Hey guys, 7.3 OBS guys here. I frequently drive a 2012 F-350 DRW 6.7L that our race team uses for towing a 40-foot gooseneck and on our last outing the truck blew the original upper charge hose coupling climbing a long grade. We managed to bandaid it with duct tape and hose clamps to get to a local Ford dealer who happened to have a bunch of these hoses in stock, which leads me to believe this is a common failure. The truck has only 50k miles and I’m wondering what other parts you folks would recommend replacing before our next long trip. The truck often sits unused for long periods of time, which isn’t great either.
Are there other weaknesses that should be addressed? Thanks for the help.

 

Well the Ford charge pipe sucks. They make better aftermarket ones. I have the Rudy's pipe and love it.

 

Mine went pop during a trip to New Hampshire, silicone tape, duct tape, clamps and the meme tool got me back in action:



I have the SPE cold side CAC in there now, no issues.

Other common issues are the CCV filter clogging which generates high crankcase pressure and can cause leaks. The upper oil pan leak is NOT cheap to fix. The biggest overall issue with 6.7's of any generation is the CP4 injection pump, it can fail and flood the fuel rails and injectors with doom glitter. Your looking at a $12-15k repair bill to get back on the road. While it is unlikely that the pump will fail, the possibly and magnitude of the repair is enough for a lot of people to try to address it. If you go that route you have two options: disaster prevention kit (DPK) or a DCR swap.

DPK - offered by a host of companies in varying degrees of quality. Two of the most used are S&S and SPE. The system isolates the lubricating fuel in the belly of the pump from the high pressure fuel at the top of the pump. Then the return fuel from the pump is filtered prior to being returned to the tank. This isolates the damage done by a suicidal CP4 to mostly the pump itself and a few small lines feeding it. Cheap but fairly labor intensive to install.

DCR - A stanadyne based pump offered by S&S diesel, designed to replace the CP4 in its entirety. The tappet based pump does away with the problematic bucket lifters the CP4 has and early results seem pretty positive. The hardware is more expensive then a DPK but the install isn't a ton more involved. A competitor is offered in the CPX, however that is still a CP4 pump with pinned buckets and a DPK, the DCR is an entirely different pump.

I hear the ceramic bearings aren't the best in the 2011-2014 trucks but I have no experience with them.

 

Extra map sensor, extra exhuast back pressure sensor.

extra fuel filters

have a good lithium ion jump pack or a decent sized litum ion motorcycle battery (I use a 12ah lithum mc batter ) to jump start your truck. Mine some times stays in pre shut down mode and it drains the battery until it hits battery saver mode…and it didn’t start .

if it sits for a while is is a good window solar charger …it has a built in charge controller.





change your maint plan to the severe duty schedule

 

x2 on Rudy's cold pipe. I also have a SPE hot pipe because when I installed my S&S DPK kit with filter, after the test run and the Rudy's pipe popped apart, cleaned real good and used my wife's hair spray on pipe and boot with no issues since reinstall last July, the turbo to hot pipe where the o-ring is, must have fallen out because I removed it to reinstall the cold pipe and there was a leak there... so i went aftermarket with that.

But a Pusher Intakes cold CAC pipe IS on my radar...

 

Great post and tips...

That 12 probably has a sealed CCV box with no filter but thinking that the out port may clog up with carbon and sludge there from the heat of the engine over the miles... but I'm on my phone and I believe the truck only has 50k miles.

And I also remember reading those ceramic turbo bearings were addressed from the factory but can't remember what model year.

x2 on S&S Gen 2.1 disaster prevention kit. Only 400 dollars and not too hard to install, and that's coming from a shade tree mechanic here...

Plus how are the batteries? If original, they need to be checked unless a battery tender was used.

What about the cooling system? If original orange, some test strips to test it may be in order. The new yellow is now used and no need to test.

Motorcraft fuel filters only, the FD4615 IIRC... for the bottom filter, the DFCM (diesel filter conditioning module aka primary pump/fuel filter/water separator), loosen 3 turns to break the seal and suction, open drain to drain it. You need to do that or else it will drain the tank under suction...

Prime filters at least 10 times... I go beyond 10, at least twelve times for 30 seconds. Listen for the primary pump to shut off and gurgling stop which will lessen each cycle. Pump shuts off in about 30 seconds...

Remember to remove old green seal off the male part of primary pump housing and install the new one that comes with the set. Lube housing threads and new o-ring with fresh engine oil, trick i read here from a Ford tech. Much easier to spin on.

There's two stops on both the housing and the cap that gets screwed on and they meet behind the housing by frame. I take a flashlight and look for them to meet and double check them, that they are together and fully tightened, because they are easy to break off.

Any other questions, just ask. If I think of anything else, I'll post up.

Welcome to the Club.

 

With the truck sitting long periods like that, I'd change the oil once a year regardless of mileage. I'd probably use a fuel additive to keep the fuel fresh for long periods of not running and keep the tank filled up full.

 

i have this cold side pipe

 

Thanks for all the helpful advice folks!!