I'm posting for my Dad.

So he just bought a 2005 Excursion with the 6.0 Diesel (off ebay), about 200k miles. He drove it home from Dallas Texas to Montrose Colorado with no issues. We spent part of the day replacing bad interior switches (whoever owned her before thrashed every window, lock and seat switch).

So then we decided to go on a drive. We make it about 2 miles out when I notice a huge cloud of gray smoke out the side mirror, while dad is making a confused face. We had just pulled out onto the highway, and as we passed 50 mph the smoke started. Power went away. Managed to pull off the road, engine would barely idle, more gray smoke.

Got her towed to our local Ford dealer. They looked at her Wednesday, and said the engine was shot. Apparently the #6 fuel injector broke off, make a hole in #6 piston, and then the engine promptly sucked out all 15 quarts of oil in about 15 seconds (hence the smoke).

They quote $16,000 for a reman engine and install (Ford claims to need to remove the cab) Local diesel repair place claims they don't need to remove the cab and he's going down there to talk to them right now.

So I spent a good amount of time googling and didn't come up with much. I figured this would be the best place to start! Is this a common occurrence or a fluke?

 

Anything can happen with a 6.0. Search Craigs list in the Ohio area. There are a few posting all the time for performance rebuilt long blocks in the $6000 range. Or there is the Cummins swap option. I know there are kits now to drop 05-07 gen computer controlled Cummins engines in with complete wire harnesses. It all plug and play for around the same price.

 

You can pick up a good used engine from wrecked trucks and alot of other sources. (pick and choose though)

It doesnt' have to cost what you probably paid for the truck to replace the engine.

You can also stud, delete, and freshen up the engine was it's out. (New o-rings, seals, etc)

Lastly, no, it's not a cab off repair. Powerstroke Enginuities pulled the engine from my truck without lifting the cab, bulletproofed it, and stuck it right back in.

 

Is the 2003-2004 6.0 the same as the 2005 6.0?

Searching car-part.com, and it doesn't seem to indicate the 2003-2004 engines are compatible with the 2005 excursion (maybe the transmission changed?)

I definitely figured out the head stud thing when searching around, so I will pass that on to him.

 

Most of our ford dealers do pull the cab off when it comes to major repairs, I saw a guy do it in about 4 hours, just him and they have a holding fixture which holds the body straight and square and lifts it right off. neat. hole in piston, no vacuum what sucked the oil out, the oil cooling jets lined up with the hole? That doesn't make any sense to me. Did you get a 2nd opinion? I just dont understand were 15 quarts of oil went.

 

Me either....

It's either that or the EGR cooler blew

 

something sounds fishy, maybe the dealer wants to make some serious money.

 

How did the shop determine the #6 piston had a hole in it? Did they remove the heads?

 

The computer said no compression in cylinder #6, so the service guy guessed at what happened. Said crankcase is empty as well.

This is a ford dealer we've been dealing with for over 20 years, so they are pretty good to us.

Dad towed it to a local diesel place we've used for years, and they're going to pull the engine and diagnose it the old fashioned way.

How does oil relate to the EGR cooler?

 

Egr cooler doesn't relate to oil. I think he was meaning egr cooler might of blown causing all the smoke. Doesn't explain the oil loss though.

 

I concur, oil smoke is blue, coolant smoke is white, probobly closer to the grey that you saw. I have an '05 running on it's 4rth EGR cooler and what you described is all too familliar to me. Start your diagnossis with the easiest, less expensive possibilities first. The fact is "No You Can't Trust The Dealerships". Did the dealership pull the head and show you the damaged injector, piston or cylinder wall?

Good luck with it.

 

Same thing happend to my buddies truck, white smoke no power, one of the Ford dealerships said blown head gasket 5K to fix, took it to another local guy and it was an injector and some other small stuff, ended up doing EGR delete, fixed the injectors, bluse spring upgrade, and a bunch more for 4K

 

Ok.... pretty easy to figure this out.
Pull number six injector. If the tip is broken then we know what happened. At that point get a fuel sample and check for watee. If you find water and have full coverage insurance call your agent and submit a claim for water in fuel. Done deal if they cover it.

Ow ever if the truck was consuming its own oil you basicly would of had a run away engine, check you tube if you dont know what that is.
Does the turbo spin? Did you loose the oil seal in the turbo and thats were the oil went?
Lots of possibilities.
And to add to this ford does not pay to remove a cab on a 6.0 for any reason. All work done is paid by ford cab on. Check the work shop book in the engine removal section... nothing there about pulling a cab.
Cabs however can be pulled in under an hour by 1 person.

 

fOLLOW cHEEZITS ADVICE^^^^


Don't pull the whole engine to diagnos


a Fast Bubble test will give general idea on inject help

 

Injector health