One of the ‘For Sale’ pictures from 2015
LT Dan’s excellent piece recently on his long serving 1996 Dodge Ram got me motivated to keep resume writing the stories of the trucks of my life. (Following my 1972, 1986 and 1995 Ford truck stories)
With a baby on the way and 9 trouble free years with the 1995 F250 4X4, it was time for a new truck. Once again, for the 4th time, spring was what got me motivated to find a new truck. It was possibly the busiest and most chaotic time of my life and how this truck ended up with me reflected on that.
The much derided 6.0 Litre Ford Diesel was about 3 years old at this time. At that point, it wasn’t quite as disliked as it became. This was the “new” Ford Diesel, quieter and more powerful than the venerable and well loved 7.3L Power Stroke it replaced. I put little thought into what I wanted: Crew Cab, F350, 4X4, Diesel. And air conditioning, for the first time in my life. If I’m getting a Diesel, I better get the newer engine because why not. No time to research that, no sir. I’ll just get the new model. What could go wrong?
I had a budget, and those trucks at 2-3 years old were tough to fit in my budget. I tracked one down locally, called about it and it was what I wanted. XLT (no carpet, air/cruise/tilt), 4X4, Diesel, 8 foot box, White and 70,000 km. I couldn’t make time to go see it. No problem; the salesman knew our company and offered to bring it by. I had a quick look, and I cannot recall if I even drove it. It ticked all the boxes and I made a deal in the parking lot. It was a time of 10-12 hour days, lots of travel, and general chaos in our rapidly expanding business. Taking time to buy a truck was a nuisance more than anything and not as enjoyable as it had been in the past.
Two weeks later after a long business trip I finally got around to picking it up. It was a little rougher than I remembered. Turned out it was an out of Province truck, from Alberta which was going through a major oil boom at that time, and trucks were being bought, driven hard, then sold regularly. I definitely did not set out to buy an Alberta oil field truck, but some investigation showed that’s what I had.
The first clues were the front shocks being totally shot which I noticed when I installed my camper. Next up was the sway bar links and bushings, and a host of other clues which showed this truck had had some hard living. The 6.0L showed its true colours early on. Three turbos later the local dealer was pretty good at changing them, all on warranty. The last failed turbo also came with a busted exhaust ‘Y’ pipe at the back, and some other issues which necessitated the cab coming off. I saw it at the dealer on the floor, with the box attached and the cab high up on a hoist. It wasn’t the only one there either . . . . All in all that cost me nothing though.
However, other than undoing the oil field wear and tear and some clean up, it was a good truck. It was quiet(er) for it’s time than most diesels, and pulled a big trailer just fine. The fuel mileage was decent, and the horror stories of EGR coolers, Oil coolers, injectors, FICMs, High pressure oil pumps, head bolts and every other bad thing continued to elude me. I changed oil, I continued to put front end parts in it, and it worked great for me. I brought my baby daughter home from the hospital in it, and took her on many long rides on logging roads to get her to sleep. It was capable on and off road. It returned decent 20-ish MPG, and appeared to be impossible to overheat regardless of the load, the mountain or the temperature. The interior was comfortable, functional and easy to keep clean with no carpet. Basically, everything worked, and stayed working.
I added some full length checker plate running boards which helped to protect it. Bug deflector, stainless fender trim, rocker panel stainless trim and new wheels and tires cleaned it up nicely. I kept it clean and tidy as I always did, and it was a good truck. I was super busy at work, and used it for a long daily commute as well as commuting to other locations for our company and general business purposes. It towed boats, skid steers, cars, travel trailers, trucks, tractors and even the odd airplane in pieces. It was a familiar sight on Sundays at the snowmobile areas, and I spent many nights on the back roads with that truck for the volunteer Search and Rescue unit I belong to.
Back at the truck after a long, difficult night on the mountain
A change in my life came along in 2010. With the end of my marriage, I was becoming a single dad every other week. The crew cab proved again to be a good choice with a 3 year old and a large dog and only one vehicle. The truck was the grocery getter, commuter, camping/sledding/fishing vehicle and in short was all I had. The mileage continued to climb and by 2013 it was showing over 280,000 KMs. Still nothing major. Brakes and ball joints and tires and batteries, the life of the diesel truck owner. The long wheel base with front and rear leaf springs gave it an excellent ride, the best of any truck I have owned before or since. I added a leaf in the front, and one in the back and it was still very smooth, and handled reasonably well for an 8000 pound truck. I got a 28’ travel trailer and the truck barely noticed the 7500 lbs even with my ATV on the back and kayaks on the roof rack.
One of the first trips with the trailer. The camping loads only got larger, and larger.
My dad sold and serviced Webasto diesel engine heaters as a part of his business and this truck got one in the first year. For those not familiar, the heater runs on diesel from the main tank. It fires a small furnace and heats and recirculates engine coolant through a heat exchanger. It’s a compact unit we usually mount under the driver’s feet on the frame. I can’t help but credit some of the (relative-for-a- six-litre) longevity from never having a cold start. I would set the timer at night and every morning when I started it the engine temperature was about 160F. It worked flawlessly and was great as a secondary heat source in very cold temperatures (Calgary, Alberta in February once at -40).
