I will chime in here. All the stories of greatness fly out the window as soon as it happens to YOU when you are on the road and no parts are available!
I was also meticulous about maintenance, using fuel additive, etc! Yup, FoMoCo warrantied it; but sorry, all parts are on national backorder!
You have a trailer sitting with a load of household goods, putting up a moving crew in a hotel, etc. Yup, very few fail, but WHEN it is YOURS you get a whole new perspective!
Of course now I don’t have a truck of any brand for the first time since about 1961!

 

Yep, I was waiting for someone like you Don, to comment because I know there were a few here at least that had a CP4 crap the bed and it wasn't driver error.

And FWIW, I couldn't agree with you more about your last point. So while many will say that it hasn't happened to them and that it's rare, I'm a guy who always errs on the side of safety, or in this case overkill, by using my "snake oil" additive of choice every tank because, Murphy is always right and my luck is usually never good.

 

Don't forget they used the CP4 in many other vehicles, not just the Powerstrokes. Think BMW, Audi, etc. A bunch of those European cars have them. But I guess if it fails in a BMW, nobody really blames the CP4. You just sort of accept that it's a BMW and that it will fail sooner or later.

 

I’m in the low percentage of it happened to me category at 68k on my 20 !
Meticulous maintenance by me, additive every tank, good turnover stations.
Fortunately Ford covered under warranty.
My daughters 17, same conditions dumped also (about 18 months earlier). Warranty denied. I personally looked at the parts, no rust no water.
A good friend out west was in the market for a “new to him” truck. He asked me about the 19 F350 w/service bed he was looking at. We went through it and it looked solid. As I recall it had about 60k on it. I told him about the “potential” CP4 issue. He bought the truck and we put a DPK on it the next day. Fast forward 3 months he was 200 miles away and the cp4 went disco.
We loaded it up. Brought it back.
Replaced all the filters. DPK caught everything ordered and installed a DCR called it a day (weekend actually)
His words “this truck runs so much better”.

It wasn’t a fuel issue, he has his own 5,000 gallon tank he uses on the ranch. The fuel issue always fresh.

My has a 16 w/106k. He has a DPK we put on at the same time as mine.

What I have found interesting is all the research, monitoring and conversations I have had with 6.7 people (like All of us) I really don’t see a ton of pre-17 trucks with CP4 issues. I know they are out there, just don’t hear about them much. Unlike us aluma duty people we can’t shut up 🤐.

For me, this is my forever truck. I will most likely put a DCR on it at some point. My wife is just waiting to see the purchase ! (Gotta love her). For now change the filters, use a quality additive, find high turnover fuel station and above all enjoy your truck !

Ford has the data on failures on a general scale. The “biodiesel” fix is a joke and we all know it.

Just my thoughts !
Enjoy the weekend.

ZooDad

 

The fuel in Europe is rated at 460 micron scar rating and US fuel is 520. Big difference. When the EMA (Engine Manufacturers Association) requested 460 micron rated fuel for modern day common rail diesel engines, and we know that the better the lubricity of the fuel for the CP4 is a GOOD thing, I think that says something.

Let me know if this link below works. If not, I will copy and paste.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=cf4a2...aW1wYWN0LnBkZg

EMARecommendFuelProperties.pdf

Another link, though for Archoil, that explains this subject.

How to Improve the Lubricity of Diesel Fuel | Archoil

Another good article on lubricity and diesel fuel.

Diesel Fuel Additives, Part 2: Lubricity Facts and Fictions - Professional BoatBuilder: An IBEX Technical Journal

 

I didn't realize you had that many experiences with CP4 failures. Puts a serious hole in some folks opinion that since CP4 failures are so "rare" and hasn't happened to them, that it most likely won't happen, until Mr. Murphy strikes.

 

Yeah I did not realize Zoodad had all the CP4 issues either. It definitely goes to show that there are some with problems… I just wonder what actually makes one fail and the next not… aside from “doing all the right things” is it chalked up to manufacturing defects (a “lemon”), because if it were purely design, they would all be failing. An imperfect design furthered by occasional imperfect manufacturing?

On another note, it is good to hear the DPK did its job, and it is further evidence that at a minimum, we should have one installed.

 

It could be a failure due to lack of quality of the manufacturing of that particular CP4 itself, especially when additives are being used and the fuel is good... who knows exactly but IMO, it's like playing Russian roulette because you just never know.

Yes, good to hear the 2nd Gen S&S kit did its job and protected the rest of the fuel system. Makes me feel good I have mine installed.

 

you guys like always..are the fuel for my insanity......

when I went to florida two years ago from nyc....I was stuck in the mud for about 3 weeks due to unrelated confusing error codes and wrench light that put my truck into reduced power mode. ford in a 100 mile radius has no appts for 3 months so that meant my 7yr / 125 k warranty was worthless.

started replacing parts and it turned out to be an ebp sensor.


back to cp4. yes...no doubt it will fail when you dont expect it with your family and goods on board....death of night...freezing wet weather...on a road with no street lights and no dry ground.

so you put in a dcr and should be good to go....

or if you are in the early bird react to internet chatter crowd...you have a dpk, which has been demonstrated to keep your truck drivable while the cp4 cam and roller bearing self destructs ....that way you can get off the highway that has traffic going 80 mph , no street lights, and the worse weather you can imagine.

so I have not noticed the 2017 and later being worse than the 2016 and prior.....it could be the case. I do know that the 2017 and later were supposed to have a secret sauce coating on the cam lobes or roller bearings or both. and the 2020 and later pinned cups.

I read somewhere that even if you ran straight oil in the cp4, once the cups rotate...your done

 

I'll include myself in this... poking fun at myself as well... I own all my craziness and non-sense... i.e. my overkill mentality...

 

Many parts are on national back order. Nothing new here. A couple years ago I had my alternator fail, and the service writer told me I lucked out as (1) one just became available from national back order when ordering the part.

 

Can’t remember being at a Ford dealer that didn’t have a Super Duty cab up in the air on a hoist.

 

Wouldn't that be expected... at a Ford place? I bet if you went to a GM or a Ram dealership you would see the same thing...

 

CP4 failure?

 

There are more reasons than a cp4 to pull a cab, especially if you have the equipment and experience to do it fast.

I would do some serious Yogi level Irish Yoga to not pull my cab FYI.