Diesel versus gas maintance

[Soundguy]

I drive a 04 f250 with 6.0psd. I own a 99 f450 with 7.3psd.

It's true.. the 7.3 doesn't have the pep the 6.0 does.. but zI love my 7.3 I pull a gooseneck trailer with it and have had it loaded to full legal weight many times trucking down the interstate with no noticeable difference in performance. mine is geared real low.. 4.88 rear.. so i don't get over 72mph.. but it pulls GREAT. I'm in fact considering getting a similar vintage 7.3/f350 for my wife to replace her failing gmc yukon.

I do carry a cps inmy glove box on the advice of others, just in case.

I make multi-state trips to fetch tractors now and then, so I try to run a good oil. I'm using valvolene premium blue full synthetic. it's spendy.. but a darn good oil. i went to syn tranny fluid / ps fluid as well as syn rear end oil.

I have a transfer technolofies 50g reserve tank in the bed. it's all automagic. unless i'm hauling but at 72mph loaded to 14k I still can muster around 9mpg.. anything less than full load and if I stay under 67mph i can get 10-13mpg. Unloaded, I can usually make a 3-4 state run before needing fuel. ( bladder needs stops though.. )

soundguy

 

[Rustyiron]

Just to compare apples to apples, what does Ford (or International?) Recommend as the oil change mileage? My 2001 Chevy is not 3000 but 7500 just for example. Quickie Oil change companies have everybody thinking 3k is the absolute max or the engine will fail at 3001 miles. I change my gasser at 5 to 6k, which has worked for the last 4 trucks. I know diesels require a no nonsense maintance plan which is what I am learning about, so I don't miss anything. 5k shouldn't be too often as that works now.
David from jax

I have allways changed at 3k miles but I insalled a hour meter because I do a bunch of idiling. and it works out for me to be 3000 miles = 100+ or so hours.

 

[sandman2234]

Well, I can tell you this, idleing won't be a problem with me. As an over the road truck driver, I placed 4th in the lowest idle time the first year I worked for Core Carriers, and I didn't even know they tracked idle times, much less have contests for it. The year before I started with them, they gave away a new p/u truck to the lowest idle time driver. Then when he told them he was going to have to sell it to pay the taxes, they paid those too! The first year as an over the road (35 states) I was beat out by 3 local/dedicated drivers, and then not by much...
I am enjoying learning about this truck, should have started it earlier, lol.
David from jax

 

[mbrule]

Also, the worst thing you can do to these engines is extended idling. When you stop to get fuel or go in the store shut it down.

OK, I have to ask, ( I have a lot to learn!!!) I thought that it did not hurt (and was even good) to idle a diesel?!?!?!?!?!? Thought the primary issue was noise and smell from the idling engine.

I also am of the belief that it should be allowed to idle after working it hard to cool the turbo. Am I wrong about this?????

Thanks guys!

 

[deerefan]

OK, I have to ask, ( I have a lot to learn!!!) I thought that it did not hurt (and was even good) to idle a diesel?!?!?!?!?!? Thought the primary issue was noise and smell from the idling engine.

I also am of the belief that it should be allowed to idle after working it hard to cool the turbo. Am I wrong about this?????

Thanks guys!

No, it is a good idea to idle turbo engines after working thme for a couple minutes. As for just letting it sit there and idle, not necessary. I love the people in the 1 tons that do this, pretending to be truckers. A couple minutes is one thing, anything more is completely unnecessary. Truckers have different reasons for doing it, not just to waste fuel.

 

[Highbeam]

I can scan a receipt for $18 and change that I paid for the Motorcraft oil filter at Walmart this weekend. Add 15 Quarts of Motorcraft oil at $15 and change / 5 quarts, that is $63 and change plus tax every 5k miles. Instead of $20 or so every 3k miles for the K20.

Air filter was just about $60, a standard one for the K20 is less than $10, the K&N was $45. A K&N for the F350 appears to be about $250.

Fuel filters were $59 and change for Hastings brand at my local auto parts store, you are right, I did not shop around, may be I can find them cheaper.

ONE of the fuel filters is right on top, BUT, there is another in the frame rail that sucks to change, and requires a 36 mm socket, not exactly a special tool , but not in the average homeowner box either.

I realize that my two trucks 06 F350 and 86 K20 ARE NOT an apples to apples comparison, just my experience. It does illustrate that the diesel requires more (and more expensive) maintenance, that is a fact. I am not saying that the maintenance costs are a big deal, but that my new F350 will and is costing more to maintain than my old small block gas job. And, that is of course if nothing breaks. That said the F350 is A LOT MORE TRUCK!!!!