By 2011 I had, and still have someone new in my life and although we’re not “married” in the sense of having a wedding, we all but are married. We were now a family of 5 and the crew cab was perfect for all of us for camping and travel. In 2013, on a trip to Vancouver for a concert I commented to my wife on the way home that I was getting exceptionally good mileage but with a lack of power. Here it comes – the first real engine problem. A colleague had the same problem, and sent me to his mechanic. Sure enough, it was the high pressure oil pump which drives the injectors. The EGR cooler was leaking when it was apart, so we should do that. And while we’re there, let’s do the oil cooler. $4000 later I drove it home. Pulling away from a stop light – on the way home from picking it up – the truck suddenly jumped, for lack of a better term and my head hit the door frame as it lurched sideways. It continued to run, but with some blue smoke out the back. Long story short, the new High pressure pump worked so well it blew the guts out of one injector, which blew a literal crater in the #8 cylinder’s piston.
It still ran OK, no real difference other than the blue smoke. I made plans to replace it and found a used engine from a wrecker from a burned truck, with 120,000 kms on it. Common wisdom was to pull the cab to replace the engine, however that wasn’t feasible at our family’s shop. Instead, we would pull it out the front. Common wisdom also said that was a terrible idea, and it really was. For instance, it required taking everything off the front, including the bumper, and even disconnecting the steering linkage. Nonetheless, two stubborn mechanics (being my Dad and I) – one more stubborn than the other (him) – got it done after 3 long hot days in July and the new engine worked well. I considered pushing it off a cliff at some point during that 100 degree weekend but kept pushing along. We put the new parts from the old engine on the replacement, and did the upgrade to cylinder head studs instead of the failure prone bolts prior to install.
The engine practically fell out the front after dismantling half the truck
After that, it was fine. My Dad pulled the damage piston and bent rod out of the old engine, installed new and we did the head gaskets and studs on that engine as well. I eventually sold it and recouped some of my money. Unfortunately, the fellow I sold it to left it in the back of his truck and the engine was subsequently stolen, which is a bizarre thing to steal. Especially when we saw it weighed 1100 lbs on the hook when I picked it up.
2 years and 70,000 kms later I saw another blue cloud of smoke on the way home one day. Then it got worse. And people started giving me the one finger salute by the time I got home, particularly those in convertibles. I took it to a friend of mine and he diagnosed at least one bad injector. He pulled them out and found one failed, and two on the way. Eight new injectors ended up being $5500.00 and signalled the end for this truck. Despite the engine replacement, and the final kick in the teeth I couldn’t fault it too much. It was my only vehicle for 9 years, and suffered through a lot of use and abuse. It did exactly what I needed it to for over a quarter million kilometres and while in the last two years it cost me some (a lot) money, it always got me home.
Looks like a firewood expedition, maybe trail clearing
I tried to trade it in and got the same reaction as my previous two trade in attempts – no thank you, please don’t ask again. Especially a 6.0L diesel with 350,000 kms on the clock. As was my custom, I kept it insured and moved it to back up duties. It took a few months but the right buyer came along and drove it away, quite happy. Happy, until the starter went when he took the truck to go mountain biking that exact night. I felt bad, and got him a starter and ran it out to him. After that, he never looked back. I saw it a year or two ago, with somewhere north of 550,000 kms on the clock and he said if it blows up, he’s buying another one. Good for him. Me, I was done with 6.0L diesels. Then oddly enough in some corruption of the Curbside Classic Effect, the night I finished this post I just saw it again in a small town nearby, still working hard and looking good sporting a new headache rack on the box. It was a productive relationship, not as long as some we’ve heard about recently but the truck did what I needed to do, every day and looked pretty good doing it. The next truck was the same but different in a lot of good ways.
Very sharp looking truck. I would say that would be my dream truck except with the 7.3
I am a commercial operator, so I don’t understand these trucks. That kind of mileage is minuscule compared to what a commercial diesel would achieve.
Diesel pick up trucks are money pits as your article attests, yet the car manufacturers make huge profits on each one. They sell like gangbusters, so what’s the need to improve quality?
Most of the oilfield trucks since 2006 are gasoline for a good reason. The diesels cost too much to run commercially.
Because diesel is still what people think they want despite the problems introduced by more stringent emission requirements and consumer expectations for better performance that drove the development of these new engines. Personally, I think diesel is still considered desirable due to its outdated reputation more than its current merits. Enthusiasts were so excited for the US to start getting all these diesels in midsize and 1/2 ton trucks but now that they are here, the economics rarely make sense.
And we are starting to see the same thing in gas engines as well as boundaries for efficiency and power are being pushed. Ford had teething issues with the Ecoboosts and now even with the new GDI 5.0 V8. GM’s AFM engines are trouble prone, as is Chysler’s ETorque system. It’s not just a truck problem either. Honda’s 1.5 is dumping fuel into the oil and Hyundai/Kia have had serious problems. And let’s not forget all the issues new 6/8/9/10 speed transmissions are having.
