wrench light - 2008 6.4 F-550

[opcom]

so far, still running! I got an issue with the midships tank filler, nothing anyone did -in fact it's a artifact of the aftermarket CM flatbed, but it goes straight in then down so the fuel backs up and the pump clicks off making it hard to fill the tank faster than a trickle. something else to deal with.. a mod to lower the filler mount and angle it down.. but there's a big weld there to the flatbed so it'll have to be cut off. Oh well I do want to 'customize' the truck.

 

[opcom]

Trouble again!!

Got the wrench light again Saturday night. The truck parks on a slight inclined driveway as can be seen. The truck was not started for about 25 hours.

I noticed the electric pump humming, because I listened for it. When the key is turned on, It runs a while ans shuts off if the truck has not been started (key not turned).

I let it do this cycle twice and then started it. Ran all night an started Sunday morning fine.

This tells me air is slowly getting in the system after some 24 hours, and running the pump clears it up. Therefore the problem is not completely fixed. Does that sound right?

Monday morning will take to the dealer for code reading.

 

[opcom]

A lemon F-550?

Parked last night at 8 PM
Tried to use the truck today at 2:45 PM.

Wrench light came on again, no start, same exact thing as before. I did bleed the fuel after unsuccessfully trying to start it, but maybe not enough, or it didn't seem to help. I didn't notice any air in the fuel but was told it does not take much. Is the 6.4 ford f-550 a lemon or what?

During this bleeding of the fuel, I was able to discern that when the fuel pump is off, and one presses the bleeding valve atop the fuel cooler, it will such air in, and then upon turning the ignition (pump) back on, it promptly pushed the air back out followed by a stream of clean fuel. Could it be therefore sucking air in from the top of the engine fuel plumbing somewhere? I thought there was a check valve.

But wait, I already paid $1500 plus $300 towing plus $250 for a rental for the problem, whatever it may be, to be -found- and fixed. Last time, they said they'd bled it but good and after that it was running fine but couldn't guarantee it would stay that way, and told me of the above issues necessary to fix the problem.

I don't care too much what was found or what I was told, if it's doing the same thing, the repair of the wrench light issue, which is what I paid for, then the right repair was not done. They found -other- problems but did not -find- the -actual- problem. yes or no, black or white, one or zero.

The thing in common with these major problems is cool weather. Each time, it was cold in the 40's. But it has also started in cold weather OK.

I hope I will not see another obscene $2000+ expense on this vehicle. Just the fact of having it towed and having to rent something is an automatic $500 expense, before the broke-... truck is even touched. I have never, ever had a vehicle, new or used, that just jumped right into my pocket and gobbled up this much in shop cost, lost time, and other expenses.

Makes me start thinking about an older, pre-emissions pre-electronics mechanical diesel or even going back to gas, and also about staying away from Ford. My Chevrolet had 175K on it and there was not anything really wrong with it, I merely wanted a bigger truck. I know for a fact the 1970 diesel 5-ton military truck in my driveway will start if I just go out and push the button. Interestingly, I did just open the cocks on the heater core yesterday while doing monthly checks on it.

What happens next will determine the future. This is, as the game is playing out, strike two.

 

[opcom]

It was hinted that there is a check valve that keeps the fuel fron draining back to the tank. The vehicle is parked with its nose about 3-4FT higher than the tail. There is no changing that.

 

[opcom]

When the wrecker came yesterday, I rolled it down the driveway into the street. No easy task without the power steering. Once sitting flat in the street, it was not at an angle the wrecker could get at it so I let it crank so I could use the steering while he winched it. The second time, it started.

I still had it taken to the shop because I want the problem fixed. Verdict is that when the tank is not over 1/4 full and the truck is parked overnight on a normal incline of a driveway (in this case the front wheel 3 FT higher than the rear), that the low pressure pump will suck air.

Workaround is the truck ought to be kept as full as possible and parked flat or nose down. Its nose down now. I do not like it nose to the street in this bad neighborhood as I do not wish to be questioned by the police for protecting my own property nor to pay insurance deductibles for damage or vandalism.

The dealer investigated this scientifically by raising the front up and found that for whatever reason, the 1/4 full tank is not enough at such an angle, there is no engineering fix from Ford, and was kind enough not to charge, but there was still an expensive wrecker bill and a day's rental.
There is no blame on the dealer's repair shop. It's a design defect of the truck. The tech said he bled it and it started so I obviously have not bled it properly. I will call him and ask his advice on how to do it myself.

So, here we have a 4X4 working truck that will not run after being stopped for several hours on an incline unless the tank is fairly full. It is really an engineering design problem. What if I am on a job or off the pavement and the truck has been run close to empty? Now that I know about this, I can try to live with it by keeping the tank full but it is something I want to talk with Ford engineers about because it simply ought not to happen and there really ought to be a mod for it.

It's very disappointing and had I known of this problem I would never have bought the F-550 under any circumstances and now I am stuck with it for a couple years anyway until it can be paid off.

It could use an aftermarket low pressure fuel gauge maybe? Would be helpful if this happens again?

I think my opinion about it being a design defect is correct on a 4x4 work vehicle. Is my opinion unreasonable?

 

[Dogman]

Have you tried parking with the nose going down the drive and see if it starts??

