New to a Powerstroke

[USMC53CHIEF]

:banana:Hello,

Just sold my cobra, and picked up a 03 f250 with the 6.0. FX4 4 door. still inquiring if it has been bulletproofed by the original owner, as the guy I bought it off of didnt know his ass from a hot rock.

I just bought an oil change for it, Rotella with a Motorcraft filter, as well as a new Motorcraft fuel filter.

Was told the front wheel bearings and brakes were just replaced, as well as the transmission being rebuilt by Ford in 06. New injectors and glowplugs within the last year. Brand new Michelin tires. New Batteries.

How long should a rotella (non syn) oil change last me? Is there any way to visually see if the motor has been bulletproofed?

Truck has 337k, original owner was a construction company owner and drove from ohio to florida quite often. Interior is immaculate, like strangley immaculate for 330k.

thanks all!

 

[ashleyroachclip]

Go to fordtrucks.com , fordtruckenthusiast.com , once you weed through the chatter, you can find very good information.
I can't help you with your questions other than the oil , same as a gas engine 3-5 thousand miles .

 

[USMC53CHIEF]

ok thanks

 

[ford fanatic]

Read this Scare me - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

I run Valvoline Premium Blue 15W-40 and change it every 4K, (Motorcraft only filters) fuel filters every other oil change. A lot of guys on powerstoke.org are going to tell you to run full synthetic with Rev-X...it helps with injector stiction.

I spent many hours on here Ford 03-07 6.0L Powerstroke Forums - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum reading before I went with a 6.0, instead of going back to a 7.3...

Because there is just so much I want to say, my advice is to read, read again, and read some more on that site.

 

[Ryan]

There are many levels of bulletproofing. Some go crazy, others do it in steps. You can tell if the truck has been studded by just looking around the front of the drivers side valve cover. Obviously the oil cooler / egr cooler (if the egr cooler & egr itself haven't been removed) you won't be able to tell. I would say if the truck doesn't already have an Insight or similar set up the truck probably has NOT been 'bulletproofed.' Regardless, that would be step 1 for me, put gauges on it, to include EGT, and see where you are.

 

[americansteel]

:banana:Hello,

Just sold my cobra, and picked up a 03 f250 with the 6.0. FX4 4 door. still inquiring if it has been bulletproofed by the original owner, as the guy I bought it off of didnt know his ass from a hot rock.

I just bought an oil change for it, Rotella with a Motorcraft filter, as well as a new Motorcraft fuel filter.

Was told the front wheel bearings and brakes were just replaced, as well as the transmission being rebuilt by Ford in 06. New injectors and glowplugs within the last year. Brand new Michelin tires. New Batteries.

How long should a rotella (non syn) oil change last me? Is there any way to visually see if the motor has been bulletproofed?

Truck has 337k, original owner was a construction company owner and drove from ohio to florida quite often. Interior is immaculate, like strangley immaculate for 330k.

thanks all!

not many people on this forum know anything about a diesel engine let alone actually built one or a gas engine, you're asking about if you truck been bulletproofed? two ways first- look at the egr pipe is it original? aftermarket? or a delete kit? second- this is hard to do, look at the head bolts on the bottom of the heads, are they bolts or are they nuts? if they are nuts then your engine has studs and something occurred during the engines life cycle. the 6.0l will last a while and at 337K im sure you will have no problem touching 500K.
if for any reason you have problems with your truck take it to an international dealer they sell and service all international trucks and engines each state should have a dealer. and do some research about diesel mechanics in your state and do not take your truck to a gasoline engine mechanic. that's like a carpenter trying to fabricate a steel rail it doesn't work.

 

[USMC53CHIEF]

I just joined the fordtrucks forum... a metric a$$ ton of good info over there. pretty impressed so far. Bad part is Im learning how bad the PO neglected my truck

 

[ajennings]

Don't forget to change the 2nd fuel filter. its on the frame rail. some people overlook this one.

 

[USMC53CHIEF]

I changed them both, with motorcraft filters

Im working the issues now, I have everything listed over there that Ive done

 

[Toybreaker]

I like powerstokenation.com personally.

