Bed Plate Leak

[Jeffrey]

Just to be clear, Mike, the front axle does not need to be removed. The grill and headlights are removed and the engine comes out the front. Perhaps your dealer has not performed this service before? I was fortunate that my dealer had a technician that was an expert in the 6.0L engines. I hope you find the same.

[stikine]

Geez, didn't realize there was another SMB in Poky - that's cool. I have had a bed plate leak since I bought mine used & mulled over the pros & cons of pulling the engine. When I took my SMB to Courtesy Ford a number of years ago for the bed plate leak, they wanted to lift the body off the frame to fix it. Obviously I wasn't going to have them do that and have just lived with the 2-3 tablespoons of motor oil that drops on my garage floor. In my mind just getting all the auxiliaries back on right and working has deterred me, combined with the small amount of oil on my floor.

I will be eagerly following your post, hope it all comes together and still might have mine done, as my extended warranty expires May of 2014. I'm sure some day it will help with resale not to have a oil leak.

I would wager Al is the mechanic working on it. He has lots of experience working on PSDs and replaced my turbo a few years back. His bay is on the north end near the parking lot and no problem just walking in to check on the rig.

[PatO]

Originally Posted by MKRyan

The YURT is in the shop at the Ford dealer in Pocatello to fix a bed plate leak and possibly a new turbo.

They also are talking about replacing the turbo, also under warranty. They were gong to let me know once they pulled the engine.

Typically Ford just cleans the turbo, my turbo was replaced @ 12k with a reman, cleaned at 18K, 32K and 54K. Now at 68K and past warranty this is what it looked like when it froze up recently:



It was beyond refurbishing with all that galling. I now have a brand new turbo. I do not think Kearny Mesa Ford here in in San Diego went to any extra trouble in trying to prevent future problems. That is the unison ring in the background on the left.

One other bit of experience, you have the Aluminess bumper, the SMB 4x4 and I suspect the Amsoil bypass oil filter. It is quite a bit of work to get the BPD oil cooler to fit that set up. The bumper blocks airflow, the SMB 4x4 cross brace interferes with the front lines and radiator placement and the AMSOil filter adapter bracket is replaced by the BDP adapter bracket. You can check my gallery for what it took to do it on my van without the Aluminess bumper.

While you have it all apart I would suggest you consider the BPD EGR cooler and upgraded OEM oil cooler.

This would also be a good time to consider replacing the alternator with a high output. 3 weeks after getting it out of the shop for turbo, oil cooler, EGR cooler, etc etc my alternator started failing 3 days ago and it is now back in the shop for that. That was my second alternator that failed too so 5 years seems to be the life of it.

The never ending saga of a 6.0 PSD.

Pat

[EMrider]

Originally Posted by stikine

Geez, didn't realize there was another SMB in Poky - that's cool. I have had a bed plate leak since I bought mine used & mulled over the pros & cons of pulling the engine. When I took my SMB to Courtesy Ford a number of years ago for the bed plate leak, they wanted to lift the body off the frame to fix it. Obviously I wasn't going to have them do that and have just lived with the 2-3 tablespoons of motor oil that drops on my garage floor. In my mind just getting all the auxiliaries back on right and working has deterred me, combined with the small amount of oil on my floor.

I will be eagerly following your post, hope it all comes together and still might have mine done, as my extended warranty expires May of 2014. I'm sure some day it will help with resale not to have a oil leak.

I would wager Al is the mechanic working on it. He has lots of experience working on PSDs and replaced my turbo a few years back. His bay is on the north end near the parking lot and no problem just walking in to check on the rig.

Same situation here.

I am the original owner and our 6.0psd has had a drop or smear of oil on the bell housing since the minute it arrived in our driveway. Bed plate or main seal? I don't know. But it never leaks more than a single drop onto the ground. As long as the motor runs well, I am not going to mess with anything.

R

[MKRyan]

Stikine, not sure who the mechanic will be. I thought they were going to get it in the day after Christmas but it's still sitting outside. They are waiting to get it scheduled, which is good, it gives me more time to get with them on a new EGR Cooler and valve. I'm anxious to see what everything looks like when they get the engine out.

