2005 ford 6.0 diesal problems

[Peacock]

To be clear, ALL engines burn/use oil. It just comes to how much combustion by products make it past the rings into the sump, which has a way of making oil level appear normal. Of course this dilutes the oil and tends to make it acidic.

Ring design seems to have an effect on this.

Most new Honda engines seem to use a bit of oil til 10k or so then they tend to seal up and are very easy on their oil from that point forward.

In my experience the Ford Duratec and 4.6 engines are oil users.

 

[jwstewar]

Neither of my 5.3 GM engines use enough oil between changes to even it get down to the add mark and that is going by the OLM. The truck is a '99 Silverado with 120K+ on the clock and the Suburban is a 2008 with about 24k on the clock. It has the cylinder deactivation on it. Now our 2000 Honda on the other hand...it has the 2.3 with the VVT. I will easily have to add 2 quarts between oil changes at 6000 miles and then it is ready for a 3rd. It has done that since I bought it in 2008 with 71k on it. It now has 180k miles on it.

 

[Peacock]

Neither of my 5.3 GM engines use enough oil between changes to even it get down to the add mark and that is going by the OLM. The truck is a '99 Silverado with 120K+ on the clock and the Suburban is a 2008 with about 24k on the clock. It has the cylinder deactivation on it. Now our 2000 Honda on the other hand...it has the 2.3 with the VVT. I will easily have to add 2 quarts between oil changes at 6000 miles and then it is ready for a 3rd. It has done that since I bought it in 2008 with 71k on it. It now has 180k miles on it.

I'd be willing to bet that the Honda engine got very low on oil sometime prior to you owning it.

 

[Hay Dude]

I know quite a few guys with 5.3L GM trucks and its either hit or miss. I would say a little less than 1/2 report high oil usage. I had 2 Saturns, both with the 1.9L 4 cylinder that they put in so many vehicles. Both used oil. One used 1.5 qts between changes and the other used a QT every 600 miles. The dealer said that was within GM specs. I have also owned a Honda, a Toyota, a dozen Fords, a BMW, a Nissan, a Dodge, and a few others and not a single one used a drop. I currently have a boat with a 6.2L GM and it uses a QT every 50 hours and my old 7.4L and 8.1L GM based boat motors also used some oil.

Chris

We have a 5.3L with 67,000 +/- and it uses no oil.

 

[jwstewar]

I'd be willing to bet that the Honda engine got very low on oil sometime prior to you owning it.

And it probably got low on oil because it uses oil lol.

The '97 that we had before this that my wife bought new, I had to add a quart about half way through oil changes. When it started getting low again, I knew the olm would be on soon. Ran that one until 252k miles when I whacked a deer 300 yards from the house.

 

[Peacock]

And it probably got low on oil because it uses oil lol.

The '97 that we had before this that my wife bought new, I had to add a quart about half way through oil changes. When it started getting low again, I knew the olm would be on soon. Ran that one until 252k miles when I whacked a deer 300 yards from the house.

Yeah it got low when it went 15k between changes. Lol.

I've been a Honda dealer tech for 8yrs and we very rarely encounter a Honda engine that uses oil for any reason other than lack of maintenance.

My '95 Accord, for instance, has 297k on it and requires only .5qt in 3k.

 

[Hay Dude]

So topic is "2005 Ford 6L diesal problems" and the topic migrated to "5.3L GM gasser uses 2 qts between oil changes" for one of 6 thread contributors.

 

[Soundguy]

So topic is "2005 Ford 6L diesal problems" and the topic migrated to "5.3L GM gasser uses 2 qts between oil changes" for one of 6 thread contributors.

Look.. some kind advice....if a thread going off topic a bit bothers you.. you may want to go ahead and throw the towel in and clock out.

