Ken and Gene are friends and some of the best in the business. Im a BPD beta tester. Love their stuff
2004 Powerstroke Excursion 6.0 Must do mods?
- Thread starter Pangle
- Start date
Ken and Gene are friends and some of the best in the business. Im a BPD beta tester. Love their stuff
Pangle
Wanderer
right on thanks... I have not really cared for that guy just in his presentation alone. I am sure they all have there pros and cons and I try not to take any of it as gospel, but rather to gather as much info as I can and make my own judgement. At this point I am not going to be doing any major engine work, as it seems to be really solid and reliable thus far. I think given the fact that it was fleet maintained, it will be solid. I have contacted the local Ford dealer and they are sending me the Work history, I should have that in a few days. Based on what Ford told me over the phone that it would seem a lot of the major stuff has already been done... EGR and what not. I will know more once I get a copy here soon
Says the beta tester for the competition.... No bias there right?
I've had 3 trucks done at Hewitts place and all 3 have been solid performers since. And here's the thing. Bill Hewitt isn't the one doing the work. He has a first rate and honest service manager running the show, who will be the first to tell you that "Bill makes videos, and I fix trucks" and they don't always have the same game plan when it comes to fixing stuff.
Case in point.. I mentioned a coolant filter. His first question was "do you properly maintain your coolant system"? He told me to save my money and that that whole casting sand thing was an Internet legend and he had never EVER seen sand in the coolant of a Ford diesel. What he had seen is a granular sand like substance that is a direct result of an improperly cared for coolant system. The coolant itself was producing this "sand". He launched into the technical explanation as to how that happens and glazed my eyes in seconds flat.
I'm willing to bet there will be a bunch of folks cry foul, but I'm not buying the sand thing either. These aren't the first engine blocks to be cast and besides it not being the casters first rodeo, there is a ridiculous amount of machining done to these things, along with massive amounts of cooling lubricant flooded into the blocks during the process.
He could have easily sold me a couple hundred dollars worth of coolant filter just on his recommendation but didn't. He could have sold me quite a bit more in egr and egr cooler deletes, but didn't. The 6.4 doesn't have egr issues, but at the time I didn't know that. He could have sold me ARP studs and all that work, but told me not to bother because the 6.4 didn't need it.
I have no bias at all here. I'd be more than happy to toss this place to the wolves if I thought I was getting played, but I don't and I didn't. Just because you don't like the guy in the video doesn't mean his mechanics aren't doing good work.
drewactual
Adventurer
grrrrrrrr......
so the gold coolant is not a NOAT but a HOAT coolant... it is engineered to make a 'skin' over hard parts... it's a good concept that works in some applications like magic. it's a bad concept in an engine that utilizes a coolant sleeved EGR, as it is flashed to a redonkulous temperature and forces separation of compounds, and falling silicates.
ford tried to make the gold product cover too many vehicles- it was FORD, not NAVSTAR... Navstar's are sent to market with red NOAT coolant...
the combo of a coolant to oil cooler embedded in the valley and with a coolant sleeved EGR cooler was stupid....
now we're going to discuss casting sand whether you follow Bill's religion or not... it's true they were cast with what the industry calls sand... it is true not all of that sand was removed- it's impossible. but what actually happens is misunderstood... it's actually pretty simple- the 'skin' forms around the casting sand, increasing it's size, and joining others like it- until they can't fit through the passages of the oil cooler. hello clogged oil cooler...
then, folks improperly flush... they use vc9 and go straight for the scale... oops... but that should be explained first...
the skin on the hard parts isn't a bad thing... but it doesn't survive the heating cycles of the EGR coolers in a stock DPF truck during the regen cycles especially, where they can maintain as high as 1500* for a good while. flash boil, chemical alterations to the coolant. little bubbles slapping metal at hyper-sonic speeds, and damaging them... breaking the skin... cutting through metal like sandblasting... cavitation... front covers leak, ultimately... impellers get chewed to ineffectively moving coolant... chunks of 'skin' break free and clog oil coolers.... scale forms on now unprotected metals, especially when it becomes a conductor over differing metals and attacks the weaker ones... not good... the interesting thing as related to maintenance, though, is the formation of scale due to the effect of conductivity of metals and it being spread throughout the cooling system, and then using a product that attacks the scale as a remedy- it's BAD juju.
restore is a product available at cummins dealers. if used properly it attacks the skin, and melts it. you gotta follow the letter of the instructions and use proper concentration an achieve the proper activation temperature for the prescribed amount of time... then you gotta flush several times with water alone.... not once, twice, or three times, but several more than that... then, when the 'skin' is gone, THEN you attack the scale by using vc9 (motorcraft product) OR Restore Plus... it attacks the now fully exposed scale... same thing... proper concentration proper temperature proper time.... then you flush the several more times again.. block plugs out type flushing... a lot....
at this point, the pretty much harmless 'casting sand' is mostly gone, and all of the 'skin' should be gone that was adhered to them... it is safe to introduce distilled water to the tune of 20 gallons or so as you continue to flush, and then top it with coolant... but why in the hades would you reintroduce gold? use the freakin RED NOAT, and the better is the CAT EC-1 ELC... you're concerns about your cooling system will be like the tin can you just booted half a million miles down the road in front of you, instead of test strips and flushes every 30~50k miles...
