6.0 diesel owners please weigh in

sjpotter · Post by **sjpotter** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:09 pm

Hi everyone. I bought a 2004 BF 26' RB with the 6.0 liter diesel. I have had some minor problems with overheating when the outside temps get into the 100's. I bought a Edge CTS monitor that allows me to monitor the Coolant and Engine Oil temps and it has been very inlightening. If you read the powerstroke.org forums you'll get an idea of all the problems these engines have had. Specifically the problems with the oil coolers and the egr coolers. There are many other problems with this engine, like the turbo, the injectors, the TTY head bolts, etc. I am most concerned with the oil and egr cooler because in a 14k lbs motorhome the temps run very high which could cause cloging of the oil cooler and subsequent rupture of the egr cooler which could cause a blown headgasket, it happens a lot in the F series trucks, somewhat less in the E series becuase of the lighter program it runs.

My question is has anyone experienced these problems in the BF motorcoach?

robert newby · Post by **robert newby** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:41 pm

I could write a book about the many problems I've had with my 6.0.On one trip we were towed 5 times!!!!! -- I've had , I think , everything on the engine replaced. I truly believe that the one thing that caused all the problems is the wiring for the engine which has been replaced 2 times and I truly hope that the last replacement will be the final time as it was done at the Ford Truck agency in Portland,Oregon while we were on our trip to Alaska this past Spring. Our coach now runs great!! ! ! We are now getting over 14 MPG.

sjpotter · Post by **sjpotter** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:21 am

did you ever have an EGR cooler or Oil cooler replaced? How many miles on the truck?

grross · Post by **grross** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:12 am

We had the 6.0 on our 2005 BF RBRE. After 5 EGR valves and 4 turbos, we gave up and replaced it with a 2008 BF. The programming for the e450 was a substatially detuned version of the F series truck. The explanation Ford gave us was that it an RV that sat for substantial periods of time with out use. We were advised to drive it weekly and drive it like "we stole it".
This helped the situation, but after 17,000 miles we traded it in to BF. On the other hand people that we knew with the F series version and high mileage rarely had a propblem with turbo/egr valve. After market products appear to have solved the problem.

Virgil and Anne Dutton · Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:59 am

I have a 2006 BFT with 58,000 miles on the 6.0 Diesel and have not had a single problem.

Virgil

robert newby · Post by **robert newby** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:26 pm

Hi steve -- We have over 70,000 miles on the coach -- as I said it now runs great! -- mine is also a 2004 and I'm told that Ford had a lot of wiring problems on the early 2004 production - I also had the transmission re-placed on our first trip in the coach to Alaska in 2005 and I'm wondering if it really needed re-placement or was it a wiring problem to the transmission that showed up as a transmission problem -- anyway we have an up graded transmission now thanks to Ford -- most all of our work was done by Ford at their expense we only had the inconvenience of being down a few days at a time while traveling!!! - Bob

sjpotter · Post by **sjpotter** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:11 pm

do you tow a vehicle, and if so have you towed in 100+ degree heat, and if so how did it work out?

robert newby · Post by **robert newby** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:02 pm

Hi Steve -- most of the time we don't tow as we have found out we really don't need a separate car most of the time -- as an example we have been to Alaska 7 times and haven't towed there yet -- when we do tow I have a PT that we use -- I haven't checked the millage when towing - and generally we don't travel in very hot weather-- Bob

sjpotter · Post by **sjpotter** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:44 pm

Thanks Bob, I'll bet Alaska is a nice trip

Virgil and Anne Dutton · Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:49 pm

Hi Steve,
I don't tow a vehicle, however, I do quite often tow my enclosed cargo trailer with an ATV and other things in it. The GW could get up to 3000 pounds or so. When towing it I never consider the outside temps because It is so common here drive at anytime. Last week Anne and I returned from a 5000 mile trip around the Pacific Northwest and we returned across the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts in 110 plus degrees. The BFT performed very well without any elevated temps.

