I have a mid year '12. I think I bought it in Feb or March of 12. On a recent trip to the dealer for an oil change he tells me that in '11 and early '12s they used a glow plug design that could fail and drop into the cylinder. They recommended I change mine for a measly $1000 or so.

Does anyone know if this is true? Anyway to know if my truck has these plugs or rule it out by manufacturing date? What the heck is the average life of a glow plug anyway. Mine are original at 135K.

 

Read this thread.

I think Keith is a member of this forum. Have not seen any posts by him lately. Keith is a well respected and knowledgeable Ford diesel mechanic for many years.

2011 6.7L at dealer 66K miles getting new engine, have questions - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com

 

Just replaced all my glow plugs on one side. Early build 2012. Ordered 9/2011. They were one piece. It’s about a 2 hour job per side. You have to remove the tire and wheel well to access. It’s pretty tight in there.

 

Replacement procedure from the 2014 Ford Workshop Service DVD...

 

Wow..I figured replacing the glow plugs on these would be simple like on my 2 old 6.9 IDI's...I have an early 2011 with the original glow plugs..knock on wood no problems with them...but how often should they be changed? I have 134K on my 6.7...

 

The glow plugs were not so much the issue. now the valves were.

 

Actually it was the exhaust valve seats in the aluminum heads was the problem that lead to valve and engine failure.

 

The early trucks had problems with the 2 piece valve stems.
This was the cause of catastrophic failure.

 

So there was never a glowplug issue? Interesting. That's not what the Ford Diesel tech had told our service manager (the guy at the desk you talk to)

 

Yep, a lot of different theories. I have heard a lot of them before and some new ones here.
I really wish someone would provide documentation of what the problem is/was.
From what I have read, its the exhaust valves cracking and coming apart. It seems the cab and chassis trucks had most of the problems. Some have theorized that the DPF regen cycle could be overheating the valves and cause the problem.
I talked to three different Ford dealership service departments and between them they have had one truck that had the problem. these where large dealerships that sell many trucks, my unscientific calculation it was less than .1% failure on the pickups.
I no longer worry about my early 2011, if it fails I will take care of it then.

 

If you read the info on the link I posted above, it give you info from a Ford Master Diesel Tech about the problem

And the trail of mis-information continues to roll on. The fault, well documented, is valve seats. Not glow plugs. The first sign that there is a major mechanical failure during the inspection and diagnosis process is checking for damaged glow plugs. On 2011 trucks, once we find this we are instructed not to tear down the engine and install a long block assembly.

Reference TSB 14-0127

ISSUE:

Some 2011 F-Super Duty vehicles equipped with a 6.7L diesel engine and built on or before 3/29/2011 may exhibit a runs rough or no crank concern due to a broken exhaust valve. DTCs P0671, P0672, P0673, P0674, P0675, P0676, P0677 and/or P0678 may be stored in the powertrain control module (PCM) from a damaged glow plug. The glow plug circuit DTCs may also be accompanied by cylinder misfire DTCs, cylinder contribution DTCs or other engine performance DTCs.
ACTION:

Follow the Service Procedure steps to correct the condition.
SERVICE PROCEDURE

Does the vehicle exhibit a runs rough, no crank concern with any of the following DTCs P0671, P0672, P0673, P0674, P0675, P0676, P0677 and/or P0678?
No - this article does not apply. Refer to the Powertrain Control/Emissions Diagnosis (PC/ED) manual for normal diagnosis.
Yes - proceed to Step 2.

Remove and inspect the glow plug associated with glow plug circuit DTC present. Refer to Workshop Manual (WSM), Section 303-07C. Is the glow plug damaged?
No - this article does not apply. Refer to the PC/ED manual for normal diagnosis.
Yes - replace the engine long block. Refer to WSM, Section 303-01C.
For prior approval warranty repairs, complete the cost cap tool by selecting short block, both cylinder heads, oil cooler and 16 lifters.

Later into the thread Keith responds to broken valves.

Have you found broken valves to be a fairly common problem? Is there anything that we can do to lesson the chance of this happening? I was just considering having my glow plugs changed as a precaution do to hearing about problems with them. Thanks for clearing that up.
Gary

I have seen 4 - total engine failure as a result - all 2011 trucks. The issue is not with the valves but the valve seats which are steel inserts in the aluminum cylinder heads coming loose. Affected vehicles were limited to the production date listed above. Engines/vehicles produced after that date should have engines with revised cylinder heads.

I personally have not made a base engine repair on a 6.7L since then.

In 27 years as a Ford diesel specialist I have never seen a glowplug fail on its own. I have seen them fail FROM injector failures and mechanical failures that damaged them. I have seen injector tip failures on 7.3L PSD and 6.0L PSD engines. Not any on the 6.4L or the 6.7L.

With that said, it does not mean that any of that is not possible or has never happened. It's just rare. I think many techs or owners don't realize what they are looking at or the sequence of events that lead to an engine failure. Some things are easy to see. A piece of an injector pip embedded in a piston crown with no other apparent damage would be fairly simple to understand.

But then, I am just a dealership idiot.