 

[opcom]

Did that yesterday evening, started OK, and I'm doing that now. It will sit for almost 24 hours.

 

[opcom]

Result is that with the truck nose-down and the tank kept 1/2 to full (they said >1/4), there has been no further issue. It runs like a scalded dog and is not bad on fuel for a 2-ton truck. Even so, I can't accept engineering buffoonery of this level. I'm going to pay it off and buy a pre-emissions diesel truck. That way I can, myself, add an accumulator so the thing won't suck air first thing. I have a 5-ton military truck with a Cummins NHC-250 (800 cubes), it does not have any such issue.

 

[opcom]

so far no other issues. I guess it is:

"beware parking the 2008 F-550 nose-up with less than 1/3 tank of fuel"

104K miles - Just had the engine and fuel coolants changed, differential serviced, and engine oil changed. running fine!

I also tallied up average fuel cost on this monster.. $550 per month as I drive 70 miles round trip 5 days a week.

I bought a 1974 Dodge Dart with a slant six. I'll drive that when I don't need the F-550.
'74 was a good year for the dart:
up-sized factory air cond.
no catalytic converter (til '75), and only an EGR + PCV for emissions.
23MPG highway.

 

[opcom]

I had a neutral opinion of this vehicle before, but now it's negative. The engine is trash.

After owning this F550 Super Duty 6.4 Diesel piece of garbage for 8 months, having it towed "FOUND ON ROAD DEAD" 5 times to the dealer, and experiencing breakdown costs of over $11000, and being warned by another mechanic that it's going to need some other engine work on the heat exchangers/coolers soon, I got rid of it.

The little fuel issues described above do not even get close to the other problems with the engine, meaning the big piece of metal under he hood and all the junk on it. It's a real garbage design, the engineers and bean counters that came up with it, and the numbskulls at the EPA who forced ford to mess up what might have been an OK long block, ought to be fired, and things that should never break, have been cheapened so badly by Ford that they do break.

How does a 4 year old piece of wire, that does not ever move and is not in contact with damaging liquids or gasses, just "short out"? Why is this obviously cheaply made wire in a place that requires the cab to be lifted off the engine to get to? That one thing was $2400 plus a week of truck rental costs. For a cheap piece of Ford wire. There have been many other failures, no point in listing them all.

I own more than one vehicle at a time and I've owned at least 27 vehicles, and the ford 6.4 Diesel is by far the most disappointing and negative-value vehicle I have ever owned. It was impossible to make a cent with it during the time I owned it, because of the constant near-monthly repairs and a week of rental truck costs each time the slightest thing went wrong.

The last straw was the a/c system blew the charge a couple weeks ago. Filled with horror of another $2000 repair cost abomination less than 1 month after the $2300 shorted wire, I shot some gas into the system to get it working and traded it back to the Ford dealer that day before it could leak out again, or the engine bomb out again, or who knows what else. I already had a screwin on it and I decided that's enough, let someone else pay it going forward. It's just a tax write off now and best forgotten about. Pity the next hardworking person who wants to make a living with this lemon.

The day I traded it, I was waiting for my E150 cargo van to get tinted and saw a great spectacle. A mile-long wall of horizontal smoke approaching, as if the space shuttle were being launched along the highway on wheels. Sticking out of the front of the enormous gray cloud was the hood of an F450 6.4 super duty. It pulled into the service drive and stopped. Smoke started pouring out of the grille and under the hood. After the smoke cleared, the 20 FT lawn maintenance trailer behind it became visible. The air smelled like coolant and burning oil. Another truck pulled up and it was apparently the 'boss'. He and one of the Ford techs were looking at the other truck. The boss man walked past me and I asked what it was. He said it "blew the turbo again". I hope he is making a lot of money with it so his family has more than rice and a pot of beans for supper. I bet the Ford dealer's Diesel tech has meat on his table. Must be part of Ford's 'spread the wealth' plan. It's not only me.

Good riddance.

The 1974 dart is ready except the a/c, timing vacuum advance unit, and a dash gauge voltage regulator. Never a lot of problems with older vehicles once restored.
The E150 cargo van has made no trouble yet but time will tell. It's already been set up for cargo, with bulkhead, etc.

here's a game to play with vehicles I've owned: "spot the lemon"

1966 plymouth fury ii
1968 cadillac eldorado
1968 chevrolet step van
1968 Kaiser-Jeep M35
1970 buick skylark
1970 chevrolet step van
1970 ford pinto
1970 Kaiser M818
1970 olds 88
1970 olds 98
1970 olds cutlass
1970 Pontiac gto
1970 Pontiac gto (another)
1972 ford pinto
1972 olds cutlass
1973 Pontiac tempest
1974 cadillac eldorado
1974 Dodge dart
1974 Pontiac ventura
1985 chevrolet geo
1986 chevrolet caprice
1986 chrysler fifth ave
1996 chevrolet van
2002 ford crown vic
2004 chevrolet silverado
2008 ford F550
2012 ford E150

If I don't come back to post again, it's not because I don't like the board, but it's because I don't have a super duty any longer and I'm afraid to ever consider a diesel in a Ford again. Ford blew it. The fuel consumption and payments were OK and I liked the truck when it was running but it just would not say on the road.