I have read many posts here about Ford turning off pilot injection in some (most) of the flash updates. Presumably this was done to "fix" something.

What does pilot injection actually do if it was "on"? I have gathered that it may reduce idle engine noise, and maybe has some effect on gas mileage?

Why was it felt necessary to turn if off? Maybe cold weather performace??

 

Here is an earlier quote from a post. This is part of a statement from Ford which they now are screwing their customers out of. GM still manages to use it. Do a search on pilot injection here and you will learn a lot more.
Pilot Injection: By delivering small quantities of fuel into the combustion chamber prior to the main injection event, the combustion process is both smoother and quieter.

 

pilot injection injects a small amount of diesel fuel into the cylinder on the up-stroke of the piston, before the piston has reached the upper limit of it's travel and has compressed the air in the cylinder to its maximum (the compression stroke). The pilot injection is then followed by the main injection of diesel fuel just a hair before the piston is at its upper dead point. By the time the fuel-air mixture detonates, the piston is at the top of its travel and the resulting pressure of the detonation pushes the piston down for its "working stroke".
This is a very simplified explanation, but I hope it helps.
Now, what the initial injection (the pilot injection) does is help achieve a better fuel / air mixture, more complete burning and better fuel mileage. There is less noise during the working stroke; less dieseling, so to speak.
Pilot injection actuates the injectors twice as often as straight injection (once for the pilot, once for the main injection). It appears that Ford has some problems with the injectors and/or the engine control module, so they disabled the pilot injection for the moment. I feel cold weather performance has nothing to do with it at all.

Modern "Common Rail" diesels, and in essence the 6.0L PSD is a common rail diesel use up to 4 (four) separate injections per compression stroke. See for instance the new Alfa Romeo diesels. Multiple injections for each compression stroke is a good thing to have in a diesel and I am certain that Ford will re-activate the pilot injection feature just as soon as they feel they got the problem licked.

Even in my "old" 7.3L PSD I do have a form of pilot inection, except Ford calls it "split-shot injection". But in many ways it is the same idea as pilot injection.
Hope this helps. Regards

 

You lost me on that one. Last time I looked it was a HEUI.

 

Granted, but look at the schematics and the setup of the injection system... common rail as far as I am concerned

 

This actually raises an interesting question for me. The reason I ordered my PSD over a Duramax is because the 6.0 I went and listened to was almost as quiet as the Duramax. I would have to assume that this was due in part to pilot injection. So if I get my new 04 King Ranch and it's the same clattering mess that the 7.3 is (I refer only to noise, it's a great engine if you don't care to hear yourself think), do I have any recourse? Or will I just be told "This is your new Peterbilt. Live with the noise." I'm a die-hard Ford guy, but I don't want a noisy clattering wreck. Any thoughts?

 

Hi,
have you heard that ford is working on getting pilot injection back? Maybe I missed a post that said they were working on it. I really like the Pilot Injection feature, My truck still has it and I wont let the service department peform a recall so I can keep it.

I keep wondering how ford can just disable a vehicle system, without trying to fix it, even when it is working properly. If I take my truck in for the recall they will just turn it off, for no reason. Mine is working great, I dont want it turned off, seems like they just want it turned off. If it does come to where I have problems and my truck has to be flashed and its turned off, I'm thinking I will take the theft of my pilot injection to the state attorney general and let them get an explantion from ford as to why they are stealing a system we paid ALOT of $$$ for.

Some will say that the extra noise isnt an issue, I agree, but it is very nice going thru drive thru's. My 7.3L is as loud as ever. I just dont like the fact that Ford can steal our vehicles systems with no cause. Hope I didnt rant for to long, this pilot injection thing really bugs me, Take care, John

 

opcenter and wilba504,
though I have some contacts with Ford people, I cannot give you any definite answers to your questions, sorry. However, I will try to share my thinking based on what I know (rightly or wrongly):
1.) obviously, the old 7.3L PSD is a fairly bulletproof engine and has a lot of faithfull supporters (me included). It is noisy, granted, but then Ford addressed the cabin noise in the later models by very aggressively insulating the cabin. Now why did Ford really switch to the new 6.0L? I feel one of the major reasons is the new California emission law. Ford just could not reasonably modify the 7.3L to comply with this new law that comes into effect in 2005, I think.
2.) the new 6.0L uses a lot of neat technology to provide power and give low emmissions (see the variable geometry turbo blades and the pilot injection technology for instance). I think the pilot injection technology is quite important for Ford to reach the coming emission limits, this only makes sense.
3.) therefore, I think that Ford has no choice but to re-activate the pilot injection feature as soon as they have the current problems under control. Else they might run afoul of the new emission laws.

This is just my opinion, based on what I know of the current state of the 6.0L PSD. So take it with a grain of salt.

 

Here, here!!!!!!! I made these same statements a while back. You buy a $30K-$50K truck you expect to get what you paid for.

 

"you expect to get what you paid for"

There you go again being logical……………and you think you would learn

 

I'm sorry n6nfg, but this is the Ford 6.0 forum, so your questions about pilot injection don't apply here. Perhaps you should post your questions over on the Duramax or Cummins forums, where pilot injection works quite well!

Sorry, I'm being a smartass. Guess I'm also still a bit pi$$ed about Ford's "bait and switch" tactics with the 6.0!

 

I also agree that it's hard to believe ford can just do this with no promise of turning it back on or legal ramifications. Is it really any different than going in for an oil change and having them pull, say, the radio with no replacement (disable AC, take away remote mirrors, disable your remote lock feature, etc, etc, etc) because they're having a lot of problems with them? At what point do they stop getting away with saying "The truck still goes down the road, doesn't it?". That is NOT a service policy. Neither is DSB but they sure use it like it's an extention of the service dept.

 

Don't get me started on Pilot Injection. I'm so mad I can't stand it. I bought a King Ranch only because it was luxurious, quiet, and would pull my Chevelle around nicely. My family liked riding in it. Today, it sounds like a UPS truck and my family prefers our Expedition.

I can respect that some Ford buyers could car less but I'm not one of them. I would have passed on the vehicle had it sounded like this.

 

excellent thread forst off, thanks for the great explaiantions.

next, the noise does not really bother me, i was happy with the pilot injection, and the mad surging idle was not REALLY a big deal, only at stoplights was it a problem, as the truck would lurch forward a foot or two one a week or so, you really had to bear down on the brakes to make sure you would not hit a car, or human in front of you just in case it surged bad...

now i live, and work around ALOT of diesel ford trucks, and my 6 is louder than any 7.3 after about 99 or so.... the older, 94-97 7.3's are louder than mine, but MY 6, is louder than a 01-02 7.3 that buddies i work with have, we have all agreed.....

i also agree that the pilot injection "theft" seems to be very shaky grounds for a buy back, and it seems if someone wanted legal representation in this matter, it could set a precident for everyone that came after the first settlement to get their trucks bought back.....Ford could be in for some trouble. not to mention, reslae values could be harshly affected if ford got a barage of buy backs due to the loss of pilot injection.......agree?

 

I have a '03 250 6.0 L with the 6spd man, the engine is much louder at idle than the duramax, but at highway speeds it is just as quiet inside the cab. Just a side note my 6.0 runs circles around my buddies duramax.