a coolant filter is not required... not at all... AFTER you PROPERLY flush and remove gold... but... you can introduce one for less than $30 by piecing it together, tapping the heater core lines, and trap anything larger than 25uc or so, and guarantee the issues surrounding the coolant to oil cooler won't ever touch you.. that is relatively cheap insurance, especially considering replacing an OE oil cooler ($350 or so for the part) won't set you back $3k+ down the road...
and. for what it's worth... ELC NOAT RED coolant doesn't have the issues with heat cycles like the HOAT gold... Ford screwed up. it's easy to fix, though... we have the technology...
so the gold coolant is not a NOAT but a HOAT coolant... it is engineered to make a 'skin' over hard parts... it's a good concept that works in some applications like magic. it's a bad concept in an engine that utilizes a coolant sleeved EGR, as it is flashed to a redonkulous temperature and forces separation of compounds, and falling silicates.
ford tried to make the gold product cover too many vehicles- it was FORD, not NAVSTAR... Navstar's are sent to market with red NOAT coolant...
the combo of a coolant to oil cooler embedded in the valley and with a coolant sleeved EGR cooler was stupid....
now we're going to discuss casting sand whether you follow Bill's religion or not... it's true they were cast with what the industry calls sand... it is true not all of that sand was removed- it's impossible. but what actually happens is misunderstood... it's actually pretty simple- the 'skin' forms around the casting sand, increasing it's size, and joining others like it- until they can't fit through the passages of the oil cooler. hello clogged oil cooler...
then, folks improperly flush... they use vc9 and go straight for the scale... oops... but that should be explained first...
the skin on the hard parts isn't a bad thing... but it doesn't survive the heating cycles of the EGR coolers in a stock DPF truck during the regen cycles especially, where they can maintain as high as 1500* for a good while. flash boil, chemical alterations to the coolant. little bubbles slapping metal at hyper-sonic speeds, and damaging them... breaking the skin... cutting through metal like sandblasting... cavitation... front covers leak, ultimately... impellers get chewed to ineffectively moving coolant... chunks of 'skin' break free and clog oil coolers.... scale forms on now unprotected metals, especially when it becomes a conductor over differing metals and attacks the weaker ones... not good... the interesting thing as related to maintenance, though, is the formation of scale due to the effect of conductivity of metals and it being spread throughout the cooling system, and then using a product that attacks the scale as a remedy- it's BAD juju.
restore is a product available at cummins dealers. if used properly it attacks the skin, and melts it. you gotta follow the letter of the instructions and use proper concentration an achieve the proper activation temperature for the prescribed amount of time... then you gotta flush several times with water alone.... not once, twice, or three times, but several more than that... then, when the 'skin' is gone, THEN you attack the scale by using vc9 (motorcraft product) OR Restore Plus... it attacks the now fully exposed scale... same thing... proper concentration proper temperature proper time.... then you flush the several more times again.. block plugs out type flushing... a lot....
at this point, the pretty much harmless 'casting sand' is mostly gone, and all of the 'skin' should be gone that was adhered to them... it is safe to introduce distilled water to the tune of 20 gallons or so as you continue to flush, and then top it with coolant... but why in the hades would you reintroduce gold? use the freakin RED NOAT, and the better is the CAT EC-1 ELC... you're concerns about your cooling system will be like the tin can you just booted half a million miles down the road in front of you, instead of test strips and flushes every 30~50k miles...
a coolant filter is not required... not at all... AFTER you PROPERLY flush and remove gold... but... you can introduce one for less than $30 by piecing it together, tapping the heater core lines, and trap anything larger than 25uc or so, and guarantee the issues surrounding the coolant to oil cooler won't ever touch you.. that is relatively cheap insurance, especially considering replacing an OE oil cooler ($350 or so for the part) won't set you back $3k+ down the road...
and. for what it's worth... ELC NOAT RED coolant doesn't have the issues with heat cycles like the HOAT gold... Ford screwed up. it's easy to fix, though... we have the technology...
Pangle
Wanderer
Just a little update... the Ex is at the paint shop getting a color swap. I went with an olive, military, Jeep green color. I also ordered a 4" zone offroad lift kit, blue spring kit, and some other suspension components. Ill post some pics when it comes out of the paint shop on tuesday! Im anxious to see how it turns out.
thethePete
Explorer
Looks awesome, we need some shots in bright sunlight, I'm sure the colour changes a fair bit from light to shadow.
Man, this really has me considering one of these beasts. I've always liked them and I need a family hauler. I have a love/hate relationship with the 6.0, and at least I can do all my own work.... Damn you Pangle. Damn you and your cool truck.
The blue spring mod should only take you like an hour or so to do, you don't have to drain the fuel system or anything, as soon as you do it, just fire it up and let it run for a bit as if you'd just done a fuel filter. Do it before your lift You'll thank yourself when you're leaning over a stock rad support, not one with a 4" lift It comes with instructions, but it goes in the side of the upper fuel filter bowl, you'll see a cover that matches the shape of the new o-ring gasket, it's on the driver's side of the fuel filter housing, between the fuel lines. Stares you in the face when you open the hood. You might pop the intercooler pipe off that side to give yourself a little more room, but it's not necessary, and if you've still got the stock plastic IC pipe, they're kind of a PITA to get off sometimes.