They are talking about a new turbo also, but it didn't sound like they would make that decision until they could look at it.

Pat, I didn't think about the alternator. Can it be checked for possible failure, or is that something that just goes when it's ready? I haven't had any issues to date.

I'm out of town all next week so won't be able to see any progress that is made, assuming they get it in before next week. It didn't sound like they were going to be able to start until the middle of the week at the earliest anyway.

Thanks for all the responses,

Mike

Mike

[JoeH]

Originally Posted by MKRyan

Pat, I didn't think about the alternator. Can it be checked for possible failure, or is that something that just goes when it's ready? I haven't had any issues to date.

It's hard to say exactly what alternator you have but in vans ordered directly from Ford by SMB they would spec one with a slightly higher output (the tow package which is 140A versus 110. I could be wrong but that's what Peter Deltoro at SMB told me. Anyhow, the OEM alternator is a weak link that is worth upgrading. With all the other accessories on the van it's always working hard.

Read this. http://ficmrepair.com/tips.htm
Fulthrottl details the issues with the alternator in this thread. viewtopic.php?f=39&t=8854&start=15
My alternator thread. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10221

[PatO]

I checked my original Ford Build sheet and it states HD Alternator / HD Battery. So I assume I already had the 140A model. If that is the case then all I did was replace what I had. A true missed opportunity to deal with a lackluster alternator. I get the van back tomorrow so I will report on what I had and what a stand-alone alternator replacement cost is. I had not been monitoring voltages very closely so my 1st indication was the battery light staying on for a bit after start up and those extended cranking cold hard starts with glow plug errors. My batteries were down to around 12.2 V rested which happened to be the max voltage of the alternator. Things happened quite quickly though. I had just returned from a 1200 mile trip with no issues less than a week before. Maybe you should have them do an alternator check before they tear it down.

Here's my 6.0 personal experience:
Alternators last 30K miles, Turbos last 14K miles, batteries last 2 - 3 years, oil cooler & EGR valve and cooler last 65K mile, power steering, heater and CAC hoses last 65K miles.

Unless the EGR Valve shows something extremely wrong the cleaning and new $10 seal kit should suffice.

[JoeH]

Originally Posted by PatO

I checked my original Ford Build sheet and it states HD Alternator / HD Battery. So I assume I already had the 140A model. If that is the case then all I did was replace what I had. A true missed opportunity to deal with a lackluster alternator. I get the van back tomorrow so I will report on what I had and what a stand-alone alternator replacement cost is.

A heavy duty alternator isn't necessarily the same things as a high output alternator. Either way, the cost of the stock Motorcraft at a dealership (nearly $500!) is about the same as a 250 or 270A high output alternator from DCpower or Nations.

[PatO]

Originally Posted by JoeH

A heavy duty alternator isn't necessarily the same things as a high output alternator. Either way, the cost of the stock Motorcraft at a dealership (nearly $500!) is about the same as a 250 or 270A high output alternator from DCpower or Nations.

You are correct. I had a HD 110A alternator. I now have a "rebuilt" 140A Motorcraft which was $365 with 2 hours labor and a bracket the final replacement cost was $650. Which is why I suggested to the original poster it might be a good time to upgrade. Please note though that in 2004 the tow package option then did not get you a 140A alternator. You can use your VIN number to check what you have.

[JoeH]

Originally Posted by PatO

You are correct. I had a HD 110A alternator. I now have a "rebuilt" 140A Motorcraft which was $365 with 2 hours labor and a bracket the final replacement cost was $650. Which is why I suggested to the original poster it might be a good time to upgrade. Please note though that in 2004 the tow package option then did not get you a 140A alternator. You can use your VIN number to check what you have.

I tried to use my VIN with the dealership and they couldn't tell me what was in it. Go figure, but they also told me that the alternator on my 2005 E350 was PCM controlled which it isn't. Then, the part # on the bad alternator didn't match anything I could cross-reference so I'm not entirely sure what output or model it was.

Either way, your advice was sound. The alternator, batteries, and FICM is sort of a devil's triangle for the 6.0. My FICM is starting to drop below 45V on start-up so I guess a Bulletproofdiesel power supply side of the FICM is going to be my next "upgrade".