EGR cooler (aftermarket or deleted)
Oil cooler (Aftermarket)
at 337k It obviously has had some preventative or corrective work done.

With a little bit of work over stock the 6.0's can run......

Get a forecast report done, there is a thread on powerstrokenation.com where a guy that works at a dealer will post your forecast report for you. Will tell you everything that has been done to your truck by ford. Came in handy on my 01 F250.

As far as the oil, get an oil analysis done. I run rotella T 15w40 and according to the oil lab I can run it for 7k between changes. At almost 4 gallons I would hate to have to change it every 3-4 k miles.

Pay attention to your fuel filters and where you get your fuel. A bad batch of fuel will ruin your day!

 

[USMC53CHIEF]

I was thinking the same thing as far as having something done to help it get to 338.

Im trying to free enough time to test my FICM right now. I am almost certain that its bad. The dingus that had the truck before me was running terribly bad batteries.... I think the low voltage may have toasted it.

I am interested in the forecast report... Im going to inquire more about it.

I swapped the 15w-40 in for the synthetic rotella 5w-40

 

[ford fanatic]

I was thinking the same thing as far as having something done to help it get to 338.

Im trying to free enough time to test my FICM right now. I am almost certain that its bad. The dingus that had the truck before me was running terribly bad batteries.... I think the low voltage may have toasted it.

I am interested in the forecast report... Im going to inquire more about it.

I swapped the 15w-40 in for the synthetic rotella 5w-40

You'll need to monitor A LOT more than just the FICM, if you are going to own a 6.0 diesel, this will be your best friend Edge Products| Product

 

[Hwy. Chile]

sub'ing

 

[USMC53CHIEF]

Ok an update....

sorry its been awhile Ive just been slammed with work.

I went to 2 different very reputable shops... bth hooked the truck up to there snap-on laptops, both came up with this

7 Bad Glow Pugs
#7 Injector Bad


The second shop thinks that a hot shot stiction treatment may clear the miss, so I went ahead and put a bottle in. I am about 40 miles into it so far... I think I should know by 100-150miles if it will clear it up.

As far as the glow plugs, I ordered 8, along with new u joints and a 4 inch turbo back straight pipe. I also had to replace the windshield because of the previous owner


Ill let you know how it goes

 

[SID297]

6.0 injectors can last for a long time if you keep good oil in them and add a bypass filtration kit.

 

[ford fanatic]

Ok an update....

sorry its been awhile Ive just been slammed with work.

I went to 2 different very reputable shops... bth hooked the truck up to there snap-on laptops, both came up with this

7 Bad Glow Pugs
#7 Injector Bad


The second shop thinks that a hot shot stiction treatment may clear the miss, so I went ahead and put a bottle in. I am about 40 miles into it so far... I think I should know by 100-150miles if it will clear it up.

As far as the glow plugs, I ordered 8, along with new u joints and a 4 inch turbo back straight pipe. I also had to replace the windshield because of the previous owner


Ill let you know how it goes

Was just reading about hot shot stiction treatment on Powerstroke.org and thought I might give it a try on my next oil change. Let us know how it works:beer:.

 

[USMC53CHIEF]

Ok, the hot shot didnt work, and by that I mean my #7 was still bad. I didnt really expect it to work. Im sure it helped with the other injectors though.

I replaced the 8 glow plugs with new Motorcraft plugs, new harnesses from Ford and replaced the Injector with a Motorcraft injector.

Runs like a freakin CHAMP!

I used to get around 225-250 miles to a tank even on the highway, I have 370 and still have a quarter tank left... in town mileage.

 

[USMC53CHIEF]

I listed my truck for sale on Craigslist, not really wanting to sell it, but if the right trade or deal comes across then so be it... I think Im gonna post it on here as well.

 

[SID297]

Any particular reason for selling it?

 

[ford fanatic]

I listed my truck for sale on Craigslist, not really wanting to sell it, but if the right trade or deal comes across then so be it... I think Im gonna post it on here as well.

I've been tossing the idea around myself about selling....