Jim Warman

Here I am working on the "HELLUVA" truck... As you can see, I have borrowed Rexs crank seal installer. Here is the inverted injector test And here it is with the cab removed - for clarity

This all started with a venturi T install... This truck was also up for 08B06 (IIRC). After the tech flashed the truck, he noticed that one of the 4WD lights was flashing. It was soon determined that the truck needed a gearmotor actuator and one was ordered - too late n the day for next day delivery. I can't remember what one of the two codes was - the other was P0500. PIDs showed that all of the plates read open at the same time. The customer was mad, undestandably, the light wasn't flashing before and the damned thing had to fail while we had it - he took the truck, anyway..... and was back the next afternoon with a surge under acceleration and at cruise. 4 codes were in 4X4 module memory - all for the 4WD problem. I soon determined that the surge was because the TCM was commanding a 1 - 3 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 3 shift while accelerating and then a constant 3-5-3-5-3-5-3-5 while cruising at ~50 kph (30ish mph). Remember - no trans codes. Hotline advised that B59 was crap and I had to download B60 and reflash the whole works.... Finally got the update downloaded and into the IDS, and getting past "there is no later reflash for the...." turned into a circle jerk. Finally reflashed the PCM... nothing for the TCM (of course - and no apparent way to get there without the chance of worse things going on). Nothing new for the ICM, either. OK, now it's late, hotline is closed .... it's Miller time.... Next AM, I cleared KAM the hard way (battery disconnect and key on - if that works anymore, I don't know) mand sent an apprentice on a drive looking at OSS and VSS among others. OSS was nice but VSS was a pronounced square wave... Even though the speedo read rock steady, VSS varied by several kph - about 20 or so, IIRC. The gearmotor had come in with the days freight. The apprentice decided to change it when I had him lift the truck to checked connectors and grounds ... still no trans codes to be had. Naturally, with the new gearmotor attached, there was no more flashing 4WD light - thankfully, the apprentice decided to go for another drive.... Problem solved. Two things come to mind.... what would have happened had the decision - yeah, we'll fix that after we cure this shift concern been made? Second, to me this equates to having to fix your toaster because your TV doesn't work. Hotline opined that some sort of feedback or RFI had been set up by the gearmotor... While composing this, I realized we hadn't watched the plate PIDs while driving.... I imagine that they might have been toggling between high and low range which might account for the VSS activity.. Food for thought......

OK... so, I finally got around to getting the VCs off this truck.... Read "reflash gone wrong" to see how most of my days go. With the valve covers off, I put dye in the secondary filter.... started the truck and let it run.... of course it ran like a champ.... no miss - couldn't tell about smoke with the exhaust hooked up.... enough distractions that I didn't think of it, anyway. With no obvious leaks, we start getting a little braver.... With the covers off, we perform the high pressure fuel test... Now is not a good time to be waving your meathooks around the rocker boxes.. but the temptation is ever so great.... Use your black light... If you absolutely feel the need to "feel" for it... use some strips of stiff paper... What you can't see might not be too good for you. Anyway, nothing obvious.... Out with all the glow plugs and spin the motor over - lots.... and lots and lots... six cylinders are blowing mist out of the glow plug holes.... varying amounts from very little (on a cylinder constantly flagged) to HO - LEE PHUQUE on a cylinder known for early damage but rarely if ever flagged on this concern. Tomorrow, the inverted fuel test. Dwayne doesn't like this one and I don't blame him. Done with poor planning or consideration, this test could be life altering.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09082/957619-85.stm A new era is upon us.... Now, this is overkill, kneejerk wierdo cop shit..... But it is, apparently, happening.... It paints all the Rexes in the world with a whole 'nother brush....

Where I first ran across this type of injury was when I was involved with the fire department. I would drill it into the guys about caring for the lines attached to the jaws of life tools..... And these tools run nowhere near the pressures involved in the modern diesel fuel system... Just the thought of running one of these without the valve covers is cause for concern...

