It sounds like your truck hasn't been running right since you bought it. If you hang in there and get it fixed to where it performs like it should....you will be amazed with it's performance.

 

Yeah...to be honest, I already am. The first time we took the trailer over the PA Turnpike, we were rolling up the Allegheny Mountain toward the tunnel, and I looked down and realized I was doing 70 mph. I was pretty surprised. The newer trucks with even more power just floor me - it's like, "How much more could you need?" I know this truck can do the job.

We dropped the truck off today. The guy was definitely familiar with the 6.0L, even made a hilarious comment about it being Ford's most interesting engine or something along those lines. I asked him about switching to the 5W-40 and he recommended against it since we tow mostly year round. I described the issues (rough start, coolant out the recovery bottle, and transmission shifting), he took a lot of notes (always a good sign), and said that the issue that worries him the most is, of course, the coolant blowing out, because it could be a head gasket. But, he said they'll check all the modules and go from there. I had a good feeling as I left the shop. We'll see what happens.

 

Towing w/ 5W40 is fine. It is a 40W oil.

 

Really? Never heard that....what does he recommended for year round towing?

 

15W-40. His comment was that the thicker oil is only a problem for a few moments after starting it. (Again, remember, winter here is usually fairly mild.)

After we dropped off the truck, we went to the Baltimore car show. I'm pretty sure my wife would've driven the Dodge 2500 with the Cummins home from the show if she could've. We both liked that truck a lot - the Ford and GM trucks were good, too. But I did some math and I'm pretty confident a brand new truck isn't in our near future, unless we get one hell of a trade-in value on our F-250 (we still owe a good bit on it, unfortunately).

 

5W-40 has a much lower temp starting point and the same top temp towing point as 15W40 and is MUCH better for your injectors and cold starts. PERIOD. Sorry, but your mechanic is telling you wrong.

 

5-40 is no thicker than 15-40. The 5 vs. 15 relates to how the oil will flow in cold temps.

Hopefully he's more educated on the 6.0 than oil.

 

very well said!

(you too Tim)

 

I probably misquoted him, no need to start with the personal attacks.

 

No personal attacks...we're just responding to what you said....that he said. If he did say you're better off with 15-40, he's wrong.

Just tell him the guys on the Internet said so....we'll back you up.

 

LOL...he recommended the 15W-40. I phrased his statement about it poorly. I was surprised by that recommendation, and went with it, but it doesn't mean I won't do something different in the future assuming we keep the truck. I might try the 5W-40 next winter to see if I notice any difference.

Also, although it seems like this winter won't end, we're actually not that far from warmer weather. By the end of February, the average high is already 50 around here. I can run the block heater for those colder mornings remaining to help offset the heavier oil.

 

Well don't feel too bad. I replaced a head, both gaskets and an oil cooler before I even made it home when I bought my '06 F-350. Just gotta love "as is" sales. I also had Ed rebuild the FICM and loaded a tune from Matt at Gearhead.

Bad news, it would have been more fun pulling my own teeth with a pair of pliers than do all the repairs. Good news, I have a bad *** F-350 now that hauls 30,000 gvw at 80mph without blinking an eye. You have to look at one of these trucks as a long term investment, so hang in there. It does pay off eventually.

I'd definitely look at switch to 5-40 synthetic. It changes nothing other than making for easier starts and anything to make starts easier is what you want.

 

Thanks. That's something I'd like to ask you guys and him - let's say we do replace the head gaskets. What's the long term prognosis for one of these engines? If it's fixed correctly, it should be a decent engine for the long term, right? (I'm okay with an occasional alternator failure or whatever, I'm talking about major engine repair likelihood.) We've already replaced the fuel pump. It seems like the transmissions in these are pretty solid, too. Everything else would be just like any other vehicle, which I can deal with.

Also, something someone else said in this thread got me thinking - I notice that Ford and Dodge (at least) offer larger alternator options on the new trucks, sometimes even dual alternator options. Unfortunately the websites are good about letting you pick options, but terrible at explaining why you'd want them. It hit me that a bigger/dual alternator might be able to recharge the two batteries more quickly - is that why they have them? And, is a larger or second alternator a good investment for that reason?

 

Yes, a larger alternator IS a good investment. The stock 110A alternator is marginal at best. A 140 is better but not great, especially if you do a lot of short trip intown driving stuff. The batteries just don't get charged properly. A 185A is a MUCH better investment and will provide insurance for the vehicle electronics (FICM being the biggest).

 

You need to go with a 5w40 synthetic oil for more reasons than the cold start. For starters, the towing of that beast of a 30 foot trailer, is hard work, better oil by far. Also, you will be amazed how good the injectors sound over the 15w40 not just for start up cold, but all year round, remember those injectors are fired by high pressure oil, this is what makes them last longer. At 200 bucks an injector plus labour, it's a valuable protection. Now add your turbo is not water cooled, the bearings run in oil, that pulls heat from it. So, hot shut downs when towing, are better protected by the better oil. The benefits of the better oil are far more, judging by earlier posts, pulling in mountains and cold starts, long sitting times, outside parking ect, you would be money ahead. You are likely only changing oil 2 times a year, so it makes a lot of sense to me. I am doing between 4 and 5 changes a year. You also need to look into a good fuel additive with antigel, given the time your truck sits and the temperature changes when it's not being used. There is clearly more maintenance cost to a diesel, but you get the performance for pulling you have already noticed.