What diesel trucks to avoid

[WilliamBos]

Originally Posted by john_bud

#1 used to be true, but I have doubts about it still holding true today.

The common rail injection systems have bugs. Common to all. They are also $$$ to repair. The smog stuff they put on is way expensive and fragile. While the engine may go 350k, the injection and smog stuff will probably be dead several times over before then. Even gas trucks from 15 years ago are going 200k without major issues. 5-7 year old trucks should be good for 250-350k. I know there are a few of the 5.3l chevy trucks around here with 300k+ and nothing but scheduled maint done. Over the course of the trucks life, the gas trucks are cheaper to own. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to fuel, cheaper to maintain, cheaper to repair and depreciation is about the same percentage, but less real dollars. That does change for guys that actually tow 10-15k most of the time.

How can gassers be cheaper to fuel when they use more gas?? And how can maintenance be cheaper when only one of them uses spark plugs, and plug wires??

[jcmseven]

This is easy. Currently with the cost of fuel and the scheduled maintenence the newer diesels require, the cost savings of owning one just is not there. My old 7.3L PSD would cost more to maintain now than would a V10 and my current 6.4L PSD would definitely cost more. The value on diesels is not as great as it used to be, and although they still bring more money on trade (on average) the difference just is not great. I own a diesel with which I am happy, but for those dipping their toes in potentially buying one, I make sure I mention to them NOT to do it for some hope of great savings. There is some magic feeling one gets when pulling a big load up a hill in overdrive in a pickup, but for some that might not be worth the additional money. The spark plugs, for example, in my dad's old 5.4L gasser, which I still drive, have been replaced twice, and it has well over 200K miles on it, and just think of all those times one did not have to put 15 quarts of oil in or change a fuel filter at 15K.

John M

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by jcmseven

The spark plugs, for example, in my dad's old 5.4L gasser, which I still drive, have been replaced twice, and it has well over 200K miles on it,

John M

Yeow!! You do know that going much over 30k before changing spark plugs on any Ford modular engine is extremely risky, don't you? Just go to Google and type in "Ford spark plug" and see what you get. I have a 6.8 V10 and I have noticed that the plugs gets dangerously tight if I go much over 25k miles between changing them, and I use plenty of anti-seize on them! The odds of having a plug corrode in and stripping out the spark plug threads in the head are about 50/50 if you go much over 60k between changes. Just look at the thousands of heli-coil and other fixes sold for the Ford modular engines.

[WilliamBos]

Originally Posted by Dargo

Yeow!! You do know that going much over 30k before changing spark plugs on any Ford modular engine is extremely risky, don't you? Just go to Google and type in "Ford spark plug" and see what you get. I have a 6.8 V10 and I have noticed that the plugs gets dangerously tight if I go much over 25k miles between changing them, and I use plenty of anti-seize on them! The odds of having a plug corrode in and stripping out the spark plug threads in the head are about 50/50 if you go much over 60k between changes. Just look at the thousands of heli-coil and other fixes sold for the Ford modular engines.

And compare the price of plugs to the damage that can happen.... Ouch!!

[jcmseven]

Dargo,

Yes I do know this. My dad, from whom I inherited the truck (I have posted on this inheritance before) did not. He also changed the oil about every 30,000 miles and had never put an air filter in it. I have owned the truck for about 20,000 miles so far and you can be assured that I am back on schedule with it. I suppose that was one point of my post, more that these engines, even when maintained to a level below what you or I would consider sane still hold up quite well and are fairly economical.

John M