6.7L Power Stroke Diesel Bulletproof Kits: Are They Worth the Money?
6.7L Power Stroke diesel bulletproof kits are all the rage these days, but they certainly aren’t foolproof.
As many Ford Super Duty owners are well aware already, the 6.7L Power Stroke diesel has its fair share of well-documented issues related to its oil cooler, EGR cooler, head studs, fuel injection control module (FICM), and water pump, which can lead to tremendously expensive repair bills. Many of these problems stem from the oil cooler itself, which can become clogged up, restricting flow to the EGR cooler, which can in turn burst and allow exhaust gasses to enter the cooling system, which essentially mimics a blown head gasket. There is a solution, of course – any number of aftermarket 6.7L Power Stroke diesel bulletproof kits are available to purchase, but are they really worth the money?
That’s a question that Ford Truck Enthusiasts member Dpoulos2 recently posed in the forums, and it’s certainly a fair one – after all, these Ford 6.7L Power Stroke diesel bulletproof kits typically cost well over $1,000 to purchase, and then you have to install them, or pay someone to do so. After purchasing one of the kits from S&S for his 2017 Super Duty with 198k miles, this member called around to various shops, only for them to tell him that they wouldn’t install it because it’s “not needed,” and in some cases, they don’t feel like the kit will work at all, while others claim that failures can be covered by insurance.
Luckily, a handful of other members chime in with some thoughts on this topic, helping clarify the purpose of bulletproof kits in the first place. “Nobody claims that it will prevent a failure, so the shops are right in saying that, but it will lessen the blow to your wallet in the event of a failure,” said 4wd6.7L. “As far as insurance covering it, it would depend on your insurer and if it was belived to be bad fuel, or vandalism. If it is just that the CP4 wore out from age and failed, well, I wouldn’t expect insurance to cover it. At 198k you might consider replacing the HPFP, even then, I would still consider adding the DPK a wise investment.”
“It’s important to understand that a DPK won’t prevent a fuel pump failure,” chadstickpoindexter added. “It doesn’t claim to and isn’t designed to. It protects everything past the fuel pump by filtering out the tiny metal shavings that occur when the CP4 does grenade. Understanding this, it’s not hard to see that it is worth it because that’s the point where things get stupid expensive…and Ford can be good at getting out of those repairs. I want one for my truck…the only reason I don’t have one is because it’s a bit daunting at how much comes off to get to the pump… it doesn’t look hard, there’s several YouTube videos that document it well, but it’s just a lot of stuff. I will eventually install one though, most likely next spring. These fuel pumps can cause a lot of expensive troubles, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t want one if you’re running a 6.7, however it’s not a requirement. I’d say it’s a fairly small percentage of these 6.7’s running around with DPK’s. It just depends on how cautious you want to be.”
And therein lies the rub – bulletproof kits do give us a little peace of mind, but ultimately, they may or may not prevent major problems from happening. Like many things in life, there are few guarantees, and this certainly isn’t one of them. But for those that want to lessen their chances of experience catastrophic failures, there are certainly worse ways to spend a grand or more than on one of them.
Photos: Ford
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