Fords Bad 6 liter

[flaboy-]

So all the Ford bashers will read this I am sure. It's like we said many times on here, it don't matter who makes it there are good and bad ones. For all the Jap thumpers here ya go.

Toyota Motor Co. on Thursday launched a recall of 533,000 trucks and SUVs over possible steering and suspension problems.

The recall came a week after Toyota reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed over sludge that was apparently building in the engines of millions of vehicles, requiring the engine to be replaced or repaired. As many as 3 million to 4 million vehicles are believed to be involved.

The latest recall includes certain 2004-2007 model year Sequoia full-size sport utility vehicles and 2004-2006 Tundra pickups sold in the United States. A ball joint in the front suspension may be wearing excessively, causing undue noise and making the vehicles difficult to steer.

Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong said the defect may be the cause of 11 accidents resulting in six injuries.

Toyota, which is adding production capacity faster than any automaker in North America, faced nagging questions about its quality after 2.2 million recalls in 2005. But the world's No. 2 automaker managed to reduce recalls by about two-thirds in 2006 and continues to lead the industry in most quality surveys.

Safety recalls declined dramatically industrywide in 2006.

An estimated 10.8 million vehicles were recalled last year, compared with 17.9 million cars and trucks recalled in 2005 and well below the record-breaking 30.8 million recalls in 2004, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. posted improvements last year, while DaimlerChrysler (Dodge) saw its recalls more than double to 2.4 million vehicles in 2006.

While not good news for the automaker, the recall likely won't seriously dent Toyota's solid reputation for quality vehicles, said brand analyst Erich Merkle of IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids.

"They are fallible," he said. "I don't think this is going to hurt them, but they do have to circle back around and hone in on quality."

Merkle said Toyota made a good decision in delaying the start of production for the new Tundras being built at a recently opened $1.28 billion auto plant in Texas.

Toyota initiated Thursday's recall and will notify owners of the involved vehicles in mid-February. The company will replace the left and right front suspension lower ball joint at no cost

 

[Subsoil]

Not all recalls are created equal. Some are pretty minor while some are quite major.

However, since this post is about the Ford 6.0, I think when ford offered owners of the 93 and 94 model 6.0 trucks a $2500 rebate on a new truck that no one else got, it was a pretty good admission there was problems. If you had a 93 model with a 7.3, you couldn't get the rebate. I think they fixed the engine in 95 but if you check the used lots, you will find lots of 93 and 94 model ford superduties for sale.

 

[flaboy-]

Subsoil, I think you meant 2003 and 2004 not 93 and 94. At any rate I just got a Ford owner loyalty rebate offer of $6500 on any new Ford truck. What does that tell us?

Here are the details. When the 2003 6 liter came out it had two (lets call it) major problems. One was injector failures allowing fuel to get into the oil. Even though this was a problem, very few actually lost motors as a result. How many motors can run for long with fuel in the oil? Not many. Ford had many running this way for 30-40,000 miles with no problems. On the other hand some blew up.

The second problem was with the wiring harness or the way they installed them at the factory. Every one keep quoting "all" the problems when in reality it was one problem. Incorrect routing. Depending on how it was improperly routed dictated what problem they had when the wiring shorted.

All these were corrected on the 04-05-06-07 models.

There were other problems but nothing consistent across the board which is typical of any manufacturer.

Some folks will say "hey what about the turbo issues". The only folks having turbo issues were those who did not drive them. I have been through three. Why? Because I would haul cattle a long ways and then park it for a couple weeks on end. This would allow the turbo time soot up from not being run. I finally had to tell my dealer that there was an updated version that didn't do this. He said "there is?" Go figure. I got the updated one and never looked back.

Trust me, I was ready to jump ship but then I started reading about all the guys who had already reached 100K with their 04's and said they were still running strong. I know of an 03 with over 60K that has never been back to dealer for nothing. It still has the primary injector working. I also know of several 03' that have run out of warranty which is 5 year or 100,000 miles and the owners say they are running just fine.

The biggest problem I have heard over and over is the dealerships didn't have folks who could really diagnose a problem and fix if first time. Most folks had to keep taking them back for the same issue.

Not the best engine International has built but if you look at how many are out there and running fine as opposed to those with problems, the majority of folks have had no major problems.

How soon we forget. I had the first year turbo 7.3 and guess what? It had all kinds of problems also. Bad injectors, glow plugs, glow plug relays, computers, TPS, CPS, the list goes on. They resolved them but I guess we have forgot about its early years.

Oh, I also have a 2000 7.3 and I like the 6 liter better for pulling a stock trailer down the road and over all performance.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Here are the details. When the 2003 6 liter came out it had two (lets call it) major problems. One was injector failures allowing fuel to get into the oil. Even though this was a problem, very few actually lost motors as a result.

I think one of the issues we're seeing is the difference in fuels between north and south.

Example is the 1998.5 - 2001 (2002 saw an update) lift pumps on Dodge diesels. Up here, in the north country with our thin diesel, you'd be lucky if you got 50,000 out of a lift pump. There was an easy fix with drilling larger holes in the banjo bolts, but it wasn't something that Chrysler bothered with, because in the south where diesel is good year round, lift pump failures weren't all that common.

Ditto with the Ford 6.0L. My local dealer sold 17 6.0s and every last one of them came back with injector issues. 4 blown engines. One of my customers in Alberta was a Ford dealership. He sold 36, and had injector failures on 32 along with 9 blown engines, not including the 6 replacement long blocks that blew. One of his customers was very unlucky: Bought 3, had the first engine gone at 134 kms. None of the 3 made it to 1000 kms. The first replacement engine didn't make 500 kms. His customer handed the keys for all 3 back to him, and he had find 7.3s to replace them. He never sold another 03 diesel that year, and didn't touch an 04 until they updated the injectors. Yet there are many in the south who seemed to have reasonably good luck. Even if you look at the location of the people who are complaining on internet forums, I think you'll begin to see a pattern emerging.

Rod

 

[flaboy-]

You may have hit the nail on the head Rod. Climate may have had a big affect on some of these issues. Heck I don't even use that recommended lightweight oil in mine. I use the same in the 7.3 and 6.0 with no problems.

I have heard the horror stories but one of the Ford forums did a poll and guess what? 90% satisfied and most of those in the other 10% were complaining about steering, paint, leather and such crap. Go figure.