Here is a picture of a hydraulic related accident.... NOT for the squeamish http://www.hydraulicsupermarket.com/injury.html

I am told that as little as two quarts overfull on crankcase level can set one of these engines up as the "beginning of the end" - this is due to the design of the crankcase vent system and the fact that these engines run "very high" crankcase pressures. I was told of one truck that was repaired and sent out on the test track... and lasted only two hundred miles. In another case, I had a truck that covered the degas bottle with motor oil. The air filter was wet - I am unsure if crankcase level was overfull. Hotline concurred with my assumption that the crankcase vent likely froze off and the crankcase pressure pumped oil up the dipstick tube... The fix for this truck was an oil change, dye added and an engine shampoo - no further repairs required. In my "Helluva" truck, #1 glow plug came out with the tip almost entirely pure white... no this truck is not losing coolant.

No... it simply means that they they still suck.... but they wont swallow...

Can it be repaired? Or is it going to be serviced as an assembly?

Update.... I finally found some time to return to this heartache... In the few hours that I have had it run, oil level is once again on the rise. It actually ran good this last time other than having too much white smoke when cold. In as much of a rush as I can generate with the way some days go, I removed the four front glow plugs... bear in mind that this engine is at room temp. #1 glow plug has a tip that is nearly pure white.... Cranking the engine 6 firing strokes per cylinder, yielded about 220 PSI for #1, 200 PSI for #2 and #s 3 and 4 at about 280. Rolling the engine to achieve "absolute" compression yielded about 280ish the two low cylinders and 320 on the others... (from comparing to a new unit that was still hand warm when I checked it - I will assume that the 320 PSI cylinders are typical). #2 shows strong misting when the engine is cranked (key off, powering only the starter solenoid at connector C-139). So.... we have established that we do have a base engine concern happening.... however, looking at it realistically, it isn't the cause of our running concern... and it doesn't explain away the differing relative compression results. More on my take on relative compression later.... Hotline has informed me that these engines enjoy high crankcase pressures... but an overfill as little as two quarts can be the "beginning of the end". This engine is into it's third time overfull. Of course, the compression test results do not support or explain the random nature of the misfires or why cylinder #2 is such a big player. Hotline informs me that this concern appears to affect #s 8, 4 and 2.... in that order (memory warning) - so, does that make #1 a different concern, a red herring or a related symptom? And why the white glow plug tip - I don't ever recall seeing that before... So often, we try to read too much into things - relative compression is one of those areas where I feel we try to put lipstick on a pig. If we have a steady miss at idle, performing a relative compression test can HELP us determine if our concern lies inside the cylinder or if we should concentrate our efforts outside the cylinder. Performing a relative compression test on an engine that does not have a steady, easily identified miss at idle can and will lead us astray or even have us misdiagnosing a concern. I have compression pressures that are obviously "off" on at least two cylinders, yet relative compression cannot identify these cylinders with any regularity nor accuracy. Don't get me wrong.... relative compression is a good test... but we need to use it in an appropriate manner... Stay tuned for our next episode... will our hero perservere and find that "magic silver bullet"? Or will he be driven to spend the rest of his days in an engineer induced alcoholic stupor? <Insert advertising jingle here>

Shows how well you listen,too. It was Moses that was three foot and bald... Jesus got hooked on freebasing myrrh and frankinsence and we just lost track of him - and that is why all them televangelist guys with big hair are asking if we found Jesus, yet. And I cried and cried when my pet diplodocus died.

Cylinder #2, no less... that is nearly frightening... You might read "One helluva 6.4 problem" just for shits and giggles. For my money, the relative compression test is useless on this truck... The other day I had some time for it, #2 and (IIRC) #5 were 5% on a relative comp test.... Today, this heartache showed up on my dance card yet again... 7 and 6 were down 1% Another day, one or two other cylinders will complain.... The truck may run like a champ.... or it may run like a bag of crap - at one point it ran on only three cylinders.... It might issue a lot of white smoke... but then it might run perfect.... it may drip what looks like fuel and water from the exhaust (collect a sample and it looks like water with a scum of fuel on top and very yellow/orange in colour). This truck has had 9 fuel injectors in very recent history.... no it isn't up for 09B08. Manual compression test didn't prove or disprove anything in my mind (might I have valve train components that are intermittent problems?) This truck has a new cylinder head on the left side.... When it runs good, it runs good... when it runs bad, #2 will be involved (this is the original bad cylinder - it is home to its third injector in less than 500 clicks). It may have a single, well defined tap at idle that doesn't go away with cylinder kill or it may be as quiet as a pristine engine... or it may be somewhere in between - on all counts. It is still on my dance card for tomorrow (Thursday) AM when I will, once again, call lukewarm line. Stay tuned to DTS for breaking news (partly because I'm still not allowed back on inFord).

