DamageINC

I just got my long block in for this ambulance in a previous post. During the disassembly (to actually fit the new engine in) I pulled the oil pan and pickup. After the engine was 'in' the chassis, I went back to grab the oil pan and pickup and was startled to see something protruding through what little oil was in the pan. I reach in and pull out a bolt about an inch long with a 3/8" hex head on it. I have NO clue where this bolt goes, where it came from, I've never seen anything resembling it on a 6.0. All I know is that it was just floating around in this pan from the day it left the factory. If this engine had gone into a truck, it likely never would have been found until it was too late. Dave

Lol don't you worry Tony - we just got another 6.0 truck in that looks like it's gonna need an engine of some sort. This is gonna get real interesting, and I'm sure Mark & Nick will be GLAAAAD to fill you in on it all. Dave

Thanks, I'll poke around in that area tomorrow and see what I find! Dave

I remember hearing a lot of horror stories about how some 6.0 re-man's were having problems with the crank sensor tone ring being all botched up right out of the crate. This was shortly after I long-block'd a school bus back in May. That bus came in today complaining of intermittent running rough, I can't verify it but it has a P0336, P0341, P2614, and P2617. I'd hate to think that there's a problem with the tone ring, especially because it's intermittent, but then again who knows? I am leaning more towards a harness issue, I just find it odd that I have similar cam AND crank codes. Anyone got any input? Dave

Check the FMC page for the details, but they've suspended the 08b07 re-cal because it's blanking TCM's. I'm sure you've all heard the horror stories and now it's official from Ford that there's something wrong with the program, so... do NOT do the reflash! Dave

For him - yeah. He makes less, but he's much happier. Also, he's had a want to do the Fireman thing for a while... there's a story to that. Anyone here remember, like 12 or 13 years ago, that school bus that was hit by a train in a town called Fox River Grove? 7 students were killed, it was national headline-style news, pretty gruesome actually. He was a student on that bus and remembers the ambulances and EMS team showing up to help, ever since then it just kinda stuck with him. Either way, I got approval (after 6 damn days of waiting) from our manager to go ahead and long-block it. Thank God. Dave

Hehe, no no I didn't mean that I didn't care whether or not the vehicle was fixed correctly (obviously I do, that's why I'm miffed about this.) I just don't care if this thing comes back and bites the dealership in the balls again. Before, I used to really worry about the potential for comeback if we were told to do something that didn't "fly" with me, for the customer AND the dealer. Now, I just feel bad for the customer. And simply because this is an ambulance, and they NEED it as soon as possible, I fear that we'll end up losing the entire fleet over the fact that the driver has visited the shop EVERY day and seen the same parts, in the same places, for the last 3 days straight. With no update. This driver, by the way, was one of our Senior Master Diesel technicians only 3 years ago. So he's completely aware of what's happneing here. He works for 3 different villages and brings ALL of their vehicles to us. Watch the business go out the door when this one's finished. It's not that I don't care, but I'm just totally apathetic to the ramifications of half-assing this from the DEALERSHIP level. I don't know how much more of this place I want to deal with. Dave

Because this store gets more retarded day by day. This engine has been out and apart since Tuesday night and they still haven't authorized me to order anything because he is seriously considering NOT replacing the short block, and just going with the assumption that the heads will be suffecient. It's not a matter of fixing it right anymore with them, it's simply a matter of "what's the minimum we can do and hope that it doesn't return." I am growing very tired of working hard here when every PROFESSIONAL decision I make is scrutinized by management. All I can hope for, is that IF they decide to half-ass this to save face with the 126 numbers, that this returns in another month with even more problems. I honestly don't care anymore. I'm a good tech, and I know it. Dave

You're absolutely right.. it's just that I'd already suspected further damage and was told to ignore it by the "powers than be" because the 126 is high and we'll just take our chances. Yeah. Now we have a comeback with extra diagnosis time involved, and we're faced with potential bounced claim with the original RO now for misdiagnosis. I also didn't mention that, when this returned, I almost immediately knew there were head gasket (and possibly engine) issues but was told to "just replace the EGR cooler and ship it." The only thing that kept the vehicle here was the fact that it was still venting after the repair. So now we have diag time + labor for a fan clucth, plus labor for an EGR cooler (I wasn't allowed diag time for the repair because he said that it overlaps with the previous repair), and now diag time + labor for a short block & 2 heads. Could have been consolidated had the issue been addressed like I'd have wanted to... either way, the SM's way of taking care of the situation didn't pan out like he'd wanted this time, (often times, it does) and we've kinda got egg on our face. At least I know I'm in the clear. Dave

