1917-1911M

I've worked through the dealer, I've called the end of the line as far up Ford as I can figure out how to go. Just talked to April in Dearborn. Sorry April, your effort to help was a waste of my time.

OK, time to give up on Ford and that will be a lesson to me. I've owned over 50 vehicles, some manufacturers simply don't care about their customers. I get it, big Corps....I won't purchase any more trucks without doing a lot of research regarding issues....at a good Forum like this one.

Here is the deal and I would appreciate opinions on the various aspects of what I might be able to achieve. I've already thrown $10 K at the truck at my expense. The vehicle involved is a 2007 F 450 6.0 diesel with the tank behind the rear axle. I purchased it new. By 38K the fuel tank had delaminated and rusted. I was blamed for using bad fuel. I use the same fuel everyone else uses... OK, that one cost me $3,000, tank, labor, filters, fuel pump, injectors, pressure regulator. Replacement tank...same as the original

To make a long story shorter I'm on tank number 5 I think. The dealer finally admitted they have a problem with the tanks. Ford Dearborn admits nothing.

At present I am thinking of installing a Titan polymer tank $1,000

I need a new sending unit. $500 Ford unit with me installing. Is there any reason not to purchase a cheaper unit from another supplier? There really isn't much to these.

My FICUM was reading 24V while running. I pulled it, re-soldered the 16 outer contact points under the power module. I am now reading 44 V while running.
Ford only sells the complete bottom portion, not just the board although their information is that the power board is the problem 95% of the time. Ford unit at another $500 or some after market board that I see costing from $120 to $250. Are these on line new units any good?

The trucks takes 4 seconds to start when cold. I'm not sure that is much of a problem to me. 3 seconds when hot. One cylinder seems to be missing. This is likely an injector problem. There is no loud knocking. I don't know if a new power board would solve that issue and neither does the dealer here.

Apparently a high pressure oil leak is possible. There is no oil on the outside of the engine.. The leak could be internal and I understand high oil pressure to the injectors is required for proper operation.

The EGR and oil cooler has already been repaired...again at my expense.

So those are my questions at this point. I don't know who else to turn to at Ford. These are not my Dealerships problems. I think they have done what they could. They are finally in agreement with me regarding none of this being my fault. They did send the less than one year old, delaminated, rusting tank out for cleaning and some type of red sealant. My diesel mechanic says that process is worthless and to get the Titan tank.

Ford sending unit or after market?

Titan tank?

Ford $500 FICUM bottom or after market power board for $120+

My diesel mechanic will fix the high pressure leak and any injector issues...again. But until I stop the rust and debris from the tank lining I'm apparently wasting time and money. Comments appreciated from those of you who have experience with all things related to this. Thanks. M1911

phani1

I see you are in AL, the video below is from a shop in Georgia. Anything related to power stroke engines is his specialty; including this one on the tank problem -
PH in WA state.

1917-1911M

Thanks phani1. Installed a new Ford sending unit. That part is fixed at my expense. Will be putting in a Titan tank...at my expense. I'm wondering if those FICUM units that are $120 are any good? The upper board and clamshell is about $500 at Ford. Mine is presently putting out 44v, up from 24 after I pulled the power board and re soldered the legs. Still not good enough and one of the capacitors might still be bad. The engine still isn't running smooth enough. Feels like one bad cylinder. Starts and idles fine......not much power and feels exactly like a V8 feels with one bad plug or coil over. Anyone have any experience with those cheaper power units? M1911

1917-1911M

After reading reviews on a Dorman (?) power board on Amazon with about 400 review ( two were negative) I ordered one. $117 I figure that is worth a try. The picture of it looks exactly like the one in the truck. Of interest are reports from owners of this engine who had readings in the 24v to 44 v, engine running and report that the new unit cured their problems. Some reported that the new unit did not cure problems. Of course if you have clogged or damaged injectors the FICUM won't cure that. Same for weak oil pressure to the injectors or any number of other problems such as fuel delivery pressure, etc.