Jay.. the very bad thing about some of the broadcast messages is that they never make it to something we can "recall" with an OASIS query. At some point, that will leave us with a situation that will likely involve a charge back or similar...

09-04-07 supercedes 08-04-08 for snow packing in the air cleaner box. In addition to the other tripe, Fpord now is going to have us install the 9C3Z-9C664-A "gasket" into the filter housing. I had our partsmonger orcer in a couple of theses finely crafted errrrmmmmmm.... devices. They defy description. Well, they don't defy description if your name is Dwayne and don't mind sticking your foot in your mouth in front of a (female) service advisor.... go get 'em, Dwayne

2 valve? Kieths original post did say 3 valve.....

I think that this can be a complex subject on both sides of the border.... Here, in Canada, and I am fairly sure that the same will be 'de riguer' in the US, the majors "trade" refinery capacity. For example, in western Canada, Esso petroleum Canada is very strong in all product lines. Husky oil has modest facilities in western Canada and much (but not all) of their mogas and diesel (as well as lube oils) came from Esso Petroleum Canadas Edmonton Facility - Husky has (or at least had) a modest facility at Balzac, Alberta (just north of Calgary) but we would rarely see their product in the northern parts of the province. Bear in mind that my info is old... but i am reasonably sure that it is still somewhat accurate. With a refinery in Taylor BC and another, larger facility on "refinery row" in Edmonton, they process and ship huge volumes of gasoline (mogas), gasoline (avgas), diesel fuel and lubes. Many of these would be Husky (and, I am sure others) branded even though processed on the EPC line. Now... we are all familiar with the "meets or exceeds" label. Unless somebody has you bent firmly over the pump island, you will find that a refinery will usually be more than happy to market a product that "exceeds" a given spec as being a "meets" product if for no other reason that to keep refinery production in the sweet zone... This is to say that a line needs to churn out "X" gallons a day to be profitable.... selling a product to a "competitor" to be marketed as a lesser product to keep a line volume higher is a production manager decision... I wont pretend to know all the ins and outs of the petrochemical business, but the years I spent trying to hustle gasoline and diesel opened my eyes to things that are too obvious for the layman to take into account. There is no gasoline conspiracy, but all these companies are so hopelessly in bed with each other that you can't tell what is the basis for a lot of marketting decisions. FWIW, our area is better off for EPCs involvement with "blanket" sales. Slave Lake is included in the "arctic" environment and, as such, we get P40 diesel fuel beginning in about late Oct/early Nov.... I have been told that P40s "cloud point" is -40 C... Cloud point refers to the temp when diesel fuel "waxes off".... some of you call this "gel point". This another of those hip bone connected to the leg bone connected to the knee bone things that we see ever so often in anything to do with automotives - one of those things that can, sometimes, defy description... Until we remember.... In "On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors", John DeLorean quotes a high level GM exec as saying "General Motors is NOT in the business of making cars... it IS in the business of making money....". and so is Dana, Siemens, Bosch, Visteon, Exxon... Fewer and fewer people possess more and more of the worlds wealth... Perhaps Omni Consumer Products may yet market the SUX2000 in Delta City. Those of us less jaded by the modern age will watch the masses flock to the next "fad".... Jeez... I went off on a tangient, again.... didn't I????

James, I wont think any less of anyone that tries alternative methods in search of the elusive "better way". For my own part... I would sooner disassemble something with finesse (especially with apprentices and/or customers as an audience) than render something asunder using brute force... but that's just me. I don't think anything will be gained by running these plugs out with an air ratchet but it wouldn't be the first time I could be mistaken and it certainly wouldn't be the last... I would think that something that "impacts" one of these plugs out *may* surprise us - only one way to find out. I close my eyes and picture something that delivers very "short" blows to be the thing to consider... But, when the dust settles, I reserve the right to say "I told you so". Me? I'm the fussy old fart they like people to watch....

Hey Chris.... how's it going?