That's just how it happens on large forums. threads morph over time. side topics get interjected and expanded.

once you are here for a few years, that will be more plain i guess.

soundguy

 

[Hay Dude]

Look.. some kind advice....if a thread going off topic a bit bothers you.. you may want to go ahead and throw the towel in and clock out.

That's just how it happens on large forums. threads morph over time. side topics get interjected and expanded.

once you are here for a few years, that will be more plain i guess.

soundguy

Yes, I have noticed that! Usually a "ford problem" topic migrates to another brand having problems, too.
Good advice.

 

[Soundguy]

Yes, I have noticed that! Usually a "ford problem" topic migrates to another brand having problems, too.
Good advice.

if you think it's only 'ford problem' topics that migrate.. you are being extremely myopic.
.. and IMHO.. may be having a 'ford problem' yourself in that you are fixated on them just a wee bit much to keep churning this issue? no?

soundguy

 

[Hay Dude]

Not myopic, just inexperienced here. Just joined, getting to know the cast of characters, reading some of the threads. Some are outright funny with lots of bad advice and some are very informative!!

YES, I am having lots of Ford problems. Someone told me to come here because there's a lot of Ford diesel owners with similar problems. Juding by threads started by others, it looks like a good place for Ford diesel problems.
BTW: Gonna go ahead and extend warranty, finally got an offer to extend warranty for under $4,000. lead mechanic at Frod dealer told me the 6.4 diesel has plastic interals, a problematic primary turbo and rocker arms that grenade prematurely and without much warning. My truck new is $60,000. F that. Gonna keep this one.

 

[Soundguy]

that's why i don't go out and buy unproven machines. I'd rather buy a few years used and hear about what happens to them, then pick them up off the loading dock.

In reality.. ever manufacturer has problems.

While the 3 other 'small' gm's we have.. one is a 99, 2 are 2007. the 2007 have had -0- issues and nothing but scheduled maint done to them.. completely trouble free. the 99 has had the front end fall out, and everything but the chassis, engine block and rear end fail on it. ( really! ).. wish it had been more like the 07's

ps.. if i had diesel truck issues.. like for your ford.. I'd hit a real truck specific forum.. not a generic one.

just my .02$

 

[94BULLITT]

Not myopic, just inexperienced here. Just joined, getting to know the cast of characters, reading some of the threads. Some are outright funny with lots of bad advice and some are very informative!!

YES, I am having lots of Ford problems. Someone told me to come here because there's a lot of Ford diesel owners with similar problems. Juding by threads started by others, it looks like a good place for Ford diesel problems.
BTW: Gonna go ahead and extend warranty, finally got an offer to extend warranty for under $4,000. lead mechanic at Frod dealer told me the 6.4 diesel has plastic interals, a problematic primary turbo and rocker arms that grenade prematurely and without much warning. My truck new is $60,000. F that. Gonna keep this one.

What is plastic in a 6.4?

 

[Hay Dude]

that's why i don't go out and buy unproven machines. I'd rather buy a few years used and hear about what happens to them, then pick them up off the loading dock.In reality.. ever manufacturer has problems.

While the 3 other 'small' gm's we have.. one is a 99, 2 are 2007. the 2007 have had -0- issues and nothing but scheduled maint done to them.. completely trouble free. the 99 has had the front end fall out, and everything but the chassis, engine block and rear end fail on it. ( really! ).. wish it had been more like the 07's

ps.. if i had diesel truck issues.. like for your ford.. I'd hit a real truck specific forum.. not a generic one.

just my .02$

I think we already had this conversation, I bought mine used.
I did got burned after buying a couple Ford 6L's new. $5,000 or more in out of warranty repairs for them. Bought the 6.4l in early '11 used. Was a early build job 1. Looks like more of the same, but not a lot of other choices. GM is out of anything over a medium and Dodge 5500'sd are real scarce.
BTW: I am on some of the other pure truck forums. I kinda like this one because while you can discuss your Ford problems, you got other threads like "man eaten by his pigs" and some other tractor talk going on.