Don't get me wrong, I love the new truck! (having trouble parting with the old one though!) and understand that the maintenance (and any repairs) will be higher.

I see your problem mbrule, you are not using the same engine that I am, or the same engine that is the topic of this thread, the one the OP is asking about, the 7.3. So your costs are very skewed but the bottom line is very true, that gas is cheaper to maintain by a tiny bit. The 7.3 uses a much cheaper spin on oil filter and a single fuel filter element on top of the engine.

The oil change interval of 5000 is specified by ford/international. It is so short because the 7.3 has a super high pressure oil pump that it uses to inject fuel, oil pressures can be over 2000psi. The high pressure pump is very hard on oil and shears it into junk much earlier than other more traditional systems. The 6.0 uses the same HP oil pump system for fueling.

 

[sandman2234]

Idling a few minutes to cool a turbo, and idling it for six hours while your in the motel asleep is kind of the difference. I asked the guy in question about it, and he said he didn't want to run his battery down with the lights. (I thought, why not just turn off the lights???). He said he left the lights on so nobody would run into his trailer. All fine and good, but in a lighted motel parking lot with the truck/trailer parked against the curb out of the line of traffic, come on...
Idling a truck for a reason is ok, that is why we buy them, but there is a mindset that we have to idle them when with a little forthought it could be avoided. Think about shutting it off every time before you get out of the truck, and if you "have to" idle it, think about any options you could do to change the reasons you are leaving it idling. Doing that will probably reduce your idle time a lot. Back to maintaince, lol, since that was what this post was about.
David from jax

 

[ModMech]

Well, for the last year, I have been considering buying a heavier duty p/u so I could move my tractors without having to drive them to their destinations. A used Ford F350 has been chosen, and maybe one day I will actually take pocession of it, but that is another story.(2000 model with 7.3 and standard transmission) I have a few questions about diesel p/u's that hopefully can be answered easily.
What am I looking at as far as maintance compared to a gas engine. Is there anything that has to be done that a gas driving person wouldn't think about, or things that are done more often, or not at all?
David from jax

David,

Read the owner's guide and guide suppliment for diesel engines, if your truck does not have one or both, register your VIN on the Motorcraft website and you can download a PDF copy. Then READ AND FOLLOW the maintanance guidelines!

Diesel engines hold more oil, have more filters and more expensive filters with about the same service intervals as compared to the same truck with a gas engine. This means that routine maintenance is more costly with a diesel than with a gas engine.

Make SURE you use DCA-4 addative as prescribed in the manual, not too much nor too little, or you could have SERIOUS engine problems down the road. It is not costly or difficult to do, so no reason not to.

 

[mbrule]

No, it is a good idea to idle turbo engines after working thme for a couple minutes. As for just letting it sit there and idle, not necessary. I love the people in the 1 tons that do this, pretending to be truckers. A couple minutes is one thing, anything more is completely unnecessary. Truckers have different reasons for doing it, not just to waste fuel.

I DO NOT want to be one of the guys in the 1 ton that thinks he is a trucker....... But i do want to properly take care of my truck.

If I stop to grab a coffee or something, then whatever I am driving (car, truck / gas, diesel) idles while I do so. Any longer than that and I shut them down. I have not had the diesel long enough to tow with it or work it to the point of needing cool down, just been going back and forth to work. Got the new trailer hitch on it last night, so it will be asked to step up next time I need to tow one of the trailers.

Per David's request, back to maintenance......

 

[ModMech]

OK, I have to ask, ( I have a lot to learn!!!) I thought that it did not hurt (and was even good) to idle a diesel?!?!?!?!?!? Thought the primary issue was noise and smell from the idling engine.

I also am of the belief that it should be allowed to idle after working it hard to cool the turbo. Am I wrong about this?????

Thanks guys!

The ONLY time you need to idle a diesel turbo is if you just were under load - like with a tractor where you reach the end of the row and stop for supper. Then idle it for a minute or two, otherwise, no don't.

A typical LD diesel (car/pickup) will use between 0.5 and 1.0 GPH, that's $1.75 to $3.50 an hour in fuel. If you idle needlessly, you have more $$$ than common sense (IMO).

Ideling QUICKLY cools the combustion chamber, lots of raw fuel in the oil (a few %) for no good reason. If it is -40*F, well you might NEED to idle if you cannot plug in a block heater. Same if you need to sleep in the truck and need the HVAC system due to the temperature.