Hehehe, well, I took it out and apart yesterday. Cylinder wall scoring in cylinders 1 and 3, coolant PITTING on the top of the cylinder in cylinder 3, both heads warped well beyond .003", severely blown head gaskets, light (but still obvious) front cover cavitation, half of the plastic retainers on the rockers have already broken and the rest are extremely brittle, plus the extra heat and pressure resluted in the heater core/auxiliary heater hose "connections" to have separated and leaked too. Doing my cost-cap as we speak /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif Oh - and Tony.. I've already ruined everyone's week here. The SM's flat-out livid. He doesn't even want to talk to me right now, hehe. Dave

I always refuse the first offer, but will take it if they push it a second time. I learned that this is the best way for me to deal with the situation, after I one time had a customer get ANGRY at me for declining twice. He started to get in my face, yelling "What, are you too good for my money?". Dead serious, caught me waaaay off guard. So yeah, now I go with the 1-strike rule and if they offer again, it's in the bank /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif Dave

PLACE YOUR BETS! Does this vehicle need A) Head Gaskets Cylinder Heads C) Short/Long block. This thing came back with an EXTERNAL and internal EGR cooler leak. There was coolant seeping from the welds on the cooler and the intake was full of coolant. ECT/EOT spread ok. Replaced the EGR cooler and vacuum tested the oil cooler - ok. Reassemble vehicle, drive around - degas bottle screams for mercy past half throttle. Cap/Bottle in good shape, venting around 17-18 psi. So - new fan clutch, new EGR cooler, good oil cooler, good degas bottle and cap. Remember, this sucker was showing 350* coolant temps after 20 minutes of cooling down with the degas cap off. I am curious to see if the heads are warped, and more importantly, if the cylinder walls are scored. Dave

I can't believe this is just public knowledge now.. we've known about the problem for at least 3 months now. Fortunately we don't get these valvestems from our spuulier so we're in the clear, but it's incredible that this story took so long to leak. Meanwhile, on the Ford side, the recalls and mistakes made are turned into media billboards before we're even aware of them at a dealer level. Gotta love it. Dave

Read today that the power production from this beast is "over 390hp and 720 tq". Anyone need to relocate their neighbors house? Also, these will indeed have a UREA injection system that will be recommended for refilling at each oil change. Dave

Actually, what I've been doing and having GREAT success with is just putting my Fuel pressure auge on the truck through the valve, and calmping the release valve so it stays open. Grab the IDS, command the fuel pump on, and let it go for 10 minutes or so. These thigns have fired up almost instantly ever since I started doing this. Dave

Yeah, I had to heat them like crazy to get 'em out. And so far, twice on DPF replacements, the pressure tube for the sensor was so badly locked in that the whole bung snapped off with the tube. Fortunately, I found that the DPFP tube threads are the same NPT threads as your average male 1/4 air fitting, and it works PERFECTLY in place of the old tube. Dave

I'm interested to know what you find... it almost sounds like it's more likely that the sensor isn't seating properly IN the case and the gap between the sensor and the exciter ring isn't what it should be. Or maybe the new sensor itself isn't any good or is incorrect. (Or it's just that the carrier bearings are so worn out that the whole assembly is bouncing around in the case, lol! Customer states "orange glowing from rear of vehicle after long trip") Dave

Really?? That's messed up.. I'd be interested to know how that problem created an intermittent ground for ckt 814 because the diagram shows NOTHING else on that circuit. Just a straight wire from the ground side of the coil in the relay, right to the PCM. Dave

2003 7.3, intermittent stall, starts right up afterwards. Only code in PCM is a P0603. No chip, totally stock, 120k miles. Did the cam sensor recall, and then upsold a bunch of maintnance (brakes, door ajar switch, so on..) Go to pull out of my bay to drive it, and boom - shuts off. Like someone turned the key off, no sputtering or anything, just died. Noticed that the battery light would flicker in sync with some clicking from the fuse panel area. Turns out that the IDM relay is just hammering away when this happens. Try another relay - problem persists. Noticed that I can get the clicking to happen during a simple key-on cycle, as long the key's been off for a couple minutes. Sometimes it clicks for around 2 seconds, other times it's just a fraction of a second. With the PCM relay out, the problem won't happen because the IDM relay gets it's coil-side power from the PCM relay. I check power at Fuse 22 to see if it's power from the PCM relay cuts in and out with in sync with the clicking - it stays on solid. Just for grins, I check for solid power at 86 on the IDM relay - it's good too. I clamp my test light's ground side to terminal 86 on the IDM relay, and the probe-side of the test light to terminal 85. Sure enough - the light flickers in sync with the clicking IDM relay now. With a good power source to 86. I'm gonna overlay that wire from the ground-side of the coil to the PCM, but I think that the problem's internal to be honest, just for whatever reason, the PCM's not holding a solid ground to the IDM relay's coil side. Anyone here seen that before? Dave

