06 SMB 6.0 4x4 Bulletproofing Anyone? - Page 3

ShuttlePilot · 02-09-2018, 05:21 PM

Hi ndubes, I wouldn't take my van near a Ford dealership. Being in AZ and So. Cal. not that far away there would have to be better places. I wouldn't hesitate to drive or tow the van a distance for a recommended/proven mechanic.

Also, I don't want to give you more anxiety but I wouldn't trust a history with a 6.0. Brands of parts matter. The big demon is when a Doorman oil cooler, injector valley screen (forget what it's called), or IPR screen get installed. Those are time bombs in a 6.0 vs. genuine Motocraft.

I would buy another van or truck with a 6.0 but, and this is just my preference, before I drove it any where I would take that thing completely apart so I know the parts and fluids used (see list I referenced above). No matter what the previous owner said or previous receipts shown. At that point I would expect excellent reliability. I feel I was some what lucky with my SMB as it was completely untouched by the first owner for the first 60k and I went from there.

So, I'm hoping the other 6.0 members here will recommend a great shop near you. And, I recommend have that shop replace all the weak parts (see JoeH's list again). It will cost you money but only once. Stay away from dealerships.

-Eric

ndubes · 02-09-2018, 05:37 PM

Thanks Eric, that’s what I’m hoping to do - get it to a good shop and take care of everything to start with a clean slate. I didn’t want to take it to a dealer, just wanted to confirm that others agree. I think the previous owner kept on top of things but like you said it’s too risky to just assume that’s the case. So I think at this point what I’m hoping to do is get a recommendation for a good mechanic in Phoenix (or I may drive it out to Apache junction if nobody has a good recommendation nearby), and take the list of items others have suggested and have pretty much everything done all at once. Maybe I need to start a new thread about the mechanic recommendations... thanks again everybody!

ndubes · 04-05-2018, 09:45 PM

Well I ended up taking the van to Strictly Diesel in north phoenix. Called around to quite a few different diesel shops in town and landed on them because they seemed to have the most experience with SMB vans in particular, in addition to being a BPD dealer.

This being a 190k mile engine, and with us planning an extremely long trip (Arizona to Canada and back) this summer I asked them to just go through it and let me know what they recommended. The engine was actually dripping quite a bit of oil so I gave them the go-ahead to get the engine out and go through everything and replace basically all of the engine seals at a cost of about $4k (only about $800 of that is parts, rest is labor). Looks like it's got some unknown EGR cooler so they're going to replace that with the BPD version. A litany of other items and man it's really adding up, its a couple hundred here and a couple hundred there and suddenly we're at about $12k if I do everything! These guys seem to know their stuff but man that labor really really adds up. From what I can tell there's a 50-60% mark up on all of their parts too based on the laundry list they sent me and some basic internet searching. Is that normal from a shop to mark up parts like that?

The one big thing I was hoping to get some input on was the head studs. Since the engine is out, should we get that done? I've been reading thread after thread for past 2 hours and still can't decide. Its going to be about $2k to get that done even with the engine already out. On one hand, thats some good peace of mind. on the other hand our temps seem fine and if i'm addressing the EGR cooler, the oil cooler, and i'm going to ask them about putting a coolant filter in as well, is it really necessary to do the head studs?

I'll attach some photos of the breakdown of everything they're recommending addressing here in a minute too.

ndubes · 04-05-2018, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndubes

I'll attach some photos of the breakdown of everything they're recommending addressing here in a minute too.

here's the 3 major ticket items with details.

JoeH · 04-05-2018, 10:04 PM

The vans don't generally have head gasket problems but since you've got the engine out I would definitely consider doing ARP studs. Make sure the heads don't have cracks and are machined properly. Consider having them o-ringed. If you plan on running a PCM tune then definitely do it.

JoeH · 04-05-2018, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndubes

here's the 3 major ticket items with details.

oh wow, serious markup indeed. The oil cooler they list for $540 is $290 at Autonation. https://parts.autonationfordwhitebea...-l-oil-cooler/

Most shops markup parts but they are also getting them cheaper. The price they get from their ford part supplier is not what you would pay at the window. On the other hand, they should also stand behind them and provide the labor for free if something goes wrong.

ndubes · 04-05-2018, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeH

oh wow, serious markup indeed. The oil cooler they list for $540 is $290 at Autonation. https://parts.autonationfordwhitebea...-l-oil-cooler/

Most shops markup parts but they are also getting them cheaper. The price they get from their ford part supplier is not what you would pay at the window. On the other hand, they should also stand behind them and provide the labor for free if something goes wrong.

50% markup! With all the hoses they're recommending replacing that really really adds up, they're probably getting another $2,000 in markup from the parts alone if I decided to do EVERYTHING they suggest. They do give a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty on all of their repairs which is good, I guess the parts mark-up is what pays for that.

Biggest issue for me right now is they've already got the engine out. So it's not like I can just say put it back together and i'll take it elsewhere. There's about $3,000 in engine removal labor that is a sunk cost already. I'm really tempted to just say do it all at this point, if all those hoses are original (and this was a FL van) it's probably a matter of time before those things start to fail. But I do feel like I'm being taken to the cleaners a little bit on parts cost...

PatO · 04-05-2018, 11:04 PM

If you plan to do any kind of tuner absolutely do the the studs. I didn't and warped the heads. The shop I use is now $145 per hour.

upsidedown · 04-06-2018, 07:38 AM

If you are already in AZ you could take it on a tow truck (with the engine out) to Bullet Proof Diesel and have them do it. I had a quote of 6800 from them to do the full Bullet proof oil cooler, EGR, and 7.3 fan, and water pump on my 6.0 - but I ended up getting the work done in CA. For about the same price. I recommend Diesel Doctor in El Cajon if anyone is getting work done around San Diego.

ndubes · 04-06-2018, 01:53 PM

I decided to just have them go ahead and do it all. Sounds like previous owner's mechanic did some pretty shoddy work with a lot of shortcuts, they did a good job of sending me photos so I could see for myself. Given the questionable work history on the van I decided I just wanted to have a clean slate from here on out. So we're doing the head gaskets and studs (machining if necessary) as well as o-rings, EGR cooler, oil cooler, wrapping the up-pipe for the exhaust, replacing all the hoses (someone apparently had sprayed silicone all over the insides of the hoses and now they're getting all mushy) and seals, full transmission and brake service, and some other basic services.

So yeah that really added up but we are hoping it will help us avoid being stranded on the side of the road, or even worse being stranded somewhere off-road and then being stuck trying to find a tow and a reliable mechanic in a place we don't know anybody. Not to mention ruining a vacation! They do have a 3 year / 36k mi warranty on their repairs which helps. He said that's part of why they have the markup on the parts. So I convinced myself I'm spending a few grand extra for basically a CPO type warranty on the engine. I still think that's way too much of a markup but at this point the engine is apart and I think this is my best course of action.

Whether I stick with Strictly Diesel long-term as our diesel mechanic or not, we will see... I'll post back to this thread after some time has passed and let you all know how their repairs are holding up.