Good luck, have fun. I may have missed it earlier in the thread, but do you plan to kit out the back for sleeping, or RTT, or ground tent? It certainly is big enough to build a sleeping set-up inside...
Man, this really has me considering one of these beasts. I've always liked them and I need a family hauler. I have a love/hate relationship with the 6.0, and at least I can do all my own work.... Damn you Pangle. Damn you and your cool truck.
The blue spring mod should only take you like an hour or so to do, you don't have to drain the fuel system or anything, as soon as you do it, just fire it up and let it run for a bit as if you'd just done a fuel filter. Do it before your lift
You'll thank yourself when you're leaning over a stock rad support, not one with a 4" lift It comes with instructions, but it goes in the side of the upper fuel filter bowl, you'll see a cover that matches the shape of the new o-ring gasket, it's on the driver's side of the fuel filter housing, between the fuel lines. Stares you in the face when you open the hood. You might pop the intercooler pipe off that side to give yourself a little more room, but it's not necessary, and if you've still got the stock plastic IC pipe, they're kind of a PITA to get off sometimes.Good luck, have fun. I may have missed it earlier in the thread, but do you plan to kit out the back for sleeping, or RTT, or ground tent? It certainly is big enough to build a sleeping set-up inside...
Pangle
Wanderer
haha thanks Thethepete! I at this point have a love relationship with my 6.0 at this time... All of the issues that I have had have been easy fixes which solved major issues. I have not put thousands of miles on her yet but so far so good.
Ya I totally plan to build a sleeping plat form in there but I am still tossing around design ideas. It currently has a large box of cabinets back there which I want to keep so I just have to figure out how to do both... i am about to post some of the work done today!
Ya I totally plan to build a sleeping plat form in there but I am still tossing around design ideas. It currently has a large box of cabinets back there which I want to keep so I just have to figure out how to do both... i am about to post some of the work done today!
Pangle
Wanderer
Today my unit received 4" zone off road lift kit, which included sway bar links, bushings, shocks of course, leaf packs, blocks, steering stabilizer and so on. We also completed the blue spring kit upgrade and I have to say I think she is looking pretty bad A. I do feel like I need tires tho.. do one project and others seem to pop up!
I have also attached some photos of the cabinet I have modified in the back.. 3ft deep drawers and a pull out desk, with aluminum stands on the doors.
I have also attached some photos of the cabinet I have modified in the back.. 3ft deep drawers and a pull out desk, with aluminum stands on the doors.
Pangle
Wanderer
Built one of the Sleeping platforms in the Ex yesterday. Dressed it up with some aluminum angle for the entry edge. Has about 6inches of storage height underneath. Going to mount the inverter on the underside. It is 67x33 inches and should sleep an average size person ok. I still plan to build another platform on the rear shelf.
Love the way this is going. So tagged for interest
I have an 03 F250 and have loved it sense I got it. Yes I did have to do the HPOP and everything along the way. Mine went right catastrophic because one lazy -30C day I went to a local quick change oil shop instead of doing it myself. They took care of half the $8000cdn though, so wasn't as bad(wasn't going to push for all, I knew I would have to do it one day). I did however get it done at the local heavy truck shop instead of the local ford shop (who only works on diesels on Tuesdays) So were they could they used Nav parts instead of ford. I had known what I was getting into when purchasing the 6.0L and I keep up on all the maintenance. She is stock, never felt the need to tune it. She did have no start issues at -20C and lower. Nothing plugging in and in the worse -50C a bucket of hot coals from the fire wouldn't solve. This year I did switch to arctic oil (0w40) which Ford approved, but go figure it hasn't gone lower then one week of -28C.
She now has 390k KM and I love it. Keep yours stock, and keep up on the maintenance its just like any other vehicle it will wear out. At least its not a cummins with the DREADED KDP just kidding
I have an 03 F250 and have loved it sense I got it. Yes I did have to do the HPOP and everything along the way. Mine went right catastrophic because one lazy -30C day I went to a local quick change oil shop instead of doing it myself. They took care of half the $8000cdn though, so wasn't as bad(wasn't going to push for all, I knew I would have to do it one day). I did however get it done at the local heavy truck shop instead of the local ford shop (who only works on diesels on Tuesdays) So were they could they used Nav parts instead of ford. I had known what I was getting into when purchasing the 6.0L and I keep up on all the maintenance. She is stock, never felt the need to tune it. She did have no start issues at -20C and lower. Nothing plugging in and in the worse -50C a bucket of hot coals from the fire wouldn't solve. This year I did switch to arctic oil (0w40) which Ford approved, but go figure it hasn't gone lower then one week of -28C.
She now has 390k KM and I love it. Keep yours stock, and keep up on the maintenance its just like any other vehicle it will wear out. At least its not a cummins with the DREADED KDP
just kidding