Ford Diesel 550 Problems

[Scooter]

I should have thought about bringing this up over the winter.

Last year, our camp, and our company as a whole, had a lot of problems with the 550's. My camp alone blew up two trucks, and almost blew up a third one. The same issues came up in several of our other camps. The main culprit was injector problems. All were Fords.

Mechanical/vehicle maintenance and repair is definitely not one of my greatest strengths, although I've been able to do simple stuff in the past like replace alternators and stuff (especially many years ago, when trucks were a lot more simple). So I need to learn a lot more.

But anyway, have any of you experienced the same problems? I think I remember hearing a rumour (I guess I need to do some internet research) that it's the Ford six-litre engines that are the problem, and it's been a problem for a few years. Is this accurate? If so, have any companies experienced any better success with Dodge or GMC trucks in that large size range? Blowing up engines to the tune of $10k to $15k on a regular basis is not very conducive to high tree prices for planters, in the long term. There must be a solution.

[Scooter]

Ironic that I posted this yesterday. One of our 550's was in for service this morning, and was running poorly. They took a detailed look at it (not at a Ford dealership, but at another place that we've used for years and trust) and they basically said that the motor is a write-off. It will continue to run, but very badly, and repairing it would not be worth the money. They suggested two options: putting a brand new engine in ($20k total with taxes and labour) or getting a used engine and installing that (around $10.5k with taxes and labour). A third option suggested was to leave it in a shady neighbourhood with a $20 bill under the wiper blade, and the keys in the ignition. The final option, of course, was to run it into the ground and not spend any more money on it.

I've been doing some reading on the 6.0 litre engines from 2002 to around 2006, and Ford certainly took a lot of heat for them.

So the question now becomes, does anyone run anything other than Fords, or do most companies have newer engines that don't have these problems? It's a good thing that most of our trucks are newer, because the few old ones are certainly not giving us much luck.

[Mike]

Recall notice on Ford F350's; Censors on 2009 Fords or something like that. So it's not just the 550's engines that are going bad.

[The_Bearslayer]

How often were you bleeding off water from the fuel system? These engines are know for being unable to tolerate any water in the fuel. If any is present the injectors are often ruined and Ford won't cover the damage.