New Ford Superduty owners beware (diesels)

[General Lee]

I know there are some members on this site with 2011-12 Ford superduty's with the new 6.7L diesel motor. I am one of them. I cruise some Ford forums and lately there has been a lot of chatter reporting fuel system failures from contaminated fuel.

The consensus seems to be the high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) made by Bosch has zero tolerance for water in the fuel. As we all know the Ultra low sulfur diesel fuel sold in the US has zilch for lubricity and if you UNKNOWINGLY get a bad batch of fuel it will have catastrophic failures AND Ford will not warranty the repair. I've read the cost to replace the new motor and fuel system ranges from 12-20,000 dollars.

Guys, be sure to drain the water separator monthly (Ford states this in manual) or more and IF you get the "water in fuel" warning message, shut down the truck immediately and have it towed to dealer. Keep all receipts from your places of fuel so you have some recourse if you get contaminated fuel and I would try to find a fueling station that sells a lot of diesel to lesson your chances of bad fuel.

Some places to read up on this can be found on these sites:

6.7L Power Stroke Diesel - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com

Ford Powerstroke Forum

 

[JasG]

I was told a couple of years ago in a places that repairs injection systems that with the ULSD it is very important to run an additive. We were already running Stanadyne all year round any way. He said what he was told the ULSD has water in it. He did say he did not know why for sure but had read it was from the process that get the sulfur out.

This came out of a conversation that I had asked them if they had seen an increase in buisness since the switch to ULSD. I was there to buy more additive. We were running it because we did seem to notice a difference in running fuel left over from the winter vs fuel delivered in the spring. Probably from the cetane boost.

He said they had seen an increase and it was from what they believed to be water in fuel.

 

[JESSE1]

I've been using the Motorcraft Cetane improver and lubricity additive with my '12 6.7. I expect I'll keep on using it. If you can, always buy fuel from stations that sell a lot of diesel and don't stop to fuel up if you see a tanker making a delivery. If there's any water in the underground tank it's going to be stirred up when the new fuel is dumped in. This also applies to anyone driving a gasoline powered vehicle.

 

[frischtr]

This is why I posted in another thread about the need for better fuel/water separators and filtration mounted between the tank and engine. The 'water-in-fuel' lights on the new trucks seems to be pointless from what I am reading, because by the time you see the light, it's too late.

It's up to the owners to preemptively fix the problem because the manufacturers will leave it up to you to prove that you stopped running the truck immediately after the light. And, of course you can't, so they walk on warranty. I've been reading about too many of these exact scenarios.

 

[jeffsw6]

If you believe some of the stories on the diesel forum, etc. there are guys who have had their 6.7 fail, had their fuel tested by a laboratory, and found their fuel was not bad, and still did not get warranty coverage. Several stories like this, because apparently if you could show your fuel was at fault, you could get the fuel company to pay for the damage.

My personal belief is the fuel system is flawed and will eventually be revised, and Ford will end up having to pay people back. Not to say I think Ford is screwing people on purpose, but maybe when only 80% or 90% of 6.7s make it to 200k miles while competing engines are 99%, it will become more obvious.

Or maybe the stories on forums are exaggerated or given more attention because, if you lost 20k because warranty didn't cover your problem, you'd probably gripe on the Internet too!

 

[CAgnoli]

Yup, I run the ford branded cetane booster in my 6.7 as well. If I'm not near a ford store when I run out I at least use power service, and I'm trying the Redline stuff next week. Just another tax on us dirty diesel users that the EPA imposed on us.

As a side note, I run it in both of my tractors as well. Just like I run Stabil in my boat.....the EPA doesn't care about engine life, they care about controlling how we live.

 

[BigBoyinMS]

At least you Ford guys have a "water in fuel" light that works.
A year or so ago my brothers Dodge with the 6.7 Cummins quit on him. The Dodge dealer said it was water and rust in the fuel and refused to cover it under warranty. There was never a light or audible warning. The repair was just under $20,000 but luckily his insurance covered it. Since then I've read online and heard first hand of others getting the same story from Dodge dealers around the country. The last one I heard of was a local guy. Same "water in fuel" story and $16,000 repair estimate. They told him they had the fuel tested but when he asked for a copy of the results he was told they couldn't provide them. He ended up flushing the system and replacing injectors on his own and never had another issue.
Every manufacturer sucks. You would think they would just raise the price of the truck another grand and put a real filtering system on them on the production line.

 

[shortthrow50]

the new in house "mystery motor" is what detered me last year and is the reason why i went with 2011 cummins. Im not a ford hater so dont take me wrong. I always have a mustang in my garage and have always loved ford power stroke when international was making them but the new engine isnt tried and true yet

 

[RollingsFarms]

little tip I'll share with all you diesel guys, which most of you probably already know, but for those that don't the very best place to get diesel fuel is from a truck stop if you have one nearby. if you're taking a trip, try to stop at a truck stop vs a regular gas station that happens to have diesel. I have a large truck stop about 15 mins from my farm and have bought diesel fuel there for as long as I can remember for my tractors. Never once had a problem with any fuel related issue in any of my tractors, ever. I also use Power Service and that seems to help a good bit as well.

 

[JB4310]

At least you Ford guys have a "water in fuel" light that works.
A year or so ago my brothers Dodge with the 6.7 Cummins quit on him. The Dodge dealer said it was water and rust in the fuel and refused to cover it under warranty. There was never a light or audible warning. The repair was just under $20,000 but luckily his insurance covered it. Since then I've read online and heard first hand of others getting the same story from Dodge dealers around the country. The last one I heard of was a local guy. Same "water in fuel" story and $16,000 repair estimate. They told him they had the fuel tested but when he asked for a copy of the results he was told they couldn't provide them. He ended up flushing the system and replacing injectors on his own and never had another issue.
Every manufacturer sucks. You would think they would just raise the price of the truck another grand and put a real filtering system on them on the production line.

I have had cummins powered trucks for 16 years, they have a WIF light and it works. If it didn't work then that would be in the fault code memory, how could they deny coverage?

I can't imagine Ford not covering it either, I'm a Cummins man as mentioned and am always looking for those Ford failures to bolster my choice, but I don't trust any new equipment. I just had to replace alternator and ECM on my 07 ram 3500 with just 25,000 miles on it. over $2k in just parts. was still covered under extended warranty, otherwise I'd be screaming Don't buy a new Dodge

little tip I'll share with all you diesel guys, which most of you probably already know, but for those that don't the very best place to get diesel fuel is from a truck stop if you have one nearby. if you're taking a trip, try to stop at a truck stop vs a regular gas station that happens to have diesel. I have a large truck stop about 15 mins from my farm and have bought diesel fuel there for as long as I can remember for my tractors. Never once had a problem with any fuel related issue in any of my tractors, ever. I also use Power Service and that seems to help a good bit as well.

Good advice, I have been doing that lately, but not for fuel quality. First of all they have the cheapest price, but as important they have the higher capacity hoses/ nozzles. I have a 52 gallon tank and it takes for ever to fill with a standard hose.

JB