ChristopherH

I was just wondering if anyone knows of a more wallet friendly place to get the IPR sockets you use for the 6.0? The older one is OTCR303-769 and costs $135.98 from RTTP. I haven't seen the newer one listed by itself on RTTP, but I have seen it as part of a 6.0 tool set. Ours apparently grew legs, and the Service Manager doesn't seem excited about replacing them. I bought the electrical connector tool for the injectors and the coupler tool a long time ago for myself, and I know they have paid for themselves by now. I wouldn't mind picking these up as well, I am just not sure they are worth the price. (especially when I just use a wrench on the IPRs when doing couplers and the turbo and pedestal are off) I would love any info anybody had on these though--thanks in advance.

The dpfr kit is the one my coworkers friend has on his new 6.4. It is supposed to reset the DPF each time the key is turned on for 10 seconds (same thing the IDS does under Service Functions after you replace a DPF) and this will give you between 1200-1700 miles without a regen (I keep hearing different specs for that number--evidently when a new dpf is installed, they do not want it to go through a regen right away) He has the new calibration (from the recall) and it tries to go into regen even with the DPFR chip installed every 150 miles or so. He has contacted the DPFR people and they are sending him a new chip and MAP sensor/backpressure sensor interface, so I will let you know how that works out for him. He does say that the throttle response and power feels better, and he claims over 20mpg. He just ordered a new downpipe back kit for his other new 6.4 from SCT--I'll try and let you know how that one goes too.

Did you see that the new version of IDS (59) will work with Windows XP Home now. What about all that crap they gave us about having to use XP Pro for these same security issues? I think they are more worried about somebody getting ahold of their precious proprietary software than anything else.

Flat rate all the way--no guarantee.

Brand new 09 Flex with a PTU seal leaking trans fluid onto the exhaust. Customer came in panicked about the smoke and the burning smell from under her new car--parts are on a MAJOR backorder. What happened to all the 6.0s???

I don't have that yet, and I would love to get my hands on it. Do you have an electronic version of it? Thanks.

One of my coworkers here has a good friend with a new 6.4 and he was very dis-appointed in the mileage and frequent regens he was experiencing. He ordered a DPF delete kit with the tuner that goes along with it to reset the DPF counter each time you turn the key on and leave it for more than 10 seconds. So far he is claiming it makes more power and his mileage has increased about 5.0 mpg. I am not sure how I feel about the whole thing--it is amazing how much black smoke these 6.4s put out even on a stock tune when the DPF is gone!

Well, I am still waiting for my VC9 to show up--ended up flushing my 6.0 oil cooler failure with a product call "Trapshoot" from Sunrise Chemical. It is a citrus based degreaser for drains and plumbing, and it seems to work better than anything else I've tried so far. Parts Dept. says that they ordered VC9 a month ago and it is still on backorder? Anyone else having this problem?

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I appreciate them very much. I have been impressed with a lot of the stuff on the Cummins engines (compared to the 6.0s I work on every day). Our dealer is very small (5 techs, 1 lof guy, 1 used car guy) so we end up doing all kinds of repairs, but I do more diesel stuff than anything else. I know how Chrysler warranty time pays, being that we are a Jeep dealer as well, and I am not really excited at that prospect. Any suggestion to help give a guy an edge is greatly appreciated. Things have slowed down dramatically here in the past several months, and I would rather be losing a little time working on a Cummins that I don't quite understand everything about yet than sitting around making 0$.

With this news and all the press buzz over the new Ecoboost gas engines coming out, something tells me we are going to get to revisit the training center for a few new model classroom trainings. (Not to mention a bunch of new red boxes showing up with tools that nobody can explain the function of until you see it used--its a fun game to play around the shop when they come in to guess what they do--I remember nobody even came close with the 6.4 egr puller!)

