Question Maintenance Suggestions??

[RJDiesel]

I am new to the Diesel world and by reading the threads it is a little intimidating. I just purchased a 2005 F250 6.0 diesel with 100K on it and I plan on keeping it stock. My questions are I see post's with temperature concerns and quite honestly terms i don't understand. But I would like to know what everyone thinks I should be checking and or adding to my fuel. Any other suggestions that will hopefully give me many years of service would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[snicklas]

RJDiesel,

I have a 03 Excursion with the 6.0L. I usually run a fuel conditioner / lubricator like Power Service Diesel Kleen the silver bottle in the summer and the white bottle in the winter. The white bottle had anti-gel additives to help prevent the diesel from gelling in cold temps. Being at 100k you are due for a coolant flush and replacement. I would stick with the gold coolant that is in there stock, which you can only get from Ford. It is a little pricy but it has the protection additives that your engine, and you don't have to worry about cross contamination. If you do not have verifiable maintenance records, I would look into replacing all the "life fluids" in the near future. The transmission fluid (Make sure to ONLY use the Mercon SP fluid) and if you do it yourself don't forget the remote filter on the right front frame rail near the bumper, change out the differential fluids and the engine oil. I would also replace both fuel filters just to have a good starting point. Also, grease the chassis..... Then for routine maintenance from here on out I would change the oil and filter every 5k miles and the fuel filters every 10k miles. The clean oil and fuel filters are important for the injection system since the injectors use high pressure engine oil to fire the fuel injectors. Then follow the owners manual for the recommened interval for the other service.

Could you be more specific on the temperature conserns you read about.

If you keep it stock, I have heard make no changes fom the Cat forward it should live a long happy life......

 

[DaveBen]

You don't need to go hog-wild and add everything under the sun to your fuel. I have the same engine and I generally don't add anything to the fuel. You can add something like Power Service (in the white bottle) if you MUST add something. Most of the fuel conditioners don't do anything for performance. They do ad a little lubrication for the injectors.

Diesel engines are heat engines and that means they run on heat. Compression generates the heat to fire the fuel/air mixture. Keeping the engine hot is good for it. Diesels will happily run at 205 degrees F water temperature. The only temperature concern you NEED to pay attention to is the Exhaust Temperatures. Don't let the temps go over 1200 degrees for more than a few seconds, OR you will melt the pistons. A diesel engine makes more heat and power when more fuel is added. There is no throttle plate to limit the air as a diesel engine runs, and runs rich for more power, and real rich for most power. Get an EGT (Exhaust Gas Temp) and watch it. You will be fine by using common sense.

Dave

 

[MJ Synthetics]

Snicklas and Dave have given good info. All I can add to that is if you want to use synthetics give me a hollar I can save you a buch of money on it. Even if you don't use the engine oil we have a top shelf gear oil for your diffs and a new low viscosity Mercon SP rated fluid for for the trans.

As long as you keep in touch with your fluids and get on a regular maint schedule based on the fluids used, driving habits and climate your truck will live long and prosper.

 

[RJDiesel]

Thank you

Thank you for your information and help, It seams if you start adding performance items like chips etc... is when I would need to be a little more cautious. Thanks again for the information