All Powerstroke Owners Need To Watch This

[Ted S.]

I was feeling guilty about the EGR delete until Volkswagen made me look like a saint.

[Moflash]

I wonder how many people posting on this thread have ever even drive a new 6.7 turbo diesel ?

I have driven all years,makes and models including Mercedes Benz since 1975 (remember the GM 5.7 converted to diesel) and I can tell you without hesitation these engines are a mechanical marvel and ultra reliable.
I have owned two on these a 2012 and a 2015 and for pulling my 28ft International they have no equal.As a added note they have been without any glitches thus far.

The Dodge and Chevrolet are also phenomenal Diesel engines and once again it's all owners preference on comfort and appearance.
Too say the Diesel technology has gone backwards is just a lack of information or just being close minded.
I have never really been a diesel kind of guy,but I have found that for pulling a large travel trailer it is more at ease than its gasoline counter part and does a much better job all the way around.

They have proven to have a high resale value if taken care of as a bonus.I know as I have been in the automobile business for 40 years.


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[DavidsonOverlander]

Watching the video made me feel good about owning a 2005 6.0L F-350! Think I'll stop reading now in case someone refutes what he had to say.

[PaulnGina]

I have known several people who have had the 6.0L PowerStroke and not had any problems. I think there are a couple of real keys to that:
Don't abuse them, and keep the regular maintenance current.

If I was looking for a new-to-me truck, I would contact Bill Hewitt to see if he had a 6.0L ready to go (or one of the newer 7.3L's). Like he said in the video, once they are bullet-proofed, you can plan on getting 500,000 miles out of them IF you take care of them.

He has a lot of good info, and experience to back up his recommendations. He knows the strong and weak points of each generation of PowerStrokes. He can tell you how to fix most of those weak points, how to get long life out of the trucks, or he can help you get some really crazy-high-performance out of those trucks. Better have deep pockets for that, though. Me? I am NOT money-bags, and need my trucks to last.

I'm sure if he had decided to focus on Dodges, he'd have good info for those, and likewise for the Duramax's. Either way, he'd have more work than he could keep up with even without advertising.

Originally Posted by DavidsonOverlander

Watching the video made me feel good about owning a 2005 6.0L F-350! Think I'll stop reading now in case someone refutes what he had to say.

[Ampman]

Gas owner myself by choice. Couldn't afford to repair diesel trucks. Diesel is all I have driven at work for the past two decades. I have made a ton of money when they break down though. Company makes us stay with the truck until a tow truck picks them up which can be hours on the clock. Current 2011 6.7 F450 is on its second block. Most of our fleet are shop queens, 7.3, 6.0, 6.4 and 6.7 Fords. Also have a couple of 6.7 Dodges too. Just lost two 6.4s last month with blown up motors. Our trucks are not overused or over worked. Just service body fleet trucks. If you do have one then always buy clean fresh fuel, keep up with the maintenance and unload them once the warranty runs out. Yes my experience is with fleet usage but what better way to experience the troubles with these light duty trucks where I don't have to pay for the repairs? We should have opted for gas V-10s all along. We have a few in other departments and they are never in the shop with the entire cab lifted off for repairs. I am a Ford guy and it really blows to share the experience about these engines. I feel bad for the guys out there that work for themselves and have to deal with these problems. Zero confidence in any of the light duty diesel truck engines. We put a man on the moon over forty years ago you would think we could master a light duty diesel engine.

[J. Morgan]

We have bought Ford and Chevy Diesel light duty "fleet" trucks in a couple of eras, in the 80s, and then again in the 00s.

Both times I said never again.

They cost a TON more to keep running, and it makes me nervous every time I send them out.

My gas trucks in the same duty last three times as long and hardly ever break.

To me modern Ford and GM small diesels are not worth the trouble and expense.

My dad bought Dodge diesel trucks, they have been pretty good and reliable, but not as reliable and cheap to own as their gas counterparts.

If I HAD to buy a diesel pickup it would be a Ram.

In my experience Ford and GM gas trucks are great, their Diesels, not so much.


Brevi tempore!

[noreen&sal]

Just wondering. how much time is spent sitting at idle? Sal

[J. Morgan]

Not much at all with my trucks.


Brevi tempore!

[Ampman]

Idling a bunch, running a bunch basically using them like a truck should be used. We don't baby the diesel trucks or the gas trucks. They are properly maintained and get the freshest fuel because of the shear volume of fuel our fleet uses. They just aren't reliable enough for me to own one and travel with. My gas truck doesn't have the power of a diesel but then again I don't need that much power to drag the airstream, farm tractors or skidsteer around. If I did need more power and needed a diesel then I would have to go with the dodge.

[Ted S.]

Originally Posted by DavidsonOverlander

Watching the video made me feel good about owning a 2005 6.0L F-350! Think I'll stop reading now in case someone refutes what he had to say.

Me too, let's get the heck out of here.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Never buy a used company truck, fleet truck, or rental. The drivers don't own them and they beat the crap out of them. Our employee driven vehicles were trashed much more than the same vehicle that was privately owned. I would never trust a vehicle report from a fleet company.

