Anyone have a “Reduced Engine Power” warning and fuel leak? While towing our 37’ Fiver uphill a couple of days ago, the warning popped up along with the CEL. Indeed, the truck did lose a tremendous amount of power. When I found a safe place to stop, the diesel smell was terrible. Further inspection revealed that fuel was dripping down the side of the engine from somewhere above the oil filter. I limped along another 15 miles to the campground and unloaded the 5<SUP>th</SUP> wheel and brought the truck in to the dealer this morning. They aren’t giving many details of their findings thus far. They say that they’ve talked to Ford engineers and that they’ll have to put a dye into the fuel to help detect the origin of the leak. They suspect the high pressure fuel pump, but by the time they remove enough “stuff” to get to the pump, they can’t run the engine to witness the leak. This is my first Ford in 30 years behind the wheel and my first diesel. After 8k miles on the truck, I’m having second thoughts on my decision. Any suggestions?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

First, welcome to FTE. There are a lot of knowledgeable guys here who can help.

I know well the agony of a new truck in the shop. I traded a problematic 6.0 Ford for the truck in my signature. While on a trip through Indiana, with 3500 miles on my new truck, I had an engine fan clutch fail. I ended up driving home and let my dealer fix it. 19000 miles later, no other issues.

It is a pain to be one of the few 6.7 buyers who have had any problems at all. These trucks have been very reliable since their introduction. The dealer will need a day or two to get to the bottom of the issue but Ford has been real responsive with the few issues that have surfaced. When the dealer gets back with you, let us know what they find.

Regards

 

Many thanks for the welcome, but I’m still apprehensive about my decision. The service department says that it is indeed a failed high pressure fuel pump. The lack of fuel pressure “likely” caused the “Reduced Engine Power” warning. To further my frustration, they say it will take 3 to 5 “working days” to get a replacement part. Seriously?? I can get industrial parts from around the globe in two days if not overnight, but a Ford dealership can’t get a Ford fuel pump in less than 5 days? Meanwhile my RV sits in the campground with no way to haul it home. Ford of course excludes themselves and their dealerships from any responsibility in creating “loss of use” or being inconvenienced. Sorry! We have your $60k truck and we’ll take our sweeeet time getting it back to you.

I didn't get on here to rant about Ford. I was a "happy camper" for 8k miles, dragging my Heartland 5th wheel to different parks and in awe of the power from such a relatively quiet engine. I perused these pages MANY times during my research before purchasing my first Ford.

I'm on here because the service manager says that the pump is on backorder because they're having a lot of failures/replacements. Until now I didn't know if this was an issue. I wanted to know if others had the same experience and if Ford was going to make improvements.

 

I think I've only read of one other guy on here having the HPFP fail, and our resident tech cheezit has never said anything about recurring HPFP failures at the dealership he works for in the DFW area.

 

In the considerable wandering I do around the Ford forums, this is the only HPFP failure I have seen. As was stated above, Cheezit is a regular contributor to this forum and has posted nothing about the HPFP. He is also a good friend of mine and sends me personal emails when something new pops up in the Tech Hot Lines. So far, he has not sent me many messages.

I shudder in disbelief at some of the comments that are made by service writers and dealership personnel. There was a similar statement made back awhile ago about the 2011 radiators that was totally false. The dealer would do better by telling you the problem and the parts availability and leave the drama to Hollywood.

Maybe Cheezit will chime in here...I sent this thread to him

Regards

 

hi all. Ya this is an odd ball.. I know of a few pump failers but all with damaged cause by " outside sorces " if you will with go that tremenology. the one that have failed have sent metal thre the entire system. those failers are 100% positive caused by non defects.
there are a few cases of def mixed in the fuel tank..... dont do that it really screws the truck up.
the other we had in the shop was from a tank full of water. we drained over 32oz of clear liquid from the seperator.

all in all so far we have pretty much labled this truck as the "maytag" they just are not breaking. parts are still in short supply to everyone.IMO its more of a vender issue with low demand so low supply is the outcome.
if you have an esp policy they may be able to offer you some help on the extended stay at the camp ground or ....
sorry for your bad luck.... If you dont have a esp call the 1-800-392-3673 and polilty ask if they will give you one for your troubles. stranger things have happened.
best of luck

 

Now how is that for service...maybe Moe can double as the Maytag Repairman

Thanks

I may travel to Texas next month to do some CFA work...Craig is there this week but down in the Rio Grande valley...I will call you when I know

Regards

 

sweet man. if you any were around dfw will hook up.

 

Wow, sorry to hear about the broken HPFP!

For what it's worth, Ford doesn't build high pressure fuel pumps. The entire high pressure fuel system is a Bosch system, and they've been the standard in high pressure common-rail injection for years. These things are about as reliable as you can get at the moment, and are so far proving to be better than the Siemens units found on 6.4L engines.

But like anything mechanical, it can break. It's awful to have yours be the one out of thousands that does break, but these things happen.

For the record, both the DURAMAX and CUMMINS engines use Bosch high pressure fuel injection systems. This is the industry standard, not some cheap Ford-designed part!

 

Tom

Good points...also the OP may not know that according to our resident Ford engineer the engine repair rates for the 6.7 diesel are less than one repair per thousand engines. I realize it means little when it is your truck ...but it is encouraging for the future of his truck...

