Last night with the wind chill it got down to -25 here. I was all set. Brand new 850 cca /1000 ca batteries, less than 100 miles on syn oil in the crank case, half a tank of fuel that had some DK in it... all good. I even parked the front of the truck so that it was somewhat sheltered from the wind. Yup all good.

At 6:30 this am ( after I painted JL nails for her) I went to leave for work, the truck fired right up after I let the GP cycle for about a minute, she was smoking and running a bit rough, even romped with syn, only once though. I let it idle for a few then started out to work, nice and slow though. A bit down the road she stars running horribly, I know what wrong the fuel lines are waxed almost gelled, good thing I have some 911 in the tool box, pulled over and added some to the tank then decided to add some to the fuel bowl. All set now. She fired right up and was running great after a minute or so. Put her back in gear and head off to work again. About a mile down the road she sputters and dies like it is out of fuel. WTH is going on. After looking at it the gasket on the fuel filter was pinched and it was swollen so all the fuel was going out of the bowl! Not happy it is cold out and so am I. I tried a couple of things didnt work and I had neglected to get a spare fuel filter and put it in the tool box.

I called for a tow the showed up about 40 minutes later, and brought it to their garage. I was told after they looked at it the following: My fuel bowl was rotted and was leaking from the bottom (It was the drain orings from being to cold) After they removed the fuel bowl I was told that good thing they did that because it was going to ruin my high pressure injector pump and that would cost me 2K for the pump. He said that he had to in order to clean it. After the truck was running he had to tell me that it was not right that there was a miss to it, I explaind to him that the air was casuing it and it would be fine in 50 miles or so, He then explained to me that they had manually bled the air from the the system. So he buzzed tested them to prove to me that 1 bank was out and that they had to replace the gaskets. They tested fine. From there I was told that my truck had a lot of issues and that the things that I have done to it are not good for it, That the 6.0 opps sorry 7.3 is a great motor if you dont do stuff to it.

It cost me $300 for the work that they did to get it going, I was not happy paying $220 in labor for BS but what was I going to do? We are in a new town where I do not know anyone and it is sub zero temps out.

I do know that without the knowledge that I have gotten here this would have turned into, quite probably a few thousand dollar job with parts being replaced that did not need it. I do know that they were not happy when I left because I knew what I was talking about and it "cost them" quite a bit in profit.

So here is to all of you that share the knowledge that you have gained




Sorry this "rant" was so long

 

Good story Jim! Some of these service writers don't know who they are messin with in the brotherhood!

 

Darn Jim, possible new injection pump, I see what you mean, wow, sorry to hear. What a nite.

 

Wow Jim - that sounds a bit nutty, glad you were able to see through the BS! Can you get some Stanadyne or Schaeffer's winter additive up there or possibly throw a 50/50 mix of #1 diesel till the temps recover?

 

I have a half gal of DK in a full tank of fuel now Rich I want to pick up some Schaeffers I will have to see if there is a dealer in the area.

That is one reason why I wrote out my "saga" knowledge is power if it were not for the knowledge I have gained I would have gotten the shaft today and not even know it.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles Jim! Just glad you back up and running.

Some guys will rip off anybody when they get a chance.If you would need a spare fuel bowl to rebuild then swap yours out I have on on the shelf.You could just send your old one back to me.No down time that way.

EDIT: I really need to give you a ring!Its been a while Bro.

 

Reminds me of why I don't like others to work on my cars/truck. There are good ones out there you just have to find them. If they took the fuel bowl out I would be concerned about the sleeves leaking. I doubt they replaced them. You might want to get some new ones from Bob.

 

What's sad is how many poor folks get taken with a story like that. Then they bad-mouth the truck... Mine has had O-ring & seal issues that I'm sure would've been sold to me as a new pump, fuel bowl, etc..... Friggin' rip-off artists.....

 

They did replace the sleeves I had them show me what they put in and they did every oring on the fuel bowl in a kit.

I agree they must rip many people off 2K just for the IP He looked at me funny when I told him how the HPOP really worked.

 

Good job Jim. Knowledge is power indeed. Thanks for sharing

 

I guess you could smell the B.S.

That's some brutal temps out your way. Brrrrr.

Thanks for sharing!

 

Glad you minimized the damage ($$$).
All in all, the price isn't too bad considering they R&R the fuel bowl and replaced all the o-rings and sleeves. Could have been much worse if you hadn't corrected their BS.

Glad you are back up and running.

 

Glad you are rolling again Jim. The Rip Off Artists are amazing. Just think about the poor owners that don't know any better. Sheesh...... I hope Karma comes around and body slams that bunch. Another reason to support the Brotherhood folks.

 

ain't it amazing some of the BS people will throw around. then they get all flustered and huffy when you explain how it really works. glad you're up and running again.
if you can't get the Schaffers you might look into some Howells additive. We used to use that back home when the daytime high would reach -15. I've had Power Service freeze, but never Howells.

Barney

 

Jim I had a similar fuel gel issue, but mine happened at 19° ABOVE zero. Make sure the fuel bowl and regulator got cleaned well. I'm having fuel PSI issues and I think its because my regulated return fuel system (stock BTW ) is now a regulated non-return.