New user with questions regarding FORD diesel trucks. I have a 2008 F350 short bed w/34K miles (Manuf date 03/07 - Purchased 08/07) that I pull a 5th wheel RV. About a month ago my wife and I were out RVing and on the return trip I basically lost all power (boost? ). The wrench symbol appeared on the dash. According to the Ford diesel manual this symbol has something to do with the DPF - Diesel Particulate Filter system. The dealer claimed the wrench symbol is a generic symbol and covers numerous issues (stated there were probably 5 pages of codes that pertain to the wrench symbol).

The ford dealer I decided to use here in central Arizona claims there was a stuck fan clutch which caused the reduction in power. After replacing that, fortunately under warranty, I got the truck home and decided to take a trip to Phoenix for the day. Upon return I noticed the truck was leaking something - according to the dealer it was coolant. Apparently when the cab was removed they didn't put some coolant hoses back on properly. Got the truck back and it is still leaking. Back to the dealer and they claim they needed to put a different hose clamp on to fix the leak (I'm getting suspicious at this point). Dealer claims I'm good to go. Yesterday decided to take another trip through the mountains down again to Phoenix. Got an hour away, roughly 50 miles, and the wrench shows up again and also the following message - Reduced Engine Power. Managed to limp back home, since I had basically no power at all, and made another call to the dealer. Naturally being saturday they had minimual staff so I left a message for the Service Advisor to call back. I conveyed that I probably will not be able to drive the vehicle to the dealer due to some of the steep grades here in central AZ so it will be interesting to see if they will send a transport.

So I've conveyed my story but what I am interested in is the DPF that appears to have a major impact on engine operation/performance of the vehicle. It sounds like my truck, based on the manuf date of 03/07, is considered a Job 1 vehicle and there maybe something going on with the DPF components. In scanning a large number posts on the DPF topic I ran across reference to codes P2002 - DPF efficiency below threshold (bank 1) and P2463 - DPF restriction - soot accumulation. I have not seen any smoke/soot being emitted from the exhaust (when the truck was supposedly running correctly) nor does there appear to be any accumulation of soot in the tailpipe (just ran a paper towel inside the tailpipe).

I'm sure the dealer won't convey what codes are being recorded on the computer and I've been told that the codes get erased after "FOUR" engine starts and being driven for 22 miles.

At what point do I go above the local dealer, who I am rapidly loosing any faith in, and go to the next level and how do I contact them? With all this occurring on the truck it will certainly put quite a damper on the comfort level of going RVing not knowing if the motor is going to crap out again or not. BTW - this is my second diesel vehicle (2003 F250 6.0L) which completely blew the turbo at 4900 miles while pulling my travel trailer.

Should also mention that I used to have a very frequent regen cycle where currrently I can't remember the last one that occurred. And when it did it lasted for maybe a mile where as the original ones would take anywhere from 40 - 60 miles to complete the cycle.

Guess I'm not supposed to own a Diesel truck

 

The latest flash only flashes the regen light for a few seconds so unless you hear, smell or use the system diagnostics you may not know when it is in regen. A couple of things, one good thing is that your DPF is warranted to 5/100K which is only a few months away so I'd find another dealer before that runs out. I'd also suggest the extended warranty for another 2 years.

The wrench light just means there is a fault in the engine somewhere, could be any number of things and those codes don't go away until the problem is fixed or the dealer clears them. I'd imagine there is more than 1 dealer in that area and would suggest you go to another. I'd also be curious if they installed the updated 2 O ring radiator hoses after your issues.

Our '05 blew a turbo at around 10K miles along with another laundry list of problems in 60K total miles.

 

AZKID, If I'm reading your post correctly, you might want to try another dealer.

It's not clear to me what a stuck fan clutch would do for regens. Regens will start once coolant reaches 160F, but even with a stuck fan clutch, the thermostat will take care of things. However, a stuck-open thermostat can lead to engine temperature never getting hot enough for regens.

There are 3 temperature sensors and a pressure sensor along the CAT/DPF exhaust path. If you're having overly long and frequent regens, it sounds to me a sensor is out of spec. Another possibility is a weak CAT not being able to produce enough heat to get things hot enough to burn. Ultimately, any of those can lead to a plugged DPF which in turn can be one of several reasons to go into reduced engine power.

Rather than speculate here, see if you can borrow a code reader from a shop and post the code(s) here, or ask the dealer to review the original repair order notes and tell you what codes they pulled, some of us can likely give you some ideas of what's going on before going into the dealer again..

 

galaxie641 - thanks for your comments. Regarding the O ring clamps, I believe those were mentioned as being required to "supposedly" resolve my coolant leak but obviously they haven't as of my trip yestereday. So I will need to get more information on that "supposed" fix.


Aquaman - thanks for your comments. I agree is sounded a little fishy to me that a stuck fan clutch would cause the dimished power. But how do you really know what the dealers do these days since the paperwork they provide is very sparse and I'm sure they don't want to tip their hand. Granted this was warranty work but I would still like to understand what they did.

I do plan to ask for the specific codes that were recorded previously and the next go around. The sm did explain there was some sort of issue, which I think you are referring to regarding temperatures, with a difference in temperature between the crankcase oil and the coolant. Apparently on my second visit the temperature differed by quite a few degrees and resulted in some sort of pump that needed replacing (thankfully warranty work).

Your comment on a code reader, are you saying the dealer will loan a reader to you to document different codes? I believe if you go to places like Autozone or NAPA they can read the codes for you but have never done this so I find your comment interesting. The problem is when I visit the dealer it will be to drop the truck off and have them "TRY" to fix it this time around.

The regen's lately have been almost non existent - maybe a couple of minutes at the most compared to the ones I was getting about 10-15K miles ago. As a result of some other visits to the dealer I'm wondering if a new flash was done (I've seen mention of this being done to some of the original 2008's). Is there a specific flash number I should insist on having done? Again, the exhaust pipe is not showing signs of soot nor do I see any smoke when it is working hard so that would indicate to me that the PDF is probably working ok.

I did see mentioned on anther post that the "Reduced Engine Power" is also related to some sort of an electronic issue. So between the PDF and a possible electronic issue it sounds like this is going to take awhile to get resolved based on my previous experience. Trying to utilize another dealer at this point I think is going to muddy the waters and allow the issue to linger on. I would rather try to climb the service ladder and get a regional person involved. When our other truck blew the engine at 4900 miles the dealer we were towed to in St George, UT was fabulous and actually they were online with the factory to assist with diagnosis. The factory finally said it was a no go and the installed a new engine. Almost wish this would happen again but I doubt it will. Maybe I use the lemon law - three strikes and you're out.