 

[JasonR093]

Here is the deal with the 6.0. Any good tuner (person writing your tunes) is not going to give you a tune that is going to tear up your truck. There are trucks all over the place running 400-420 rwhp with 750-800 rwtq all day long without problems.

Yes the 6.0 is known to blow head gaskets. This is why it happens. The Ford Gold coolant contains silicates. The silicates are not able to handle high EGT's generated by a good load or relatively high boost when they run through the EGR cooler. They break down into a gell like sludge and fall out of suspension. This crud gets caught up in the tiny coolant passageways of the oil cooler. As the cooler clogs up it restricts coolant flow to the egr cooler. Now the egr cooler doesn't have enough coolant to carry off the heat generated by high EGT's. The limited amount of coolant in the egr cooler flash boils causing high pressure in the cooling system and the truck pukes coolant from the degass bottle due to the pressure. (it has to go somewhere)
Your uninformed Powerstroke owner is not monitoring his coolant temps and oil temps so he doesn't know whats going on and he keeps driving it this way. The problem gets worse, the pressure causes the egr cooler to rupture. Now the egr cooler is leaking coolant into the intake manifold which then runs into the cylinders. Again the high combustion temps cause the coolant to vaporize. This causes unacceptably high cylinder pressure, the TTY head bolts stretch due to the add'l pressure and there go your head gaskets.

Ok now you know the problem. Here's the cure. Get a good engine monitoring solution like the Edge Insight so that you can monitor your ECT and EOT. If those temps get more than 15* apart with normal cruising when at normal operating temperature your oil cooler is clogging up. Rebuild it now to prevent all that down stream damage from occurring. Flush that Ford Gold coolant crap out of your engine with a couple bottles of Restore. This is made specifically to clean out that silicate residue. Now refill it with a silicate free Cat EC-1 rated ELC coolant. This removes the silicates that clog the oil cooler from the equation. If you live in an area where you don't have smog inspections delete the egr system. If you can't delete it replace the egr cooler with the cooler manufactured by Bulletproof Diesel. This is vastly superior to the Ford oem egr cooler and it will not fail on you. If you find that you need to replace head gaskets replace the TTY head bolts with ARP studs and use OEM Ford head gaskets, the black onyx (Victor Reinz) head gaskets have proven to have a high failure rate. If you have to replace the egr cooler always replace the oil cooler. That is the source of the problem.

Now that you have addressed the common problems that scare the he11 out of people, get an SCT tuner (i like the X3) and install some custom tunes and drive the heck out of it. DO NOT baby it. The Powerstroke hates this and will rebel with turbo issues.

Turbo issues are also common repair points with the 6.0. People like to complain that it's because the VGT turbos are pieces of junk. This is not so. The VGT vanes in the turbo need to be exercised regularly. This means making them go through their full range of motion. So put your foot in it regularly and let it see some full boost runs. That will keep your VGT vanes from getting all sooted up and freezing up because of the soot. Again, that is what happens when you baby it. Put your foot in it and you will have less problems. Lay out of it and try to milk it for mileage like you would a gasser and you're going to have turbo issues. Don't let it sit either. That is also the kiss of death to the turbo. The unison ring rusts up and again you have turbo problems. So now that you know you need to give your turbo a regular work out to keep it happy, give it a proper cool down as well. Just whipping into your parking place and shutting it down will lead to coking the bearings and again major turbo issues. Running a good synthetic oil will help here immensely because it handles heat so much better and resists coking. But always let your turbo have time to cool down. This is one of the reasons you need a Pyrometer (EGT gauge). Let the EGT come down to 350* before shutting your truck off. This only takes a couple of minutes, especially if you take it easy on it for the last couple minutes of your trip. If this is too much hassle for you get a turbo timer that will automatically delay shutdown when you turn off the key to allow the turbo to cool down.