Thanks for the replies guys--I know most of us here are not Dodge techs and wouldn't have this info. As far as the diagnostic equipment goes, being that we are a Jeep dealer, we do have the same scan tools that the Dodge dealers use (DRB III, StarScan, and whatever that new PC based scan tool that is coming is called) We can pull dtcs, look at all the data, flash the modules, etc just fine. What I am mainly looking for is tools that we would need for example to hook up a fuel pressure gauge, or to replace injectors, injector tubes, or otherwise perform any common service on these engines. Chrysler does not send us any special tools unless they relate to Jeep, so we are at a disadvantage here. The trainings that we have been to for the Jeep diesels do not really touch on the 5.9 or 6.7 cummins motors either, so we are a little in the dark there. I have been surfing the repair manuals on the Chrysler website for info, but so far I only have a very short list of stuff. Thanks for the info on the cummins distributor in Salt Lake City--I will get in touch with them and see if they could help. The big problem is that you can't just call Miller/SPX (Dodge special tools supplier) and tell them to send you all the Cummins stuff because the tools were released over many years a few at a time and are included in different kits. Also, we were hoping to narrow down the special tools to the ones needed most frequently and the ones where no workaround is possible, just to save the dealer a little money (I know, I know--not my idea).

The shop I work at is a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer, but we also have the pleasure of a Jeep franchise as well. Our Chrysler rep visited yesterday and told us that the local Dodge dealer is going basket case on their warranty stuff and turning away all of the Cummins warranty repairs. We work on the Liberty and new Grand Cherokee diesel--although very rarely here. Not much experience with the Cummins engine in pickups--put a few transfer pump retro kits and a few 24 valve injection pumps on--but thats about it. Well, the Chrysler rep told us that we could go ahead and start working on the trucks with the cummins warranty concerns. We have the DRB III, StarScan, etc. but no other special tools for working on the Cummins motor in the trucks. Our service manager is working on scheduling training and finding necessary tools. My question is this: what specific Miller tools do we need to work on the 5.9 and 6.7 cummins motors? If anybody could help me out here and give me a short run down of at least the basic diagnostic tools that are needed frequently I would appreciate it.

Maybe they toned this stuff down a little bit--the MSDS says that it has phosponic acid in it, but maybe its not quite as strong as that old Taurus stuff. I have a 6.0 with an oil cooler failure that needs this revised flush performed tomorrow--hopefully it works better than the vc1 crap.

There must be something going around that is affecting our managers and causing them to take on these other shop diagnosed jobs. The diesel tech across the shop from me just worked on one of these. Customer came in from an independent diesel performance shop with a 7.3 that runs rough--said shop diagnosed this as a faulty high pressure oil pump because of the P1211 in the PCM memory. (I wish I had a dime for every time I saw that code back in the 7.3 days) She was passing through with a big horse trailer on and needed service right away--they couldn't do it soon enough so they sent her to us. She walked in the door adamant that the HPOP was bad and had already bought the part over the parts counter. Well, management decided to take it in and perform the prescribed repair. Evidently, the "other" shop didn't bother with a cylinder contribution test and missed the #7 misfire. After a very irate customer (who was mad at us!) an unnecessarily replaced HPOP, and a new #7 injector the truck was finally fixed. I say diag them first the way you diag every vehicle YOU work on no matter what.

Determining warranty coverage or recall coverage is ultimately not the technician's responsibility. It sounds like the service advisor needs to step up on this one. Those B recalls are "program" recalls that usually do have expiration dates or mileage limits. S recalls do not expire or go away until they are completed--this gets a little sticky when you get one that is really old. Has anyone had a F series in for a fuel tank crossflow concern (needed check valves installed) lately? How about an AWD Aerostar for a transfer case recall? We just had one of the Aerostars get towed in here a few months back and the recall had never been done--it took lots of phone calls to Ford and the Special Support Center plus 6 months of waiting to get parts to get that one took care of. If the S recall shows on OASIS, then at least that can be claimed to offset some of the problem. Keith, I and my other fellow Diesel techs here can definitely relate to what you are saying. It seems like every time they revise these damn 6.0 tsbs that the labor time gets cut even more. They also seem to add more and more operations in hopes of cutting out any M time scenarios. Sometimes I just wish that they would be more generous to those of us who pull their proverbial ass out of the fire! Because when its all said and done, we really are the end of the line for these busted Ford products.

I have a strong feeling that this is the same acid stuff that we used to use for the Taurus/Sable "brown coolant" TSB 01-11-06. That stuff used the long number F8AZ-19A503-AA, and I remember it has a really strong smell to it. It also had all kinds of warnings about no skin contact, no painted surface contact, etc. As well as the warning that you had to get every bit of it out of the engine or it would do very bad things.

Not to rub salt in the wound, but that looks like about as much fun as a quadruple bypass, double knee replacement, root canal, and an anal probe all rolled into one!