At this point the fuel tank is spotless, the fuel lines clean, both fuel filters new, the water drain side of the first filter clean, the bowl on the second filter clean. I have not checked fuel pressure myself but the Ford dealership reported it OK. That leaves the possibility of a high pressure oil leak which can affect injector performance, bad coils in the injectors, or stopped up injector (s). I'm changing the oil and adding some of the recommended fuel additive that might help with cleaning the injectors. Will keep this thread up to date as I learn anything. M1911

1917-1911M

Also, while at the dealership yesterday I talked to my salesman. He had just talked to a customer with the same truck who had spent $14,000 out of pocket on his for the same issues. He replaced the Ford tank with a Titan polymer at $1,000. New everything else that the delamination and rust had ruined and has had no problems since......which brings me back to my contention that the delaminating and rusting tank is the root cause of all these issues. Shame on Ford for ignoring their customers. They will never sell me another diesel truck. M1911

1917-1911M

I've been discussing this in detail at another forum. Lot more interest there. I cam across one fairly obscure video that I think outlined what is going on. Pictures of delaminated tanks don't look anything like any of the five I have had. My tanks don't have any of that silver/white stuff....just rust. I have pictures of badly clogged filters that were in the truck for 37 days and probably no more than 250 miles.

I put in a new ficum and that got my volts up to 48 when running but the engine is still missing when accelerating. It still takes four seconds to start when cold. The glow plugs go out in about 4 seconds when cold...

The video I watched showed the top of a tank like mine....that the short vent line sits in a depression and that this depression on top of the tank fills up with water, dirt, sand, whatever and that when the tank cools instead of air being sucked back into the tank....it sucks whatever mix is in the depression..especially if mixed with water. Apparently there is a TSB out about it and the hose should have been lengthened by Ford a long time ago. I'm going to inspect it tomorrow in detail. This is part of why the cab and chassis vehicles are having the most problems. The shape of the tank and exposure to water and dirt. M1911

Johnboy429bbf

A 4 sec. Sounds alittle long for a start but could just be a worn starter. The shuddering under acceleration sounds more like a HPOP problem more then a injector problem. Injectors usally give you shudder while your just tying to maintain speed around 55-65.
The FICM fails generally from intense vibrations. I bought and had ford program 2 before i bought one from from a diesel performance shop and stopped having them fail. How big is your tank? my 03 had a 30gal. Plastic tank.

It's really a shame ford has treated with such a belittling attitude.

1917-1911M

I don't know what is wrong with it. Seems there has always been something wrong with this truck. Cold start (48F) takes 7 seconds for glow pug light to go off, 4 seconds for engine to start. The starter seems fine. The batteries are fine. The FICUM is fine. Hot cranking is 1 second. Ford says their might be a leaking plug, whatever that means. There might be a leak at the high pressure pump or adjacent lines. Boost hits 20 psi but I didn't see any higher....of course the engine isn't pulling as it should. The engine is dripping oil from somewhere toward the rear. 1 tsp in 30 min. I haven't crawled under to try to trace it upward to see if I can find where it is coming from.

Don't know if injectors can leak oil around the base, could be a valve cover, could be a lot of things. Ford had the truck for 6 weeks....they should have figured out about everything there was to fix and be able to give me clear directions.....but, I'm 8 years down the road with them and this truck....why should I figure they would get something sorted at this late date? M1911

geogeorge

you have a bad HPOP. my 2005 F350 used up three HPOP so I got ride of it after 10 years and 170,000 miles was sick of replacing it. everything you have described is what my truck would do right before not running at all with the HPOP. Good luck, its about a 5,000.00 repair job at the dealer.

1917-1911M

I don't doubt that. Pretty cold this morning. Glow plugs off in 7 seconds. Let them continue to heat for another 7 sec. Engine started in 4 seconds. Ran a bit rough for 5 seconds, smoothed up to a rough idle. After about a minute I decided to unplug the hpop sensor. It immediately began to run better and about 500 rpm faster. I turned the engine off, restarted...it started in 1 second and ran much smoother. Plugged the sensor back in and it continued to run better. Haven't driven it but the idle got much smoother, the engine quieted down a good bit. I washed off the oil from the header just below the last bolt on the header at #8 and it hasn't come back...I'm sure it will.

The cheap Dorman ficum seems to still be working. Sorting out things one at a time but there probably is a leak at the HPOP although Ford thought it might be a loose oil plug in the oil gallery....small chance of that. This is the new model pump. The fuel is spotless, the tank is spotless, the filters are spotless...but there is so much more very expensive stuff that can go wrong on these engines. Turbo seems ok. The EGR, oil cooler stuff was all repaired about 10K miles ago. Get this damn truck running I need to sell it. Get another dodge. Our '96 model has 350K on it and everything works and it has never been in the shop. M1911