Ford Recalling Super Duty Pickups, Issues 'Do Not Drive' Warning for Brakes That Can Suddenly Fail

[5030]

Meh. The 7.3’s were lame for HP per litre. 7.3 litres and only 235 HP. That’s really lame. The Ford transmissions were weak, too. Any addition of power to a 7.3L would shred the transmissions within a few months. You’d have to spend thousands to “bulletproof” the transmission.

You are way better off with a 6.7L Ford diesel and newer transmission.
The old Ford E4OD and 4R100 transmissions made transmission shop owners into millionaires in the 90’s and early 2000’s.

I agree in factory dress, not only the 7.3 but the E4OD were underpowered (engine) and problematic (transmission) but, easily rectified, which I did immediately upon taking delivery. I gave the truck to Ford SVO, in Dearborn, Michigan and they modified not only the transmission but installed a complete Banks performance kit minus the ATA (which in retrospect I should have had them install but didn't). They did install the Stage 2 chip and the full gage package as well and the trabs was completely reworked with billet clutches, a performance valve body and high performance torque converter as well as a cast aluminum deep sump pan and a Hayden 12 pass oil cooler with it's own electric cooling fan and I'm very happy with the performance of the engine and transmission other than the abrupt shifting when going into OD, but then eliminating the smooth shiting and clutch plate drag eliminates the failure issues. Keep in mind it's a '97, not a 2024 truck. Besides I prefer ther OBD body style rather that shortening the hood and putting the engine under the firewall but then I will always be a 'conventional long nose person and not a cabin over person.

 

[jyoutz]

Yet the last 10 or so vehicles my wife and I have owned have gone over 200k miles with nothing but routine maintenance. Older vehicles were simpler and easier to work on which was a good thing because working on them was constant.

And an engine overhaul at 100K miles was typical.

 

[tradosaurus]

Why “deleted”? Is Fords system unreliable?
Why “tuned”? Is Ford not powerful enough?

Good grief, I’m running a bone stock, standard output Cummins with the factory DEF/DPF system and crossing the scale at 45,000+ 100 times a year with no issues.

Good grief. Ask the EPA why they felt it necessary to require harmful emissions equipment in trucks and tractors.

How much DEF fluid have you used? Have u ever cross contaminated the diesel with DEF? Have u had to replace the DPF because it failed or was stolen?

Trucks without wasteful DPF are more reliable, have more power, and last longer. That’s a fact, Jack.

 

[5030]

I've purchase and continue to purchase out of date DEF in IBC totes. Interesrtingly the EPA requires an experartion date (like whole milk) on DEF for reasons I don't understand as DEF is nothing but Deionozed water and liquid urea, nothing to go bad there, that I know of but I'm good with it simply because I can buy outdated DEF cheap.

Makes a great foliar innoculant for alfalfa hay, it loves the urea and it's considerably less expensive to purchase and apply that 28 granulated is. Still stinks like cat pee however. Once the conflict started in Ukraine, the price of 28 went through the roof, in as much as most of the granulated comes from there and granulated prills are what DEF is made from.

Only thing it's good for in my view. Currently have one full 350 gallon tote and a partial in the barn. Being the nice guy I am, I return the empty totes to the companies I buy them from....

Also interesting is the percentage of Urea to deionized water. It varies by brand though I thought there was a standard they had to adhere to. I've measured various barnds in the totes I purchase (with a refractometer) and it can go from 36% to 28% depending on the brand. I ust take the solution from the totes and cut it 50% with water in the spray rig and call it good.

My big issue is the transportation of it. 325 gallon totes are very heavy. DEF is heavy by nature, consequently a full 325 gallon tote can weigh over 2900 pounds, well in the excess of what the loaders on my M9's can lift so I have to be creative in moving it around. 2 of them in the back of my 1 ton Ford makes her squat a bit. All that stuff is good for in my opinion. Said before and will agiain, the major breakdown issue at the dealership I retired from was failure of the DPF injection systems which result in immediate derating of the diesel engine and a row bill and of course the cost to repair plus parts and it was almost always the failure of the electronic controls that metered the DEF into the exhaust stream in the cannister.

Automakers and truck builders always purchase the least expensive components so they can realize maximum profit and the end user gets to pay for that.

My view is, once the book smart real world dumb EPA gets involved in anything, it never turns out good.

 

[newbury]

Didn't Navistar build the 6.0 AND the 6.4 liter diesels for Ford ??? The divorce came after both those engine iterations flopped on their behinds... So, the "downhill started with Navistar" not after the divorce. To me, the new (after 14 years it's no longer new) 6.7l diesel is a vast improvement over the Navistar 6.0 and 6.4 liter "ticking time bombs"...

I'll probably keep my 7.3.

 

[5030]

Kind of along the lines of domestic car and truck builders using steel brakelines which are failure prone due to corrosion. Europeans learned long ago that alloy brake lines last the life of the vehicle...duh...

Guess it has to do with planned obsolence and the 'buy new every 2' mantra. Might have worked 25 years ago but with the cost of new vehicles today, not so much unless you have a fat wallet. I don't.

 

[5030]

I'll probably keep my 7.3.

Good idea. In reality a stock or close to stock 7.3 will go an average of 150K miles without any major repairs, tther than maybe a crank position sensor which are failure prone because they are made cheap but an easy replacement. Located just to the right of the harmonic dampener and secures with a single bolt, it only takes a minute to replace. I carry a spare in the truck, always. That and leaking turbo pedestal seals, but when I had my truck at SVO, they replaced the leak prone pedestal with a the improved pedestal that don't leak. A stock or close to stock 7.3 might not be a hot rod but it's reliable as a rock.

 

[Snobdds]

My truck had this problem. I maybe drive my superduty 10 times a year. I took it to my cabin because I had to haul my side by side. I drove it up, unloaded the side by side, and parked the truck for 3 days. Get in to drive home and zero brakes. Nothing.

Now where my cabin is, there is no way a tow truck would make it up there. My dad was with me hauling a 18ft trailer load of wood home. I took the spare tire and drapted it with a chain over the back of the ramp. I then followed him down the mountain using the e brake and bumping into his trailer, using the tire as a buffer, to let him be my brakes down. It actually worked ok. Got to a point where we could get a tow truck in.

There was seal in the master cylinder that just gave way. I had to have the entire break system replaced. Ford covered it.

Let me tell you, it was the first time Ford left me stranded. But they made it right.

 

[JasperFrank]

I really don't miss points or carbs...

 

[tradosaurus]

And military vehicles are exempt from emissions requirements.
Guess the environment really isn’t that important.