Hi, I'm not sure if I'm in the right place here. I joined to find out about my 2006 6.0l Diesel F-350 King Ranch problems I have had. I purchased this truck new in 2006. Since then I have had the alternator go out, the head gasket blown, the turbo charger go out and the turbo go out 4 times. 3 times in the last 30,000 miles. Since now the warranty is out, I have had to pay for the last two turbos. Any information on what is going on here?

 

Welcome to FTE. Let me move this down to the engine specific forum for your truck. You'll get a lot more help here

 

When you say the turbo went out what exactly was wrong with the turbos you replaced?

 

Turbo charger go out and turbo 4 times???!

 

as stated a little more info would help here. what exactly is failing on the turbos?

 

I'm posting this for my husband... will have to give you more details in the morning. I believe the Ford Service Repairman said that it was a common problem with the Turbo in the 2006 F350 Diesel (Superduty crew cab) You would think that they would have fixed that problem with the replacements.

 

Do you know if the OEM air filter is still in place and last filter change, Aftermarket like K&N will let too much grit through and take out a turbo also supply line turbo feed line need to know if supplying proper oil . these trucks don't like to sit around the turbo vane will stick on them

 

There isn't a common problem with these turbos (or at least not one that requires replacement). The only real common problem is sticking vanes. That doesn't require replacement. Just means the turbo needs to be cleaned. There are ways of preventing this from happening if that is what's going on.

 

Common problem is letting them sit around, when I drive my truck I just tell my wife ( I'm taking my Turbo for a walk)

 

That's what this is sounding like, but without more info hard to say.

Turbo going out as often as often as it is, could very well be due to stuck vanes to the point that it just goes out. Stuck vanes could also lead to bigger problems down the line. A lot of components are connected on these trucks, have severe enough problems with one and it can cause problems with another.

As others have mentioned, the common problem with turbos going out is the vehicle sitting in most instances. These trucks are meant to be either truly worked or at least driven pretty harsh (after they get it up to operating temps, think of it as "stretching" before they do the real workout).

As far as the alternator goes, sometimes things just do take a dump on you though. Especially if this happened recently, we are talking about a 8 yr old truck (maybe 9 if it was a 2005 build like mine was), just age plays a part.

Now, there is always the possibility that you have a bad tech. I'm not saying that is the case right now, but there are a lot of techs that aren't the greatest with this truck and if your tech is saying that the turbos going out is a common problem on these trucks, that would plant the seed of doubt in my mind as to his abilities.

 

I think you're being too kind. If someone has replaced their turbo that often then they are either misdiagnosing (again), improperly installing them, or are just plain ignorant. I find it hard to believe the vanes would stick so quickly on a new turbo unless they drive it 2 miles down the road and shut it off before it gets warmed up. And well if that's the case...it's time to get a gasser.

 

I probably am. Statistically speaking, people have a better chance of finding someone that doesn't know what they are doing then finding someone that does.

Despite all that we know about these things, a lot of techs are just plain lazy in trying to update their knowledge about these things. Which is not good for a lot of different reasons. I'm not saying that's everyone, but I would say more likely then not (at least 51% of the time) that's the case.

 

Not to argue Tex but, the turbos on the 05 thru 07's are known weak links. I'm on my 3rd one in 60,000 miles, my neighbor is on #5 and a co-worker also was on #5. He finally got rid of his. Ford/Garret did cut releifs in the replacement versions however the turbos still have a propensity to stick and corrode. You'll notice the 2011's and up have had very few turbo problems.
I can't speak for the 03/early 04's that had a diff. number of veins.

 

I replaced my turbo once and only because I could. I had heard that the newer 06 model turbo was a better design with a bigger oil drain so I asked a service adviser if I could get one and he wrote it up for me under warranty. Nothing wrong with the original. The replacement has been on for eight years now and works great (knock on wood). My success may be due to using DK fuel additive on every fuel up.

 

They can stick and corrode that is true, but a good part of that also has to do with how the truck is used, quality of fuel (and if there is some type of over fueling device on there). Also how the EGR is operating.

Most of those listed points to something else going on.

Now, I high failure rate can either point to a certain design flaw or that there is something else going on that contributes to the problem (a la repeated EGR Cooler failures when the Oil Cooler wasn't replaced as well).

I had maybe 70k on my stock turbo, then I got Matt's (Spartan) 04, had that about 20k and then I went to the non-vgt turbo when I got my injectors done as well. So it's been a long time since I've experienced a stock turbo.