage - modules do wonky things when system voltage approachs 9 volts). And all of your readings need to be made "at the battery" if you need either a "ggod ground" or "good B+". The thing that still makes me shake my head.... it is just as easy for a PPT to describe an appropriate test as an inappropriate test... yet they choose to send us down a bad path.

Have you checked oil pressure? Anything below 25 PSI @ idle is probably going to be too low... Did you inspect the bonded gaskets on the chain tensioners? These can be a source of oil pressure loss through internal leakage. IIRC, chain tensioners have been updated with better bonded gaskets. Next to the VCT solenoid in the head, you will notice an oil gallery plug... if you remove that you will find a screen-make sure it has no debris. HTH.

Yes.. I thought it quite remarkable that Ford didn't have us test open circuit voltage and ground integrity with an ohmmeter. (Let's remember that the last step of nearly every pinpoint test is "replace the module" and Fords 'traditional' power and ground test almost assures needless replacement). As for the lack of understanding or confusion over one of the easiest electrical tests known to man (the volt drop test), I can only shake my head in wonder and continue to try and teach the young'uns. I mean... Kirschoffs principles are pretty much constant and unchanging, right? Musicians spend their own "personal" time practicing their instruments.... racers spend their own "personal" time improving their knowledge and reactions.... pilots - same deal... Techs? After work most of them go drink beer. With a few bits of wire, an old battery, an electric motor and a couple of lamps, they could build some practice circuits and introduce bugs to see what their DMM would read. FWIW... something else I missed in the BCM - "IF THIS CODE SETS AFTER REFLASH, RECOMMEND STARTING THE TRUCK AND ALLOWING IT TO RUN TO GET THE CHARGING SYSTEM REPLENISHED". Most aftermarket alternator rebuilders will admonish us that the alternator is not a battery charger and that we should use a battery charger when necessary rather than have the alternator do the work... Hey - I'm just repeating what I have seen. If we don't use the battery charger, it may become necessary for the SA to look a customer in the face and say "we will bring your expertly repaired truck to the front as soon as we jump start it... and please don't shut it of for a couple of hours".

In Canada we call it Rememberance Day... some of the remaining old timers might even still call it Armistice Day. Whatever we choose to call it, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is a time we should all stop and consider the sacrifices made by so many and the folly of war.

I wasn't sure where to post this.... <2580 - 2011 F-SUPER DUTY 6.7L DIESEL ENGINE, MIL ON WITH DTC P0884 SOME 2011 F-SUPER DUTY VEHICLES EQUIPPED W/ 6.7L DIESEL ENGINE AND 6R140 TRANS MAY EXHIBIT A MIL ON WITH DTC P0884 SETTING IN TCM AFTER A REFLASH. THE CODE INDICATES THAT AT SOME POINT, VOLTAGE TO TCM WAS LOW WHILE TCM WAS IN OPERATION. THIS COULD HAPPEN DURING THE REFLASH IF VEHICLE WAS NOT ON A BATTERY CHARGER. IF THIS CODE SETS AFTER REFLASH, RECOMMEND STARTING THE TRUCK AND ALLOWING IT TO RUN TO GET THE CHARGING SYSTEM REPLENISHED, CLEAR THE CODE AND THEN SEE IF IT RESETS. IF IT DOES RESET, LOAD TEST POWER AND GROUND CIRCUITS TO TCM. IF THE POWER AND GROUND CIRCUITS ARE OK, INSPECT TCM. IF A POWER OR GROUND CIRCUIT CONCERN IS IDENTIFIED BY LOAD TEST, REPAIR CIRCUIT IN QUESTION AND RE EVALUATE. IF THE CODE DOES NOT RESET, NO FURTHER DIAG OR REPAIR IS NEEDED. REFER TO WSM SECTION 307-01B FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. > Is Ford finally getting wise to the proper way to test circuitry? Will they, some day, instruct the tech to perform a volt drop test correctly?

This sounds like a variation on the adiabatic engine... something that the late, great Smokey Yunick was working on back in the late 70s and early 80s. Also called a "hot vapour" engine, the air fuel ratio was something over 20:1. Technology and metallurgy at the time was the engines biggest downfall. Fuel was introduced "upstream" and passed through a turbocharger - not to compress the mixture but to "homogenize" it. Intake, combustion and exhaust temps were high making things difficult with the technology available back then. Imagine something like this running on bio-fuel.... IIRC, there was a chapter or two devoted to this engine in "Smokeys Power Secrets". I'm pretty sure I have a dog-eared copy of it around here somewhere, but I believe the book is still available through Amazon or such. IIRC #2, Smokey was a key player in developing the big block Chevy engine (396/402 in the beginning) back when factory involvement in NASCAR was nearly ata fever pitch and I believe there were some interesting stories about that in the volume as well.