[J. Morgan]

As a rule fleet vehicles will take a beating by drivers, but many are well maintained.

My position isn't that fleet vehicles don't have it rough, but that two otherwise identical vehicles, one gas, and one diesel, in identical service will have drastically different breakdown frequency and higher cost of repair over their lifetime.

This is simply my experience over many years.

I WANTED the diesels to be better trucks, (I really did) This would have made me look smarter for paying more for them, but this just wasn't the reality.


Brevi tempore!

[J. Morgan]

Fwiw, it is my observation that FedEx and UPS are transitioning away from Diesel to gas on their delivery trucks over the past few years.

I cant say how long it has been since I have heard a diesel UPS or FedEx truck.


Brevi tempore!

[Ampman]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Never buy a used company truck, fleet truck, or rental. The drivers don't own them and they beat the crap out of them. Our employee driven vehicles were trashed much more than the same vehicle that was privately owned. I would never trust a vehicle report from a fleet company.

I agree on that. I bet our trucks are better taken care of than most because it's how we earn our living. But the experience I shared is because these are the same engines that are bought by all. Just used harder than the average grocery getter. What better way to find out how a truck holds up than seeing how they perform in a fleet? You can't get that kind of real world testing with other vehicles. I would love to own one for the power but can't afford the cost of repairs or unreliability for traveling to distant places. To each his own I guess.

[J. Morgan]

200,000 mile V10, typical usage.

The trailer weighs as much empty as most Airstreams.




Brevi tempore!

[dkottum]

We have never planned on a large diesel pickup, but have been considering a smaller Ram Ecodiesel or European diesel SUV such as Mercedes or Touareg.

Getting afterthoughts here, I'm assuming these are prone to the same diesel issues caused by the late model emission control devices?

[Ampman]

No experience with the smaller diesels. Maybe find a commercial user with the same engine in a delivery truck or similar fleet. That would help with finding out how they hold up in a tough environment.

[rostam]

VW just announced that the 3.0 liter TDI in Touareg/Q7/Cayenne also uses the emission defeat device, so I think the sale of these vehicles is on hold.

As for the 3.0 Liter V6 in Mercedes, the engine seems to be fine, but the DEF tank/heater/etc seem prone to failure. The DEF tank heater on our GL 350 failed recently (after 3 1/2 years of ownership). It was fixed under warranty (it would have cost $1700 out of warranty). To have peace of mind, we bought a 7 year/100k warranty. We will see how things go after 7 year warranty is over.

I really hope car manufacturers can make the DEF components more reliable. The low end torque in diesel engines makes for a relaxed driving/towing experience. Its really a joy to drive a diesel vehicle.

[switz]

We have the Mercedes V6 pre DEF.

I have 145,000 miles on the 2007 ML 320 CDI which has had a few gasket issues recently, but no mechanical failure. Repairs after the expiration of my seven year, 100,000 mile warranty can often vaporize the credit card to just replace a gasket or a front remanufactured air shock. I ignore the recommended longer service interval and change oil and filters every 5,000 miles and do the other services when suggested by either the schedule or the deal mechanic from visual inspection. I was able to get over 100,000 miles on the original brakes because of all the long distance driving from multiple trips across the USA.

In October 2012, this car towed the 2013 25FB home through the mountains on I-10 between Los Angles and Phoenix. Unfortunately, after loading the trailer for camping and with my wife also in the car, the CAT scales showed overloaded axles and exceeded GVW so it was retired from that job.

In July, I drove it from Phoenix to New Jersey towing a U-Haul trailer with tires and parts to pickup the 23D. I went from Lakewood, NJ to CanAm in London, Ontario to get the Hensley setup tweaked. From there I drove the rig to Paradise, TX for the modifications and several months later drove the rig to Phoenix through the mountains. That was about 2,800 miles of flat and mountainous driving with a max speed of 65 mph. The engine would drop gears and could maintain the set cruise control speed. One must be aware of how hard and long one pushes the rig on climbs to preclude overheating the transmission. Wish there was a temperature gage for the tranny.

The power plant had no issues. The 23D is both much lighter and narrower than the 25FB so there is less wind resistance. The way the car handles this load, I think it is the perfect fit for the ML.

My wife's 2009 E320 CDI has about 40,000 with no issues to date. It lives the typical spouse local stuff, but where we live, a trip to the grocery choice is at least 20 miles each way so the engine gets throughly heated nearly every trip.

[sgschwend]

6L owners, make sure your batteries are fully charged. Get a good charger and use it to top off your batteries and also to maintain them at 100% charged. I do this on weekends, and I find that after doing this for awhile my batteries stay much closer to 100 charge.

In a 6.0L the fuel injector control module needs to have 12V or higher. When you first start your engine the automatic glow plug circuit draws the battery voltage down. It has been shown that 11.5 VDC is the danger/damage voltage for the injector controller.

Engine alternators by design can't fully charge your battery therefore overtime the capacity will continue to reduce, hence my recommendation and my practice of using a second battery charger to finish the battery charging, which keeps the batteries at peak performance.