Well...it finally happened. My 03' bit the big one in Oregon. With just over 167,000 miles and over $12,000 in repair bills for the 17 months I've owned it, I need a new engine. Seems something got into the internal workings of the motor and caused damage which is not allowing fuel or fuel pressure to run the motor. They checked the oil & drain plug, but found nothing foreign or metalic. They've tried a few "bandaid" repairs, but still not enough fuel pressure. They think the damage may be in the heads as well. I'm at a loss for what to do now. That truck was my livelyhood, and now it's gonna cost another $12,000 for a new motor. ANY THOUGHTS, OPINIONS, ADVISE, ETC, WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

 

I don't know what to tell you except that I'm sorry that it happened to you! Good Luck Man!

 

So,,let me get this straight,,you have driven 167,000 miles in 17 months ??

 

Sorry for your loss! What kind of oil were you using and what were your service intervals? Were you running any kind of tuner? Could you be more specific on what part(s) failed? An 05 might be more reliable.

 

What did you use your truck for?
When you say 12k worth of repairs, was any of the under waranty.
Can you give us the engine build date?
With that many miles on an 03 you must have been happy with the performance of the truck?
Tell us all you can...if you like to type

 

Sorry to hear this Drivinfool. Where in Ore. did it die?

Just thinking out loud since there's been some discussion about it, but I wonder if the AFE air intake had something to do with this.

 

What Tim and I are saying in a round about way is we can all probably learn from your experience and maybe help you in turn. So, I echo what Tim says "tell us all you can"! Kurt

 

That's over 9800 miles per month. and over 327 miles per day if driven every single day for 17 months.

 

Check drivinfool's signature for mods info. Typical mods listed there.

 

My previous diesels always worried me with cavitation erosion, I'm no expert but could this be part of it ? Pin holes in the engine would tend to prevent fuel combustion, just a thought (guess) ? Hope it all works out for you, what a bummer, sorry man, (at least you're in a pretty state) Ken

 

I contract haul for a company in Indiana that specializes in RV and other types of trailer hauling. I've never hauled anything over Ford recommended weights and I routinely changed the oil every 5K. Most of the time I used Motorcraft oil, however once in a while I would use Rotella. I also followed other service intervals, i.e, trannie, differential, etc. I believe the build date was 04/03. The truck's not here to confirm, but that sounds close. I put my AFE intake on with less than 100K on the engine, and never used my SCMT in the Hi-Pro mode. I guess the part that bugs me most is that I did all the maintainance and never drove it hard. I just hope the add-ons I did didn't somehow contribute to it's untimely death. Everything I did seemed to be a performance improvement.

Only the original rearend replacement at 16K and an alternator at 50K were covered under warranty. The rest (another rearend at 84K, camshaft and lifters at 154K, injectors, (2)EGR's, various seals, and numerous other misc. repairs were at my expense.

Now mind you...I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but the techs at the dealership in Oregon showed me the oil pump that's inside the front cover (don't remember what it's called) and it had several score marks in the teeth of the gears as if something foreign got into the engine. They replaced that pump, however they could not get the engine to fire and could not get more that 100 PSI to the injectors. The tech then closed off some other pump (maybe the injector pump) and got an increase in pressure, however they indicated there may also be something wrong in the heads. Their recommendation was to not throw bandages on it and hope it runs. They suggested a new engine.

I hope that covers everybodys questions. I'm at a loss for what to do. The only bright side of a new engine, is that it will have a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty on it. It's just coming up with the 12K that's a bummer.

I appreciate everyone's input and sympathies. I'm hoping to get it back on the road soon because I dearly love my work and I love my truck. FTE are the best!!

 

I don't believe you can beat the stock intake (made by Donaldson) for filtration.

On the oil pressure, I remember a post on the flatratetech forum on nostart due to low oil pressure. I can't seem to find it. But it had to do with a valve in the bottom of the oil filter housing that gets clogged. It is simple to clean it out. I'll look further for the article.

 

Any thought to looking for a motor in a junk yard? Maybe you can find one in a truck that was totaled with not too many miles?

 

It sounds to me like they were saying that some kind of metal crap made its way into the high-pressure oil side of the injection system. I suppose this could erode an injector and make it stick partially open, causing fuel pressure to bleed as diesel was flooding a cylinder. That could well lock a cylinder, causing serious internal damage.

It that is what happened, that stinks. I feel bad for you. I am glad, however, that someone got one up to 167K. What caused the rear axle to fail twice?

DOes the new motor have all new running gear with it, or it is just a block? If I am right on my hip-shot, you might be out the injectors, and I'd make sure all the oil cooling stuff is blown clean as well.

 

I'm not sure what make the first rearend go bad, however, I do know that the dealership that replaced the 1st one forgot to put the additive in it. Luckily my primary tech found it when doing routine service inspection. Not sure on the second one either.

The new motor comes complete (Long block) including new turbo, injectors, everything.