I think the bottom line is that modern drivetrains are on a downward trajectory in general. Performance and efficiency are better than ever, but at a high cost.
This is the kind of story that burns me up. I salute you for standing by your truck and giving it the love (and money) it needed, but for Ford to put something this badly engineered and built out into the world is nearly criminal.
Your finishing up at 350km works out to about 217,000 miles. I have bought two vehicles at that approximate mileage and both had experienced zero failures. But then the Honda 2.2 I-4 and the Chrysler 3.3 V6 were designed and built the way an engine is supposed to be.
This is one reason I have tended to either buy something when it has gotten old enough to separate the good stuff from the junk, or to pick newer models with proven innards. My only real unknown was with my Kia, which gave me a 100K mile powertrain warranty. So I guess the executive summary here would be that any engine I have to pay to replace in a car that cost more than $1000 would be an epic, epic, epic fail. That this one was not for you shows what an otherwise competent truck Ford was building.
JP, by comparison the 1995 Ford I wrote about previously went the same mileage and needed all but nothing. Two fuel pumps in two months was the most it ever needed from what I recall.
Coincidentally and for the same poor reasons I purchased a new snowmobile that same year that was in the first two years of its model life cycle. Also not a good decision. Call it expensive lessons learned.
These pickups have a lot of intrinsic goodness and are capable of many, many things. However, the drivetrain can make or break them as this TOAL clearly shows.
During my brief tenure of managing a large(-ish) fleet as an “other duty as assigned” was the time when my affinity for these 6.0s came into full blossom. Yes, that’s being sarcastic. We had so many problems the next round of one tons I purchased all said “Dodge” on them. Have we ever really heard of widespread problems with a Cummins?
These days diesels just aren’t attractive in a 3/4 or one-ton pickup. The initial cost is much higher, fuel is more expensive, maintenance is higher, and fuel mileage isn’t that terrific in the applications I’ve seen. Gasoline is the way to go, which is also what we’ve been doing at work.
Your perseverance with this pickup is quite admirable.
Precisely why Ford just introduced a new 7.3 liter gas V-8. If you really need a diesel for long-distance heavy towing/hauling you can have one. If you just need to move heavy stuff around town the gas engine is the way to go.
I don’t know if perseverance or poor judgment was the case with this one Jason. I still see a surprising amount running around here but they’re not very desirable on the resale front.
I guess at the time it was the lesser of several evils in that another truck payment wasn’t in the works at that point. Would I do it again? nope.
I like the basic chassis of these, and daily drive a 2003 Excursion with the 7.3. With 240k miles on it, it does not use any oil between 5k changes!
Cab off is the only way to go. It is so much quicker and so much easier to access everything. Of course if you don’t have a lift you don’t have a lift.
My niece’s husband, and his father, own and operate a custom concrete business. I don’t exactly know what makes their concrete special but apparently it is; they have customers all over the United States and in several Canadian provinces as well. For large deliveries they use tractor/trailer combos but for smaller loads they pull smaller trailers with one ton pickups. They have a small fleet of F350s, all with diesel power, and they swear by them. They don’t use the F350s as much as they once did; at one point they traded them away every 36-40 months, which worked out to around 250k miles. Apparently they felt this was the way to avoid engine issues before they raised their ugly head.
At the EMS service I worked at for many years, we would only buy Ford F-350’s and E-350’s with the 7.3 diesel and the ambulance prep pack. After 3 years of running the 6.0’s the entire fleet was replaced. The picture speaks for itself.
The myriad of problems with the 6.0L PowerStroke is why so many still prefer the old 7.3L unit over everything between it & the current 6.7L PowerStroke. During the 6.0 & 6.4’s days emission regulation bugs were still being worked out but were pretty much fixed by the time of the 6.7’s debut in the 2011 Super Duty. Apparently things are still working out as Ford continues to use this same engine in the current-generation pickups. Another thing to factor in is the 6.7 is built ENTIRELY by Ford while all previous engines were a joint venture with Navistar International.
I’m currently running a 6.7L in the latest vehicle in the fleet and it’s nothing short of amazing. Big power, quiet and fuel efficient and so far, bullet proof.
I can foresee this engine being around for a while. it’s not broken; don’t fix it.
Great read Kevin, and too bad the truck proved to be so problematic. While modern diesels are very strong and still get significantly better fuel mileage than gassers, I’d still have a hard time considering one (unless it was a company truck I didn’t have to service). It’s amazing how much more reliable your previous gas Ford truck was than this one, but I guess it was also much more utilitarian and simple. My old Suburban was a similar age to your previous truck and was powered by a 350 engine, Like your Ford, it racked up high mileage, about 400K kms when I sold it, without any major failures.
VinceC I agree. It effectively makes little sense for me to own a diesel, however I do tow a fairly large trailer and have a long commute each day, and the diesel provides some advantage. However, I would say it economically makes little to no sense.
Perhaps growing up in the trucking industry is what draws me to diesel trucks. However the tire wear, $150 oil changes and general repairs certainly make them less attractive especially given the towing ability of the average gasser half ton.