Dittos. Innovation, thinking outside the box, and sometimes even a little bit of risk taking are what keep our paychecks alive under warranty flat-rate situations. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating "hacking" a job, but there are many things that we have all learned from experience over the years to make repair procedures easier, quicker, and even better. I just wish that we could hold onto that lead we gain when we come up with a better way to do something a little longer. It seems that all too soon the penny-pinchers find out and there goes our being ahead of the curve.

I have been following some of the developements with the big three bailout talks and found this editorial at The Detroit News that I found interesting. The Detroit News Auto Insider I think there is a very valid concern here that in order to get this $15 billion bridge loan package to pass, the big three are giving up a lot in return. Consider the fact that government interference and regulations are partially to blame for the position the automakers are in right now, and with this package the government will get direct oversight over many business actions of the big three. Kind of like borrowing money from the mob to prop up your business... So much for the free market. Iacocca paid the government loan to Chrysler back early to get rid of the crap he had to deal with from Big Brother being involved--I hope that the big three have that option and that ability. Also, is anybody else pissed off at how easily the government is handing out OUR money? The debt that we and our children are being saddled with is beyond comprehension. I really think its bullshit that AIG, CitiGroup, etc, etc. didn't have any trouble getting hundreds of billions of dollars allocated to them, but look at the circus they have put the CEOs of the Big Three through for a fraction of the money!! I don't recall them wanting to force the CEOs of these financial companies to step down in order to get a bailout like they are pressuring for the big three. I personally think when they were asked about flying to the initial hearing on a private jet that they should have turned that question around and asked just how much money these damn politicians have wasted. At least the CEOs of the big three are producing something instead of setting around on a high horse and judging an industry that they know nothing about! Sorry about the long-winded post, but it helps to vent a little sometimes.

Wow--all this time I thought I had learned a few things the hard way about Powerstroke engines and the answers were all on You Tube the whole time!!! I think this finally explains some of the very strange questions that I have heard from some of our PowerStroke customers.

Signs I have collected in my toolbox: "Doing a good job around here is like pissing your pants in a dark suit--it gives you a warm feeling all over, but nobody notices." "We the Unwilling, led by the Unknowing and the Incompetent, are trying to do the Impossible for the Ungrateful." "I offer three types of service here, please choose one-- 1) I can do a Cheap Job Quick, but it won't be Good. 2) I can do a Good Job Cheap, but it won't be Quick. 3) I can do a Good Job Quick, but it won't be Cheap!" "Hourly labor rate charge is directly proportional to Customer's Attitude."

As far as the labor time, 24.5 hours would not be out of the question with the add-on items that you listed and taking into account the rust factor--at least for our dealership. As for the silicone for the oil pan, the Motorcraft half-tube part # is TA-31 for the proper sealant. I have used this as well as the International stuff and as long as both surfaces are clean and free of oil and proper set-up time is allowed, I have had good luck with these. Now if only someone could find an easy way to dis-assemble the stuff once it is set up! I honestly think you could remove the oil pan bolts from a 7.3 after the sealer has fully cured and it would never fall off!! I remember a few questions from our warranty clerk about M time to remove the oil pan from the block (without bending it to the point of ruining it) and cleaning away all the old silicone.

I hear what you are saying. Its almost like ASE needs to come out with an Advanced Light Duty Diesel Certification as well, but for now Ford says the T2, T6, and L2 covers things. When I took these tests for the first time, I went to a local tech college that has a diesel mechanics program and found out what textbook they use. Then I went to their book store and purchased said book--if you buy a new one, this can be a little expensive. If you can find a used one it isn't much more than the study guides. If you put some time in with it though, you'll pass all those tests with flying colors.

Thanks Bruno, that confirms the opinion that I already gave our parts guy on this question. Sometimes its nice to just throw one of these off the wall questions out there and see if anyone has ever done it before. (Not to mention getting a qualified second opinion from you gentlemen) I think the benefit he was after was increased reliablility, but after explaining all the needed parts (PCM, harness, GPCM, etc.) to him, I think common sense has now settled in. Just for the info, the truck in question is a 2001 and he also has an 01 Excursion 7.3 that gave him the idea. Thanks guys for your prompt replies.

One of my parts guys asked today about a 7.3 modification he has heard of and that is to install the solid state glow plug relay found on California emission 7.3s on a truck that uses the conventional style round relay. I have never heard of this and honestly am not sure if it is possible. I can think that the PCM, engine harness, and relay may need to be changed so it begs the question of if its really worth it. Has anybody else every heard of this or seen it?