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Ford F-250 Owners

1181 messages,  Last post on Nov 09, 2009 at 7:43 PM

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#8 of 1181 reply by cburruss Nov 10, 2003 (3:20 pm)
I did what you suggested and when I took it home for the weekend I realized that it had some electrical problems and also left a really big oil slick under the truck the next morning. Thanks for the advise.
#9 of 1181 cburruss by mullins87 Nov 10, 2003 (3:45 pm)
You're very welcome. You mentioned electrical problems, could that be the reason for the seemingly low miles? I'm skeptical of that one. Replies to this message: fedup19 (Aug 24, 2009 4:01 pm)
#10 of 1181 connon by mullins87 Nov 10, 2003 (3:49 pm)
Diesel engines need several miles of driving before they reach full operating temperature. In your case, I'd change out at 1,000 or 1,500 miles and then every 3,000 after that. Lots of contaminants can build up in the oil when it is not allowed to stay at full operating temp for some length of time. These contaminants will "burn" off when the oil is hot enough. Another piece of advice is to take that truck out on a long run at least once a week. That Navistar engine reallys likes to be worked hard.
#11 of 1181 first oil change by connon Nov 10, 2003 (7:28 pm)
Guess I will do it now. As far as working it hard , I am running it down to Tallahassee from North Jersey for Thanksgiving. Should be a decent shakedown cruise. Getting around 14.6 mpg locally so it will be interesting to see where that goes on a long high speed haul.BTW, 04,King R.,4x4 cc.
#12 of 1181 by mullins87 Nov 11, 2003 (6:14 pm)
Long runs are good for these engines. Your mileage should go up. Right now it seems that yours is low, however these diesel may take 20k miles or more to break-in. You should get into the upper teens to around 20 mpg when broken in. My truck, an F-350 XLT, DRW, SC, 6-speed, 2wd with 3.73 gears gets around 18 empty(mixed city and highway) and 11 towing a 31' camper.
#13 of 1181 10w30 or what ? by connon Nov 13, 2003 (9:05 pm)
Kind of strange, my last Ford, an 01 F150 screw was very specific on what oil to use,5-20 synthetic blend an nothing else. My 04 deisel according to the Power Stroke supplement just refers to a climate chart to determine what weight oil to use and nothing else.So I went with standard 10-w-30 seeing that it rarely goes -10F around these parts. Last thing I need is to void a warranty through inability to read the owners manual correctly.Still I am happy not to have to go synthetic at 15 qt's per change.I will however go with the severe duty change schedule with all the short runs I make. Thank you Mullins87 for the input .I have had this truck since mid August and would like to think the low milage(1350) is because of the weeks it sat back at the dealership correcting problems that should have caught during the so called "dealer prep", however I know I just dont drive it enough.
#14 of 1181 connon by mullins87 Nov 14, 2003 (5:55 pm)
Assuming the oil recommendations are the same for your 6.0L as those for my 7.3L, 10w-30 is OK for cold weather use only. When the temps get over 40 degrees F, or some temp close to that, you'll need to switch over to 15w-40. However, the most important issue here is to make sure you use high quality oil rated for diesel engines. Diesels place much greater stress on the oil than gassers. You can use oil rated for diesel engines in a gasser, but not the other way around.   What brand of oil did you put in it? I have only used Rotella-T in my truck. Walmart sells it around here for about $6.50 a gallon. I got familiar with Rotella-T when working for a trucking company. That's what they used, and still do today. Several of their trucks had 1 million miles on the odometers when they were sold. They were never rebuilt either. The company choses to buy a new truck at that point rather than chance a truck on the road that might break down. I have 140k miles on my truck now and can tell you the inside of the valve covers are clean and sludge free.   Obviously I'm a Rotella-T fan. Others really like Chevron Delo, and there's another major brand but I can't think of it now. Ask around at the truck stop when you fuel up. You'll get lots of good information from the guys that know what they're talking about and far more opinion than you want.   Welcome to the Ford diesel club. If you're like most of us, you'll find out it's a love affair.
#15 of 1181 valvoline by connon Nov 18, 2003 (4:57 pm)
I had the shop put Valvoline 10w30 in even though they tried to get me to go with 15w40.I even tried Ford Cust. svc for a clarification but the operator in Dearborn did not know what the Hell was up. After 20 min. on hold he comes back and tells me to go with 5w20. I told him that that wasn't even listed in the Diesel power stroke supplement. So much for going to the top.I will go back tomorrow and compare the ASI specs from the manual to the specs on the Valvoline drum(bulk oil) and if it does not agree I'll dump it and go 15w40.Rather waste the money then ruin the engine.
#16 of 1181 5w-20?!?!?!?! by mullins87 Nov 18, 2003 (5:15 pm)
Good grief!!! That should prove to you that you need to read that manual thoroughly AND talk to both highly respected diesel mechanics and diesel truck operators in your area. The machinery they deal with may be larger, but the same knowledge and products usually apply.   Since I may run afoul of the Edmunds membership agreement, I'll send you an email with some information on another website that you'll find very helpful.
#17 of 1181 Man what a truck! by tightline Nov 20, 2003 (6:53 pm)
Man what a truck!! This is my first diesel. I've been reading the owners manual and talking to some friends that have diesels. In particular, I have a friend that has the 7.3L and has added a K&N system and a 4" tailpipe plus the 'program'. My question is "Is all of this necessary?". This truck has great get-ee-up and towing ability as is. I use mine to travel w/ the family and towing my 4000lb boat to the lake and sometimes out of state. And like I said - MAN WHAT A TRUCK! right now planning on keeping this one til the wheels go square..... I posted this exact message on another post and was directed to put it here - ANYWAY - my truck is awesome - I went from a ranger to a f150 4.6 v8 to this 6.0L diesel - WOW! Replies to this message: rscott6 (Nov 15, 2004 1:09 pm)

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