Regards

 

When I purchased the truck, the dealership sent offers for discounted "first service", of which I took advantage. So if there is DEF in the fuel, they did it. Then again, that was several thousand miles ago so it's not likely. I'm not far from my next DEF fill up.

I also use a high volume fuel station under a global brand name in an effort to keep moisture to a minimum and good fuel in the tank. I would have to assume that there would be a pile of diesel trucks in southeast Texas in for service if it was an issue with their fuel. I spent a large chunk of change on the truck and make every effort to keep it in top shape.

I did months of research before purchasing the truck. I have a few buddies with 6.4L's and horror stories that begged me to stay away from Ford. In the end, I was trading a '07 5.7L Tundra gasser that was a newly designed engine when I bought it and I had zero issues. After owning five new GM PU's before the Toyo, I couldn't stand the thought of buying a Gov't Motors truck. It seems Dodge has the proven engine, but they can't deliver all the safety features of Ford or GM. So...

I was trading a TT for a 5th wheel and needed higher towing capacity and plenty of torque. I found what I wanted in the 6.7L and have AC seats to weird out my friends as a bonus.

Hopefully this is indeed a fluke and the next 200k miles will be worry free.

 

I had a CEL with the commensurate "reduced engine power" message on a long trip recently. Turned out the service station didn't tighten the newly installed rear fuel filter enough, and it was sucking air/leaking. It was good that my truck "knew" there was a potential problem, and "protected" itself from potentially greater damage (even though the reduced power in itself could prove dangerous in traffic-especially towing).
Probably different than the problem you have, and definitely not a "usual" or "known" problem with the '11 model year.
And chances are they could get the replacement part sooner, if your service manager was on the ball. He could perhaps offer you expedited shipping? Some people would gladly pay an extra $40 in shipping to get themselves roadworthy again, especially when away from home.
I had a HPOP issue on my '06 Ford truck, but that manifested in a failure to start when hot (or was it a low pressure pump?). In any case, that was a known problem with the 6.0L engine. The '11's have been much more solid for sure, but sometimes things can break anyway.
My new mechanic at Ford has told me that they have been especially generous/diligent with warranty issues on the new model because this is Ford's first engine design in some time, and they are being more protective of their reputation (after some recurring/frustrating issues with Navistar/IH).

 

Hopefully this is indeed a fluke and the next 200k miles will be worry free.[/quote]

You did all the homework and you made a great choice. It is disheartening to have an issue with a new truck but take solace in what Moe said. If you knew his reputation, you would believe him about the "Maytag" reliability comment. Just take a little time and visit the 6.0 forum. Cheezit is a constant and valued source of knowledge for the troubled owners there. He told me a few months ago that if the 6.7 was his income maker, he would be real worried about his lunch money. Looks like nothings changed.

Moe's comments certainly are different from the nonsense the dealer told you. Why a dealer would tell a frantic customer anything like you were told is beyond me. There was no substance to his claim. He could find that out in a minute from the tech hot line. What does the dealer gain by scaring an already nervous customer? Sorry for the rant but this is a real pet peeve for me.

Right now, 2011 6.7 production is closing in on 275000 trucks. 250000 are now running around the country. Over a billion miles have likely been traveled and still no recurring engine issues.

Hope you get your truck back soon!!!!

Regards

 

Truckland,
Hope your in a nice area to be for a few days if nothing else. I think the relevant question is what is the actual failure? It could be an oring on a connection, I would ask if they verified the source of the leak and could tell you where it's coming from. Is it the inlet, the HP out to the rails, the return to the tank, or the body of the volume control valve? They may not even need a pump. It certainly did not have a catastrophic internal failure.
I also take the comment about getting to the pump with a grain of salt as this engine has obviously been designed using modern software for accessibility. The use of Cadmium plated fasteners and oring seals reflects modern design for maintainability. It looks to me that you would be staring at the pump in about an hour and a half.

It's interesting, I wanted to learn more about the LML Duramax for comparisons sake and found a video of the engine buildup and layout and the HP pumps look identical same 2 piston in a V configuration with the Volume Control Valve in the center.

Best of luck getting back out on the road.

Mark

 

I absolutely know where you are coming from. My brother has a 2008 F350 diesel and has had a number of issues over the past year. Despite his warnings, I too took the plunge. Although I haven't had any issues, I also only have a little over a 1,000 miles on her (knock on wood).

I get sick to my stomach when I read posts like this because I know my $60k truck could be next. I started a thread called "Controversial Thread" to begin tracking these issues. I get the sense that there are a lot more issues than are being reported. The reality is that owners on this forum are a small subset of the overall owner population. Also, Ford is under no obligation to report non safety related annual failure rate data. Therefore, the only way we know of the magnitude of problems is through forums like these.

I have been a long time truck owner and have seen my fair share of problems. That said, I typically gauge a "good" truck from a "bad" truck by my level of confidence that the truck is reliable. A new truck should be completely reliable. After the first year of normal usage, I have come to expect some level of issues. The more the issues, the less likely I will buy again.

I too drank the grape drink, but I also have the antidote (sell the truck).