I paid $3.80-something on Tuesday, today I just paid $4.35. Hey, at least the dollar's getting stronger, right?? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eeeesh.gif Dave

It's also a matter of 8 extra hours of labor that wouldn't usually be there (it's a school bus) that he's worried about. I've cleaned them before with great results.. It's just great though. Politics. It's all politics. People talk about "flip flopping" - they ned to spend a month here at a dealer and really learn what that means. Dave

Because of the 126 game we've all been subject to, our service manager is requiring that all diesel repairs we make have to go through hotline first, just as some added "cush" in case of any chargebacks or other situations that might arise. Which, I guess is completely understandable and isn't really a big waste of our time. Still, we are all aware that the hotline isn't a "Get out of jail free" card, and that just because they say something, doesn't mean that it won't hurt us on the 126 sheets. Case in point - this vehicle here: This was my request. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "Performed KOEO on-demand self test, found P0404 in system. Performed EGR system test - fail, egr slow to respond.. remove EGR valve and inspect, found the upper EGR port in the valve clogged 100% solid. Removed intake elbow/inlet and inspected, found the EGR ports in the intake manifold, also completely carboned shut, packed very thick with carbon. DTC Codes: P0404 Parts replaced: None yet.. Tech's question: Is there a recommended procedure to clean the carbon out of the intake? Should 08-16-13 be performed as well? Hotline recommendation: Dave, with the extent of the coking in the intake, it is recommended to replace the intake manifold. There is not a published cleaning procedure for the intake manifold. If there is a turbo concern, TSB 08-16-13 should also be performed." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= After showing this to our SM, he basically said "umm.... no. Just clean it." I'm sure that this will work out in the end without any further problems, but there certainly is potential for repeat repair here, and possibly some expensive ones at that!! The thing that I find funny is that, now that hotline recommended something that's more expensive than the average EGR valve repair, I have been told to disregard what they recommend. Basically, it's just hysterical to me that management can jump the fence so many times and still expect to be taken seriously. When the VPS kit came out for turbo diag, we found that it really isn't that accurate and proved it once with a turbo that was completely locked solid, but still passed the IDS test. After the WAN came out stating that "Some turbos appear to be returned without having the IDS test performed and are not faulty", we were given the slap on the wrist because he knew we stopped using the IDS test and that we were saying that "We know more than Ford engineering does". And now I'm being told to disregard the same people's recommendations. Cool! Dave

....yep. Dave

I like to troll the FMC forums just to see what others are dealing with.. this one really grabbed my attention: =-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==- "i have a 2005 f-450 tow truck with a 6.0 in it .. the truck came from a private shop which had installed reman heads and reman short block due to over heated.. there is no low oil pressure at all not even getting to the oil pump.. vehicle now has the following list of new parts,, pick up tube and o-ring, upper pan, another short block ,oil pump and front cover, regulator valve ,oil cooler.. still no oil from low pressure side if i pack the oil pump area full of grease it will pick it up and run until you shut off the truck then wont restart.. contacted hotline numerious times,and international with no help!!!!! imagine that if the high pressure system is filled with oil will run until that oil runs out will not keep runing..any ideas would be greatly appreciated" =-=-=-=-=-===-=-=-=-=-=-====-=-=- The dude said that the filter housing doesn't fill at all either. This one just caught my eye, seems like he's replaced everything but the pan! Anyone else here seen this one before? This looks like one of those situations where the solution is something so absurd that it'll almost be a joke to anyone involved with this one... (something like there not being enough oil in the pan because the oil gun isn't reading right or some goofy crap) Dave

Hehe, that looks a lot like the truck I just went through this ordeal on. Had the cage nuts spin in this one too, ALL of them on the left side and the right front one too. The guy that owns the truck is bringing in another boom truck on Monday, this one's overheating this time. Last time he brought a 6.4 truck in for that, it only needed a fan, hopefully we'll get lucky this time too. Dave