Hello All,
This may be a long one, I apologize, but here goes. I own aa '05 F250 SC 4X4 with 6.0 psd and automatic. I live and work in northern Illinois. A couple of weeks ago I filled up the tank with diesel at the local Thorntons station. From there I went to the Ford dealership and had a 25,000 mile service(oil, lube etc.) that evening, coming home the truck wouldn't go over 55 mph. The next day the dealer worked on it all day and said it needed fuel filters. The next day on my way home from work it died at a railroad crossing and had to be towed to the dealer. After 2 days, they blamed biodiesel (I had not bought biodiesel or so I thought)and said I needed to flush tank, change filters,refuel and change filters again. Of course, I had to pay. It ran fine for three hours then started missing. They now say it needs at least one new injector and probably the whole fuel system should be replaced, per Ford policy. This is going to cost between $7000 and $8500, my treat. Thorntons claim they are not responsible either (so much for their guarantee). Plus, I am in the heating service business and this is my service truck. I have been out of action for two weeks because of this.
My questions of you folks are:
Has this happened to anyone else had this problem?
Are these trucks that tempremental to fuel?
How can debris get by $190.00 filters to ruin injectors?
If it costs $8000.00 and two weeks everytime this gets dirty fuel, I cannot afford this truck.
Thank you for your patience. Hopefully I can share good experiences in the future.
Vince

 

Did ford test it and confirm that this was infact Bio-Diesel? And what does the pump at the Service Station say? If there is nothing that says "Bio-Diesel" I would go get me a good lawyer and start sueing some folks.. Service Station and their Fuel Disturbution Company!

 

The pump said "fuel may contain biodiesel". I asked how much they said it really didn't. Found out, from Thornton, it is between 11 and 20 percent. Ford put it in the freezer and "globs of fat" showed up. There was a fair amount of debris in the sample. Personally, I believe the fuel was bad and that is the problem, but Ford is beating the crap out of the biodiesel issue to avoid responsibility. Again though, are these trucks that sensitive. I really love this truck but I can't trust it now.
Thanks, Vince

 

What 7 to 8 grand???That is definately a hit.I was totally unaware that a regular service station sold bio.That repair is sick and wrong.I would be flippin out!!!!

 

Damn I feel for you partner.. I stay clear of anything that says Bio Diesel.. But from what I've read I think the Debri is what truly tore you up. I think we have 2 stations in Austin that sell straight Bio Diesel. Don't think it's that harmful to our 6.. I personally have never ran it.. Just doesn't sound right to me.. "Bio Diesel".. Kinda gives me a ucky feeling inside..

 

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I don't buy the biodiesel thing. You need to take your truck to another dealership. Better yet change your own fuel filters if you havn't already done so. What is the temp there. I think the most that could happen is that the bio loosened up some debri in your tank and clogged your filter, or the bio may have gelled up your filter. At least try changing them before you spend 7k.

I run a lot of bio that I make my self and have never had a problem with it. My filter did gell up last week during a period of sub-zero temps. I Changed them, problem solved.

 

I definitely agree with you. I used B11 most of the summer and the truck ran great. I think it is just an excuse by Ford to get out of fixing other problems. It is about 20-30degrees here, but my truck sits in a heated shop at night. I also accept the filter replacement, but how did all of this cause my injectors to go bad. Shouldn't these filters prevent this. The filters have been changed 3 times in the last two weeks. The last time was after the tank had been emptied,flushed,reinstalled and refilled.
Thanks, Vince

 

Ford states up to 5% biodiesel is acceptable. Since they are charging you for everything and making good profit off all those filter changes I'd take it to an independant diesel shop and pay them to tell you where the problem is. It comes down to either failure from a bad part or bad fuel. You're either gonna end up having to eat the repair costs or get to the bottom of what caused this problem and get a lawyer after the fuel station and supplier or ford for misdiagnosing the problem and not honoring warranty whichever it may be.

 

I have been running B5 biodiesel from Crystal Flash www.crystalflash.com for 7 years with no problems. Even at 0 degrees. In fact our school district (which I work for) just switched to the same fuel. During our last frigid spell everything started rightup with no gelling or any operational problems. Unless the biodiesel was of poor quality then I wouldn't think it did the damage they are claiming.

Go to the web site and look under engine warranties. Pretty interesting in your case.

Fuel starvation could pose a problem to injectors but some of the tecks here could possibly fill you in better.

 

I suppose if your filters gelled up or plugged up, it would cause low fuel pressure which is something thats bad for your injectors. Similar to running out of fuel. Thats the only thing I can think of. If indeed that is what happened, then your dealership may have a case.

 

I would go back to the station and buy a gal of fuel and have it tested. It would have been nice if you had some of the fuel out of the tank but thats prob long gone now. 11-20 % is nothing and good bio wouldn't have caused the problem . I see you live in IL. and I live about 50 miles from Chicago so the temps have been the same here. I run B100 untill it gets down below 20 degrees and cut back to B50 in the winter . If it does get down to around 0 degrees I will put reg number 2 with the B-50.

Sounds like it might have been just bad fuel . Either way the station that sold it should have some responabilty here.

Good Luck

 

I actually have a sample of the bad fuel. I am contacting my insurance company. Let Thornton Oil deal with State Farm instead of just an ordinary old paying customer. I personally believe it is bad fuel not biodiesel that is the problem. However the Ford rep and service manager keep harping on the biodiesel story.
Thanks phish555, I did not realize low pressure could cause an injector failure. But are these engines that tempermental. I ride old and new Harleys out west, we get a bad tank of fuel, it runs really bad until you go through that fuel, fill it up and its fine again. Why can't these, much more expensive, engines do that?
Thanks for the help, Vince

 

Thats good you have an orignal sample of fuel. Keep us posted on the outcome .
Look in the bio forum below and someone should have some info on testing bio also since this is what the dealer is saying caused it.

 

I just know that running the 6.0 out of fuel is not a good thing and can cause injector problems. Im am guessing that a clogged fuel filter can have the same effect.