My van died .... any suggestions appreciated.

[BroncoHauler]

Did the dealership ever tell you what the mystery part was?


Herb

[pjpvi]

No. I will find out when I pick it up and post it here.

Phil

[jage]

Might be a good time to employ: "4. Ask for the old part to be returned to you."

It's like a good mystery novel... I'm sad your van was the victim, but I want to find out how it ends!

[pjpvi]

Well, since I know you are all on the edge of your seat wondering "what happened to Phil and his family?"

After renting a pickup to get on to Zion, Bishop Ford said they would call to give me status of the van during the week. Never did receive a call, so en-route back to Bishop this Friday I called them and they said it was still not repaired. I wasn't happy to say the least. When I talked to them again in Long Pine, they reported it was repaired.

It wasn't the alternator as I initially suspected. As I have discovered, and as JM suggested, Oil pressure is directly related to fuel supply in these diesels. They ended up replacing the IPR (Injection Pressure Regulator), High Pressure Oil Pump and repaired the "snap to connect connector" (whatever that is). Initial code was P2290 - ICP (Injection Control Pressure) to low. They also referenced TSB's 05-12-03 and 05-12-3 in the repair.

I've learned more about the oil system in this Diesel at the following link if anyone is interested.
http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/dec2003/techtips.htm

As for Bishop Ford, I am less than impressed. They did nothing to keep me informed of the status of the repair through the week. They were well aware that I was on a trip with my wife and two kids and my vehicle availability was crucial (aside from the fact I just really wanted my SMB for this trip). They took no care not to make a mess in the vehicle. The carpet in front of the dog house has a big oily stain from the technicians oil covered shoes, oil was spilled on the carpet at the passenger seat floor, oil was spilled on the passenger door panel draining into the door map holder (or what ever you call the door storage) draining out the bottom of the door panel to the outside, the passenger grab handle had bad oily hand prints on it, and the under side of the engine, bell housing and miscellaneous components had residual oil all over. I know the underside was clean prior to the work as I had just had an oil leak repaired and had been monitoring it to make sure it wasn't leaking.

We were going to head to Eureka dunes Saturday night, but when I noticed all the oil underneath the van, I had no confidence that there wouldn't be other problems, so we just headed home.

Zion was spectacular. Biking Gooseberry Mesa was spectacular. Thanksgiving turkey and being with family was great. The trip there and back left a little to be desired. On the plus side, I now understand the engine a little better!

Thanks to those that offered suggestions through this.

Phil

[BroncoHauler]

Wow Phil, reliability problems aside, the complete lack of care for you and your family, along with your vehicle is very dissapointing. Poor customer service is a major pet peeve of mine (not keeping the customer informed), and leaving your vehicle a complete mess is a disgrace. If it's not too late, document the mess they made with a digital camera and try to get hold of the regional service manager.

BTW, here are a couple of refernce sites for info on how the 6.0L engine works (or not).

http://dan.prxy.org/Truck/6L_bible_html ... e_TOC.html

http://www.backglass.org/duncan/ps60_manual/


Herb

[pjpvi]

I did take pictures before doing some cleaning. I also forgot to mention the "spare" bolt and ball bearing left on the floor by the dog house. Wonder where those go??

I plan to put a call into Ford.

Phil

[mmocken]

Sorry to hear about your dealer issues...I would certainly detail and report it to make the dealership better.

Unfortunately, you are discovering a typical problem. Going to a Ford dealership that occasionally works on PSD's is not like going to a CAT or Cummins service. It is very likely the extra time they used was trying to figure out the problem and not purposely keep you in the dark. A trained diesel mechanic has a very specific training program more so than an Automotive mechanic. I'm not disrespecting auto mechanics, but diesels are much more complex. Also, they use 'Call help desks'. They may have been told to replace the regulator first. If that did not work they might have then changed the pump...therefore taking extra time.

As for the PSD oil and fuel system, it is based on the CAT HEUI. It is a very sensitive fuels system and uses oil pressure to inject fuel. Unfortunately, oil problem can stop your engine.
- HEUI was used on the 6.0 and 7.3L. The new 6.4L uses common rail fuel system...same as Duramax, Cummins 6.7L and most newer European diesels.
-HEUI is dead on new engines.

For your engine...
- I speculate your downhill extended decent somehow starved your high pressure oil pump...this is an uncommon failure, so it might have been coincidence.
- The high pressure oil pump sits inside the engine vee...just above the camshaft. It is not an easy repair, the turbo, intake and maybe EGR has to be removed to get to it.
- The ball bearing might have come from the pressure regulator. If there was a check ball...it might have been was removed for inspection.

Originally Posted by pjpvi

I did take pictures before doing some cleaning. I also forgot to mention the "spare" bolt and ball bearing left on the floor by the dog house. Wonder where those go??

I plan to put a call into Ford.

Phil

[pjpvi]

Hi Marty -

They did mention that they had to contact the Ford Tech line (or something like that) for guidance in diagnosis and repair. I'm really not as upset that it took them so long and agree that their one diesel technician may not be on par with those in larger dealerships. I am glad they did get it running by the time I arrived Friday evening and actually do think they made a reasonable effort to do so.

What really bothered me was the total lack of effort in not making a mess in and under the van then the complete lack of trying to clean up that mess. I called the dealer back today and received an offer of reimbursement for carpet cleaning, but not an overwhelming amount of concern that they had left it in the condition they did (a little concern though).

You sound quite knowledgeable on these engines. I have certainly learned a lot about the hunk of iron that lurks in the dog house through this which is a good thing. I do wish I could find the link between the extended decent in 3rd and the failure, if any. Not long before, I had descended the east side of Tioga Pass the same way with no sign of problem. I'll quiz my local Ford dealer and see what they say.

Thanks for the information!

Phil