Kieth, Ford isn't paying for anyone to weld the cage nuts, either... the question is still facetious. I'm not going to argue the fact that welding the cage nut accomplishes what is needed... albeit in a manner the engineers haven't suggested nor condoned... but I think we owe it to the customer to squirt something on the bare metal - especially if we live in the rust belt. From a different angle... Ford isn't allowing a whole bunch of time for labour ops, anyway. So... are we going to perform substandard work because that's all that Ford is paying for? Or are we going to say "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right". Maybe we could start a class action lawsuit to try and force Ford into realistic labour times? Wow.. talk about facetious questions.....

Rich has given some valuable input that opens up a lot more discussion... especially in consideration of the thread on TPMS.... and even more discussion when we consider truck classification vs horsepressure. Food for thought.... here in God's country, let us say thatyou have a SRW F350.... Let us say that you use this F350 for only personal use.... Let us say that you also have an acreage and haul water for your cistern.. Just for the sake of argument, let's opine that you have found a 500 gallon water tank that fits in your pick up bed. That makes for about 400 pounds of water tank... and about 5000 pounds of water. As a commercial vehicle, the SRW F350 cannot haul a 5400 pound "in the box" payload legally. A personal use F350 can haul as much as he wants - up until it makes him crash into something. Sidebar... Ford (or anyone) "assuming" that the pickup box will not be removed and something else installed in it's place is an absolute idiot. In the grand scheme of things, we have overwhelmed the businessman with laws and conditions (most of them fairly reasonable in consideration of public safety) yet allow private individuals (meaning those not being paid in any traceable manner) to lade their vehicles in an unsafe manner as long as nobody gets hurt.... Look for a tire thread....

HVBoM any help?

What irks me the most.... Being able to adjust alert pressures downwards has been one of those things some customers (indeed, looking at the tire pressure settings on most customers trucks) have been requesting. Ford has fulfilled that dream for these people... and we are going to look bad for it. We can refuse to adjust the setting (Ford looks good - we look like assholes).... or we can throw them some breadcrumbs and adjust the alert pressure downward. How far down can we go? How far should we go? A tire that is under-inflated by 25% (the TREAD Acts magic number) is, by accepted industry standards, considered to be "grossly under-inflated". Airing down the back tires on an empty F350 is one thing... but will an owner air the tires back up when he slides under his trailer? Wanna buy some prime Florida real estate? or maybe a bridge? This is a complex situation.... made even more complex with this new ability. We will be forced to act like prostitutes so that we can stay alive in a town full of prostitutes.

You have to be shitting me!?!?!?! You can change the alert pressures for 2011? After the thing with the Explorer, Ford is going to help us hang them? And we are going to help Ford help us hang ourselves? Wait... I'm starting to get a headache... So... after all that, I can rest assured that I will be following people on my morning drive to work and these people will have at least one low tire (most of the people I know don't know if the right side of their car is still there - they never look at it). Accepted industry standards agree that a tire that is as little as 25% under-inflated is "grossly" underinflated. I see P rated tires on F350s.... I see TR400 valve stems on F350s.... I see "techs" rattle on a wheel nut for 2 or 3 seconds and then they pretend to torque it. (That kind of crap makes me look fondly at torque sticks). we have a preponderance of "techs" that will either bend a customer over the service counter screaming "ride 'im, cowboy" (obviously a reference to "Brokeback Repairbay - the sequel") or be heard uttering phrases like "you want me to spit swallow or gargle? You are gonna be one lucky sailor". Just because someone is willing to do something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do... And now this.... What fucking good is a safety device, if lay-people are allowed to control the parameters? Especially given the fact that most people will not have something fixed until the truck wont move any more.... (Did I mention the half ton I have.... been making a noise from the front of the engine for a while... customer was waiting for the concern to cure itself... it did... the noise went away... but the FEAD belt came off and now the power steering don't work.... never mind that oil leak from the hole in the front cover). Why... oh, why???? Why would they give the keys to the henhouse to the fox?

It would be interesting to use OASIS Quick Start with a programmer equipped 6.7. As for being "emissions legal"... wouldn't the EPA and/or CARB have to be involved in the decision?