Injectors. Ford's HEUI injection system fires the injectors with High Pressure Oil, to the tune of 4,000psi at Wide Open Throttle. Maintenance is critical here so you can not let your oil maintenance slide like you can on a gasser. It will kill your injectors. The injectors also are known to suffer from something that we call stiction. That is when the oil side plunger of the injector hangs up or sticks when cold until the truck warms up. I believe this is caused by varnish buildup that is common to dino oils, especially those containing paraffin. Using a good synthetic oil will take care of that because it actually cleans the engine as it lubricates. If you do find yourself with some injector stiction add a couple of bottles of Rev-X to your oil. It has cleared up 99.9% of the trucks it has been used on. 2 bottles run around $70. A new injector is about $250-$290. Be **** about keeping your oil clean and fresh and changing your fuel filters regularly. The other thing that kills injectors is low fuel pressure. The fuel pressure needs to stay above 45psi at all times and is typically set around 52 psi from the factory. Well the factory fuel pressure regulator spring is weak and looses it's tension over time and can't maintain adequate fuel pressure. There is an updated rebuild kit that uses a better, stronger spring. Installing this spring will bring your fuel pressure up to about 62 psi and solve that. Get a fuel pressure gauge. It's important.

So that covers the frequent complaints with the 6.0. They are all well known at this point as are the solutions. Does it suck we have to fix Ford's blunders? Heck yes it does. But again we know how and once done you will have a very reliable robust truck that is well worth the effort. So address the issues as you can and enjoy your truck. It is a dynamite vehicle. I love mine.

 

[Hay Dude]

That's a real helpful post and I appreciate the info, but why can't the 'tards that designed the engine design it right the first time?

 

[JasonR093]

That's a real helpful post and I appreciate the info, but why can't the 'tards that designed the engine design it right the first time?

The 6.0 powerstroke a.k.a. Vt-365 was designed and built by International. FoMoCo was the ones who specified using the "Ford Premium Gold Coolant", which eventually was the subject of lawsuits between the two companys and later leading to their relationship terminating.

 

[inane2]

6.0 Liter Powerstroke Diesel Critical Knowledge Video Series -- POWERSTROKEHELP.COM

Great website for 6.0 owners. Very good tip on watching for slight changes in operating temps.

The horsepower race amongst the big three and, as mentioned earlier, emission standards caused the headaches with this otherwise reliable engine. International ran this motor (without the emissions junk) with no issues. It's unfortunate that Ford and International's relationship ended where it did.

 

[Paystar]

Not myopic, just inexperienced here. Just joined, getting to know the cast of characters, reading some of the threads. Some are outright funny with lots of bad advice and some are very informative!!

YES, I am having lots of Ford problems. Someone told me to come here because there's a lot of Ford diesel owners with similar problems. Juding by threads started by others, it looks like a good place for Ford diesel problems.
BTW: Gonna go ahead and extend warranty, finally got an offer to extend warranty for under $4,000. lead mechanic at Frod dealer told me the 6.4 diesel has plastic interals, a problematic primary turbo and rocker arms that grenade prematurely and without much warning. My truck new is $60,000. F that. Gonna keep this one.

Do yourself a favour Hay Dude....go to PowerStrokeNation : Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum if you are looking for pertinent info on your PS. With my 27 years in trucking and hauling RV's with pickups I try not to participate too much in the transportation threads here. People are way too brand loyal. They fail to see that they are ALL junk no matter what you buy nowadays. LOL.

 

[Hay Dude]

Do yourself a favour Hay Dude....go to PowerStrokeNation : Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum if you are looking for pertinent info on your PS. With my 27 years in trucking and hauling RV's with pickups I try not to participate too much in the transportation threads here. People are way too brand loyal. They fail to see that they are ALL junk no matter what you buy nowadays. LOL.

I do think they are all overcomplicated junk, but does one brand spend more time at the dealer than the other? It would be nice to see some statistics on which brand ends up with the cab on the floor the most.....