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Cylinder 7 and 3 spun pushrod bearings at 93,000 miles
Hello to all,
I am new to this forum. I own a 2015 F-250 with the 6.7. I was in the process of hooking my truck to my 5th wheel for a spring break trip when the truck started to shutter. It felt like I was hit by a gust of wind, but when I looked at the dash; the check engine light was on. A check of the code showed a PO269 or cylinder 3 is not contributing to engine power. I also noticed an audible tapping sound. Fast forward; the dealer (Hertrich Ford of Milford Delaware) has determined the cylinder 3 and 7 connecting rod bearings have spun and I will need a new engine. They are working with Ford to determine if Ford will cover the cost. The truck is religiously maintained to include Rotella T6 every 5k miles. I am a little shocked to say the least that this engine catastrophically failed at such low mileage...especially a lower end failure.
With all that said, has anyone else experienced a similar failure and if yes; what was the root cause?
It should also be noted this truck is completely stock and has not been modified with any performance upgrades. The dealer tech stated bearing failure is usually due to oil starvation. (I am not here to disagree, and the dealership has been great to work with), but the oil was full at the time of tear-down. I did around 20k miles experience a vacuum pump failure that dumped during operation 70 percent of the trucks oil. The service manager at that dealership, when asked if the leak damaged the engine stated "we took out the bad part and put in the good part; what else do you need to know"...so no determination was ever made for other damage.
Anyway, this whole situation sucks with one silver lining. I did borrow my dad's '06 power stroke and saved the family trip. I forgot how much I missed the sound and raw power of the 6.0. My brother has my old 6.0 that I got coming home from a deployment in 2003...I definitely have a soft spot for Ford diesels. No play in other bearings...appear to by undamaged Vacuum pump oil leak in my driveway Vacuum leak trailed followed 3 miles from my house to kids preschool
I thank you all in advance for your help and thoughts on my situation.
Really stinks that happened. You mentioned the vacuum leak that you lost a lot of oil on at 20K miles. How many miles at the time of this failure? If relatively few, then yes, could be related. I miss the sound but not the smell of my old 6.0. I'm not sure about your comment on power. My 6.7 has way more power than my 6.0 ever did.
You had my head spinning as I read your thread
those are crank shaft or cam shaft bearings,,,,,not push rod bearings
And yes, spun bearings are very common on 6.7 engines
And yes ....it is oil starvation and I will explain why
the 6.7 engines suffer from the self leveling oil feature. Due to dilution.....oil level rises and is sucked into the intake system. As this continues, the lube value of the oil gets reduced as the oil thins out. Eventually, your motor is running on colored diesel fuel as oil.
Hence the oil starvation even though the oil level is full.
Me personally changes my oil every 2500 miles , can't risk spun bearings due to diluted oil.
You had my head spinning as I read your thread
those are crank shaft or cam shaft bearings,,,,,not push rod bearings
And yes, spun bearings are very common on 6.7 engines
And yes ....it is oil starvation and I will explain why
the 6.7 engines suffer from the self leveling oil feature. Due to dilution.....oil level rises and is sucked into the intake system. As this continues, the lube value of the oil gets reduced as the oil thins out. Eventually, your motor is running on colored diesel fuel as oil.
Hence the oil starvation even though the oil level is full.
Me personally changes my oil every 2500 miles , can't risk spun bearings due to diluted oil.
I've read comments like this in other threads. These comments make it sound like 100% of the diesel that is injected goes into the oil. I find this very difficult to believe, if this was the case 6.7's would be blowing up all over the place due to oiling issue. Do you have technical info or oil analysis results to back this up? My 6.7, after 4200 miles showed the fuel % at <0.5 What amount do you consider a concern?
I've read comments like this in other threads. These comments make it sound like 100% of the diesel that is injected goes into the oil. I find this very difficult to believe, if this was the case 6.7's would be blowing up all over the place due to oiling issue. Do you have technical info or oil analysis results to back this up? My 6.7, after 4200 miles showed the fuel % at <0.5 What amount do you consider a concern?
from memory…I think 6 or 7 % is the red line.
so definitely the op should have his oil lab sampled.
the spun bearings problem is a known, frequent, problem that can be found by just reviewing the known 6.7 problems on websites that list engine problems.
my personal opinion is that the oil dilution problem does not have as high visibility with the 6.7 crowd compared to prior engine owners.
forscan shows my current dilution at 2% and since my last oil change about 1000 miles ago I have oil level rise.
so definitely the op should have his oil lab sampled.
the spun bearings problem is a known, frequent, problem that can be found by just reviewing the known 6.7 problems on websites that list engine problems.
my personal opinion is that the oil dilution problem does not have as high visibility with the 6.7 crowd compared to prior engine owners.
forscan shows my current dilution at 2% and since my last oil change about 1000 miles ago I have oil level rise.
Did not know Forscan had that value (would you mind sharing where I can see that?). Is it a calculated value or measured via a sensor? I will keep an eye out for oil level rise.
Did not know Forscan had that value (would you mind sharing where I can see that?). Is it a calculated value or measured via a sensor? I will keep an eye out for oil level rise.
I did know til recent forscan had the PID for it ...dont know how its calculated...Ill post a pic when I get home.
Thanks for the links and info, Makes a case for oil analysis if trying to get more life out of the oil. I know cheap insurance and all that but if there is a dilution number worth targeting or should I say staying away from....
Really stinks that happened. You mentioned the vacuum leak that you lost a lot of oil on at 20K miles. How many miles at the time of this failure? If relatively few, then yes, could be related. I miss the sound but not the smell of my old 6.0. I'm not sure about your comment on power. My 6.7 has way more power than my 6.0 ever did.
You might be right, but a bearing failure at idle with a full oil...maybe the oil pump was damaged with the original leak. Unless there was a defect from the factory.
05-02-2022, 07:14 AM