You have, however, caused me to study the problems associated with the 6.0 Powerstroke and I have decided to get a monitor to keep a closer watch of the oil and coolant temps. I believe I will also flush and replace the coolant ahead of the prescribed time. Most of the forums seem to think the silicates in the Ford coolant is causing the coolers to clog and thus the primary cause of the problems.

Virgil

sjpotter · Post by **sjpotter** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:50 pm

Virgil:
That's correct. The problems with the oil coolers are well documented. Ford successfully sued Navistar because of all the warranty work they had to perform on the 6.0 liter.

Here is required reading for all 6.0 liter owners:

http://www.ntshoptools.com/magazines/DWcomboPt1.pdf
http://www.ntshoptools.com/magazines/DWcomboPt2.pdf
http://www.ntshoptools.com/magazines/72638_eprint.pdf

I plan on having the remote oil cooler and Bulletproof EGR cooler installed as soon as I can afford the $5,000 (installed) price tag. I have talked to people on the powerstroke.org forum and they say it been the greatest thing they have done to their trucks. People who are using just the vehicles temp guage to evaluate their cooling are making a big mistake. My coolant temp hit 236 and was shooting out of my coolant resevoir before my stock temp guage made any indication. The cap on the resevoir releases at 16 psi.

People who run in cooler climates, should be OK, but I recommend everyone buy somekind of monitor to keep an eye on the temps. I bought an edge CTS and can monitor up to 5 parameters at a time. I normally monitor EGT, ECT, EOT, Turbo Boost, and Inlet Air Temp.

Virgil and Anne Dutton · Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:49 am

Steve,

Thanks for the information. Since Bulletproof Deisel is in my area, about 20 miles away, I think I will go over there in the next couple weeks and talk to them as well as get a first hand look at their products and facility.

Virgil

Mike Jean Bandfield · Post by **Mike Jean Bandfield** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:03 pm

Thanks Steve. I did quite a bit of research before buying the BF. At the time there were indications of problems but little hard evidence. While I wasn't paying attention it looks like a lot of new info has become available in the last couple of years on the 6.0 problems. I've been lucky but it appears inevitable that I will have trouble and with ~45K on the odometer some preventive measures are in order.

sjpotter wrote: I recommend everyone buy somekind of monitor to keep an eye on the temps.

Yes, idiot gauges that only read 3 positions are worse than an idiot light - they're misleading. With a real gauge you can see relative change, how your driving affects systems and approaching danger. At least an idiot light gets your attention and is a clear and easily seen indication of trouble.

I use a Scan Gauge and have not seen an EOT over 215 yet. It cools down to 200 when idling. I assume that is good but I'm really not sure what would be too hot.

Update 11/17/2011

In researching the 6.0 problems I found that there have been a significant number of problems with:

Turbos
EGR coolers
Oil coolers
Head bolts
Electrical problems

A high number of the turbo failures can be traced to problems with the EGR cooler and there is little preventative work that can be done here beyond cleaning up the turbo and making sure the vanes are all pivoting properly.

Electrical problems seem to be multiple and non-specific - nothing preventative to do here.

Stock head bolts in the 6.0 are 16 too few and the "torque-to-yield" bolts are problematic especially in RVs that tow in extreme heat or have extreme operating conditions. The e series Fords are de-tuned and most of the failures have been in the F series especially on the performance modified pick-ups. So this shouldn't be a high risk for us.

I had our local diesel shop put in the Bulletproof oil cooler and EGR cooler conversions along with an oil change and coolant change for $5320. This was purely a preventative measure but it seems to be inevitable given what we now know about the 6.0; and I'd much rather do it at home than on the Al-Can hwy.

At 45,000 miles, the unit showed nothing out of the ordinary. The EGR valve will often be wet and gummy if there EGR cooler problems. Mine was black and sooty.

With Fingers Firmly Crossed,

Mike

Mike Jean Bandfield · Post by **Mike Jean Bandfield** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:54 pm

This guy will take you through many of the 6.0 issues. Excellent tutorials.
http://www.youtube.com/user/powerstrokehelp