Well after having the ol 6.0 crap out and shorten my 3 week vacation down to 2 weeks back in July, I've finally gotten all the repairs done! Strictly Diesel here in Phoenix did all the repairs! Very good guys, if you live here in AZ that's where I would recommend going!

New parts installed are:

1. Bulletproof/Liberator oil cooler (long story, don't even ask, works great)
2. Bulletproof EGR cooler
3. ARP head studs
4. new radiator
5. new A/C compressor
6. new Hawk LTS brake pads installed
7. SCT Livewire & egt probe

All this at 79K miles and 14 days out of Ford factory warranty! Ford left me hanging for 100% of the repair. I maintained the truck more frequently than Ford even recommended, and all service was done at a dealer which had complete records of all done to the truck! They offered zero assistance whatsoever on my totally stock at the time Excursion! The repairs needed at the time were due to a blown HG and bad oil cooler.

Truck is running outstanding now, doesn't smoke, starts right up. My fingers are crossed now that this thing holds together for more than 79K more miles! Still wondering if I did the right thing by dropping major $$ money $$ on this truck! Well, I guess it's cheaper than a new Diesel truck!
So my 6.0 is now Bulletproof? We will see!

 

After all the problems that you had, I can only say that I hope that you have better luck with the X from here on out. That seems like a pretty good setup that you have now. Just out of curiosity, why did you go with an a/m EGR cooler instead of deleting the whole EGR system? I guess you probably have emissions controls down there, huh? Good luck and enjoy. If not, get really ticked with it and sell it to me for a smoking deal!

 

Yup--he's in Arizona and some pretty tough testing there from what I've read so the EGR had to be maintained.

 

just to be clear as to why you were left hanging on the repair bill from ford your turck was more then 6 years old. 6 years is the cutoff for help. they are pretty firm on that.

 

Better hope those studs were installed correctly(well that actually should go for everything as well), otherwise the shop will be back in there.


As much as that sucks, companies have to do that. Not saying I wouldn't be frustrated if/when that happened to me(and it actually has a couple of time, not with vehicles though), but there has to be a cutoff. Once you let one slide it isn't all that hard to seeing others(maybe some with even more age on their ride) want to do it as well. It sucks for those that are tettering on the line of in-out of warranty, but it does happen.

 

So I'm curious about this 6 year rule? Did Ford build in an extra year after the engine warranty has expired in case there is serious engine failure? Please explain just because I'm curious. My 5 year warranty just expired last month and I don't anticipate any problems (you never do), but I did take it in one last time to the dealership prior to the warranty expiring with a list of things I wanted looked at and they came back and said that it was all clean. Thanks for any explanation.

 

ford has a few programs to help customers, the level of help depends on lot of factors.
things like retail buying from the parts couter, maintace and repairs from the shop. did you buy new, did you buy an esp contract. are you a fleet customer.... etc, ect. this all gets lumped up and is assigned a total value. if the number is high enugh Ford may help the cutoff is 6 years and I wanna say 150k miles. dont quote me on the miles part im not 100%.
do not rely on ford to help you they have no oblagation to do so after warranty. I have seen them go both ways.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I don't plan on using this, but I am glad to see Ford stand behind their products, especially one that was known to have caused a lot of warranty issues.

 

inshort what it amounts to is random sorted madness. ford will not only do this with there trucks but they will do it with all units.

 

Just goes to show you that the dealerships aren't always the best place work on diesel trucks. I'll pick the family owned ASE Certified independent auto repair shop any day. The dealers have many ways the make money. The independent shop owner makes money keeping his customers' vehicles on the road and therefore keeping his customers.

 

I will NEVER let the Ford dealer touch my 6.0 ever again that's for sure! No knock on Ford techs, but the dealers are money grubbing scammers always looking to make that extra dollar and screw the consumer over! THey are always charging high ammounts and then when you ask "Is that your best price?" they seem to find a way to lower the price and sometimes quite a bit! That's BS! It's like shopping for a freaking car in the service department!

 

Most dealership service departments have service writers who are really salesmen. They get paid for how much service they write, not necessarily what you need. The good independent auto repair shop knows your vehicle and how you drive and therefore provides you the service you need. He wants you back as a customer so he treats you right.
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Like so many things in the recent posts, that really depends. I actually trust my dealership over the indy shops that are around here. Now I could be a rarity, but I wouldn't trust the indy shops here and that is including the ones that have stellar reputations from people.



I wouldn't. Just because that indy shop might do well with gassers or even the high end vehicles, doesn't mean that he or she knows squat about mine. There is one really nice good indy shop guy, cheaper then the other indy shops(but still more then a dealership), but he doesn't know squat about a stock 6.0. He is certified, doesn't know squat about the 6.0. I even know more then he does and I'm not certified.

However, don't think that the indy shop owners only means of making money is by keeping customers. He just wouldn't survive in the long run, not unless he run it all out of his "house".


Some do, some don't. Like I said, mine is cheaper then the indy shops around me. I'm really not too surprised about that either given this particular area that I am in.

However, I will add this, everybody isn't offering this service for our health or just for the health of our vehicle. They are doing this to make a profit. They have the experience, knowledge, and tools for this specific job and that's why they do it(both for dealerships and the indy shops) and they do it to make money.

I would love to go to the indy shops around here, but I'm not going to pay their rates when the dealership is actually cheaper on some of those services. I also don't like the idea that people treat the indy shop people as "gods" and the dealerships as "satan". It just isn't true all the time, sometimes it is, but not all the time like everyone makes it seem like. I have nothing but high praise for one of the shops that I go to and they will continue to get work on my vehicle and they even do somethings despite how modified it is(I mention that to indy shop people and I'm shown the door on one occasion, that doesn't bode well for keeping customers don't you think?). They also know that truck very well. Now is this the norm? More then likely not, but it happens enough for me to get on here and post that not all dealerships are crooks and all indy shops are beacons of hope for us neophyte DIYer mechanics.

 

I consider my dealer hi on some things and totally fair on some other items. The common denominator here is that I have access to the techs and I trust them. I do some of my work and farm out the warranty items. I have never, knock on wood, had to take it back for a repeat repair. I know all the sa's on a 1st name basis and also the tech that did my coolers. He went above and beyond to the point that I gave him a decent tip when I thanked him. No gouging on any upgrades while he was in there. He just did them. If trust and a comfort level isn't worth a few bucks then I don't know what is.

 

What he said