With the world busy licking it's wounds from the current recession, will we see consumers flocking to purchase diesel powered vehicles when the engine option can add five or 10 K over the price of a similar, gas powered vehicle. Some of our customers that had traditionally purchased diesels in the past are switching to the V10... will this engine ever see direct gasoline injection a la ecoboost? Let's not forget the operating losses incurred by the throttle plate on a gas engine facing off with the improved efficiency of the diesel and the higher BTU rating of diesel fuel. Can urea injection be ported to the gas engine? Can urea injection be technologies answer the will allow the engine designers to raise combustion temps (high compression, whatever)and regain some of the power lost to emissions control? Can bio-diesel be feasable in regions that see -40 degree temps? Will urea injection be a problem (I understand that freezing is a concern) if a unit needs to be stored for any length of time? If I park out back at work, will I have a 100 pound block of frozen piss to contend with after a hard day in the "office"? Even if we never see either one of these diesel engines - the future is still going to be a most interesting place.

I made a reply... I changed my mind.... That reply is gone. Miss Warman?

Reversed flow intake...... The turbo is placed in the engine valley and the exhaust gasses are retreived from the top ports.... sent directly to the turbocharger where pressure drop across the turbine stage is maximized. It is felt that this arrangement improves turbocharger response (think of the turbocharger as a "heat pump"). Don't forget that, when dealing with forced induction, intake manifold runners become less of a consideration.. more-so with a diesel - we are not worried about the "shape" of the intake mixture.... direct gasoline injection will most likely prove this theory. HTH

Chris... at one point in time I recall either a TSB or SSM regarding balancing wheels on E-box. It had to do with the design of the wheel (specifically the centre hole) no sitting properly on some wheel balancers... Check to see if this may or may not be the case for you. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the vibration? Tooth jarring or "There, did you feel that?". And I assume that you've checked for runout with the wheels on the van? And I also assume that the vibration isn't FEAD belt or engine accessory related... Rechack your trans mount bolts for correct torque.... I kown all the ambulances I've seen have a habit of trying to shuck the trans mount bolts. And, just for shits and giggles, check the extension housing bolts.... the last one I saw with a concern there was a 460/C6 combo in a late 70s crew cab - but a LOT of money was spent by a LOT of shops looking for untorqued bolts. There is also a procedure in the NVH section of the WSM for "normalizing" the engine/trans mounts. Without the use of an EVA or cirometer, you can still train your pants-o-meter to get a feel for what would be a first order driveshaft vibration. On a known good unit, you can induce a vibration using a couple of worm gear hose clamps. Depending on tire size and rear gear ration, this would give you the feel of a vibration in the 2~3KHz range at highway speed (a *simple* wheel/tire imbalance would be in the 500~700Hz range). When you get old, you can rate the frequency of a vibration by how long it takes before it makes you want to pull over and take a pee. Whatever you do, do not blind yourself to the possibility that this was a pre-existing condition... there isn't a day goes by that the last guy to touch the POS isn't guilty for every "new" concern. And, if worse comes to worse, you can always ship it to Canton where highly trained personnell will fix it for you.... have the customer take his title and all sets of keys.... Wow, was that uncalled for

Jimbo, I am sorry that you have had to consider this leap sideways in your career... but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.. Just one unasked for word of advice..... way back in the 70s, I had a Mack R700 and tried a year at long haul driving.... Do NOT lose your roots... Good luck, man...

OOOOOoooooooooo!!!!! You are a nasty boy.... I would like to buy you dinner... and I promise not to molest you....

Anything off a truck is getting about as spendy as you're ever going to want. I bought a cheap MAC box because I couldn't see buying a toolbox that cost more than my scooter... At some point in time, we need to let a little reality seep through and realize that our coin of the realm is better left in OUR jeans that placed in the tool mongers coffers. Thr tool monger... this is the guy that can still afford diesel fuel... he is busy wintering in Cancun while you are patiently waiting for him to warranty something that shouldn't have broken to begin with. There will come a day when you youngsters will suddenly realize that all these pretty things are not warranteed against wearing out.... Like a three week old puppy, you will suddenly realize that your eyes are open... and a half dozen 5 gallon pails will start to look like a reasonable storage system... I know folks that paid less for their houses than some guys paid for their tool boxes.... And, FWIW.... real tool boxes are red...