Recently purchased my first 6oh 2006 DRW and have been debating tons of options on what to do to make this nearly stock low mileage (76k) truck a reliable rig for many years. Delete, don't delete, stud don't stud and so on...First off, I only drive about 4k a year and will use it to tow a 3k boat and 8k TT, possibly (Probably) a TC down the road with boat in tow. So no heavy lifting, weekend trips to home depot and such, otherwise parked during the work week. I have no plans or desires to add a tuner, very happy with performance so far. I have an S.G.-2 and do have delta issues, 15-17 deltas on 60-70 mph trips.

So, I took it to my buddy yesterday (Ford Master Tech 25 yrs-Dealership) and had him do the full monty inspection to see what I bought. Now I trust this dude and have only caught him lying about fish sizes over the years, otherwise a pretty solid and trustworthy guy! He says my truck is excellent besides the deltas and normal upgrades needed on a stock truck. Compression, injectors, ball joints, brakes, all that stuff, money. He says I have a newer FICM and my voltages hang around 48. Newer turbo with drain pipe, otherwise not sure of any other updates until he tears into it.

His recommendation-Blue spring, fuel filters, STC, Dummy plugs and stand pipes, VC9 flush, stick with gold, new degas bottle and cap, install the new airbox I picked up from junk yard, yard out aftermarket intake, new OEM oil cooler and EGR. Couple other little things also, don't remember. He says I will have a good reliable rig for years as long as I change the oil every 3k-5k and keep the rest of the fluids in good shape along with normal maintenance and monitoring.

Now this is different from my original plan of "bullet proofing", possibly head studs and deletes and such. He is getting me a good discount, but still going to be just over $4k parts and labor. I originally planned $5-6K bullet proofing when I bought it.

Thoughts....

 

First off,welcome to FTE. Second, congrats on the the new to you ride. I'm one of those guys that believe in preventive maintenance. I also believe in "if it isn't broke don't fix it". All that you mention is maintenance. By all means get it done as these are the problems that occurs in the trucks. I wouldn't do studs unless the gaskets are bad,to me it's money not wasted but not needed right away. My Excursion has 239,000 on the clock and still has factory head bolts. But, every Tru k is different as they go through different tasks in their life time.

 

I understand he's a Ford guy, so can understand his Ford Gold coolant recommendation. But International went with an OAT coolant for the same engine. Many, Many folks will tell you to go to one of those newer, longer life coolants, and I'm one of them: Top of the list: Mobil Delvac ELC, Final Charge Global, Chevron Delo ELC and then there's Rotella ELC and Zerex's ZXED1. Ask him to flush the system with Distilled Water and flush out the block drains (an option is to replace those drains with Fumoto valves vs. the plugs), on his final flush with distilled h2o, after the drain close it all up and add concentrate of one of the ones I mentioned, quantity = 50% of cooling system capacity, then top off with DW.

Next I'd put in a Bullet Proof Diesel EGR cooler, not a new Ford one. Have him bench check and clean the turbo.

Then something you can do is the cable upgrades as covered here:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tery-life.html

Make sure you are running at least a 140A alternator with an overdrive pulley. If I didn't have that set-up I'd go right to a Leece Neville 230A unit.

He has you pretty well covered, hopefully he will be open to a few suggestions...

2006s on up had fewer head bolt/head gasket problems, unless an EGR cooler failed or more power was added...

Nice truck, but maybe I already said that in your other thread

Good luck,
Scott

On edit: I forgot, do the inexpensive update to the '08+ Trans pan and filter too

 

If your temperature spread between the coolant and the oil (when fully heated up) is under 10 degrees, and if you have had no cooling problems, I probably wouldn't do the VC-9 flush.

 

I would generally agree... if you are not doing the EGR delete, get the bulletproof cooler.

Dump the ford gold and go ELC.

Use synthetic oil and change it every 18 months. Synthetic oils tend to be more ok with sitting and you can go 6k miles between changes with your light loads. (do an UOA from blackstone to verify).

I would also add a transmission fluid change with 08' pan and filter.

Richard

 

OK, thanks for the replies. So far I have ordered the BPD EGR, on its way Fedex to him Monday. Loading up on distilled water right now, looking into ELC. Not sure which brand or where to get, we'll see. Alternator is on my list for down the road, he recommended doing it. I'll see what I got now, probably go with a new 140 amp soon.

 

Here's some coolant info:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-the-same.html

When you get close to alternator time (or if your friend can verify you have the 140A), here is the overdrive pulley.

OVERDRIVE 8 GROOVE PULLEY Gain output @ idle in some apps FORD ALTERNATOR 6g 3g | eBay

However if you have a smaller alt, I'd skip the pulley and go to the LN 230A unit with wiring upgrades.

Have fun!
Scott

 

Sweet, thx.

 

I think a coolant filter is a good idea. Especially with your delta at 76K.

You may consider an air test while the valve covers are off. Could see if there are top injector seals that need to be done. On my truck, the passenger side oil rail would have had to come out if I didn't separate the standpipe.

Whike he's doing the blue spring, id have him prep the test port in the filter housing for a future pressure gauge. I think I bought my hose relocation kit from Driven Diesel.

i am also of the mindset that I'll do studs when required. Hard to get excited about dropping 5 grand if the truck does what I need without problem. Like you, mines a tow rig and sees very intermittent service.

 

So shopping alternators I think I may go 140 amp OEM. Whether or not mine is already 140, my buddy said it looks original and pointed out it was a possible weak link down the road.

I'm thinking p/u a new 140 now, put it on, and keep the original as a spare.

My questions are-

Is this one a good call? OEM and 1/2 what my local auto parts store wants-

Do I still want the new pully with this unit?

 

Bosch AL7606N has good press here and $100 less than Motorcraft. I'm going to go this way and small pulley one of these days.

 

I believe you will find that to be a reman unit. If you are stuck on going with a 140, then I'd try the Bosch as packagerjr has suggested + put the overdrive on it. I'd still go with the LN 230 with stock pulley myself - folks have found them at pretty incredible prices - it is what you'd find in ambulance or other can't-afford-to-fail service...

 

You could do Gold if you kept up with it every 50k miles, but you're on such a low mileage use it would age out well before that schedule. Go with the better product.

Everyone else has you covered elsewhere.

 

OK, thx for the replies. Alternator is gonna wait for round 2 until I figure out what I really want to do, great info and suggestions. I feel good about the big stuff happening Monday. I'll let that soak in and go for round 2 with external fixes I can do.

BTW, is a coolant filter really a good add? I originally planned on it, cheap and easy, can do it myself. My buddy said it's not worth it and the oil is what clogs ****. It's hard to juggle real life friends that are 25 yr Ford diesel mechanics and dudes on the internet! He would be the first to say he doesn't have all of the answers, but he sees a lot of these trucks daily. I KNOW there is a LOT of good knowledge on these boards, wouldn't be asking if I didn't feel that way.

 

Earlier on the thread I saw that there was some discussion on whether or not to do the VC9 flush if oil temps and coolant temps are within 10*. This is true, but with one caveat... If you do decide to switch to ELC, definitely do the VC9 flush to make sure you get all of the old gold coolant out or at least flush the heck out of it to get all of the gold out. You don't want to mix incompatible coolants. If you stay with Ford Gold and your temps are within 10*, then you could do as Bismic suggested and wave that cost and labor for the flush. I'm sure your mechanic friend knows this but I thought it best to throw it out there for you.