What have I done??!!

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Peteandsharon

Well-known member
Well, I went and brought my new Ford diesel truck home today. Looked beatiful. Smelled beautiful. Drove beautiful............ for about 88 miles. Then I hit a stretch of road where the truck started bouncing a lot. Very strange. It started driving so strangely that I pulled off the road to see if I had a flat tire. No flat. While the truck is idling and I'm looking at the tires, Sharon tells me that the truck is bouncing up and down like it's driving over bad road. I limp into my garage and again check the tires. They look OK and I pop the hood. The engine starts clanging like like a 1995 Dodge Cummins. I don't know what in the @$$@$# is going on but I miss my ol' 7.3 already. Of course I call back to the dealer and the dealership had just closed 5 minutes ago. Don't know what is happening here but it's not what I had envisioned. Stay tuned....
 

Peteandsharon

Well-known member
Well, I go back out there and start it up. I back it out of the garage and now the check engine light comes on and it is just shaking like it has Parkinsons. Put in park and it shakes. Put it in reverse and hold the brake and it shakes AND clangs loudly. Just a question for those of you who own the 6.4 diesel. I know this isn't what's happening because nobody would drive this truck but...... can anyone who owns the 6.4 diesel tell me what it is like when the DPF is regenerating. How do you know it's going on? Thanks, Pete
 

sundancekid

Member
Sounds like something more serious. I would not run it.
I would call the dealer first thing on monday and have them come pick it up.

We have run a lot of these and it is not in regen mode.

You will never know it is in regen except for a little noticeable dog in HP.

I would guess that you might have an injector not hitting or Fuel Pump problems.

Worse case is actually something with a cylinder, say a piston but rarely this.

Hope all goes well. Just A thought All of these come with 24 hour roadside. Call it and they will give you a free tow back to the dealer, or like I say Call them and make them come out to you, let them know you are concerned with even driving back to them.

Good Luck!!!!!
 

Bobby A

Well-known member
If this is a new truck you should not be regenerating, I have a 07 Dodge Cummins TD and the couple times it regerated the panel just told me it was regererating, I don't think I could tell a difference in driving or performance. I think my manual says to drive it on a freeway for 30 minutes or so for this function to complete. But again, if this is a new truck with no miles on it, It should not be doing that. I think the first time mine did regenerate was about 800 miles on the truck, had not towing my rig yet and mostly city driving. One time the DPF got totally clogged and I lost power big time. Hope this helps
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
Definitely not a regen issue. Except for the notice on the info center, we don't really notice when we go through regen (there is a slight decrease in power). Yours sounds more like a fuel flow or air flow issue.
 

Peteandsharon

Well-known member
Thanks to all of you. I did some reading after posting earlier and my documentation explained the regen process and I agree, that is not what is happening now. Unfortunately, I fly out of town every Monday through Thursday so I will not be home for them to come pick it up but I agree that I don't want to drive it anywhere. I'll just have to make something work. The dealer (Gordie Boucher Ford or West Bend) is about 85 miles away so it will be hard for him to come get it. However, there is a Gordie Boucher Ford of Kenosha which is only about 8 miles away. So, I'll see if that Gordie Boucher can come get it.

By the way, Gus and Debra, except for that fact that my truck is 4X2 and a Lariat, your picture could be my truck. Absolutely identical looking except for the 4X4 decal on yours. Very nice. Now, if it would only run.

Pete
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
We love ours and have had no problems (other than a minor self-induced one - but that's a whole nother story). Good luck with the fix. Let's hope it's just something minor.
 

tmcran

Well-known member
Being new you would not think a fuel filter problem--but they can do stange things if you got some bad diesel and water is in the fuel.Did it start after you filled up?
 

Peteandsharon

Well-known member
The dealer provided a full tank of fuel out of the box. I would think that water in the fuel would set off the indicator for that. Bad fuel.... that's another matter. It starts right up and does not quit on me. Just bounces a lot and clangs a lot.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
I must be stupid or something. What is regeneration? I have never heard of that before.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Pete, any excessive smoke from the exhaust? Black smoke is over fueling. A cylinder that is getting TOO much fuel will knock badly. Bad or stuck injector maybe. Bob
 

Larryheadhunter

X-Rookies Still Luving it
My new 2008 6.4 diesel Ford 250 just got recalled to install that feature. I was warned that it speeds up the RPM for about a minute while it blows out the excessive smoke build up and excess dirty build up.
 

Peteandsharon

Well-known member
Hey Jim,

The newer 6.4L diesels have an inline exhaust "feature" called a diesel particulate filter. Like Larry stated, it's purpose is to clean up the exhaust. Periodically it does either a passive or active regeneration which, as I understand it, is like a self cleaning oven. It burns off ash build up internally. This happens automatically while you're driving and you're not really even supposed to know it's happening except for the message on the dash display.

Bob, I didn't notice any real black smoke. It was a cold, damp rainy day - the kind of day where your exhaust forms a lot of vapor. Consequently I did see a lot of exhaust smoke but I don't believe it looked any darker than normal.
 

tmcran

Well-known member
Did the dealer fill up the tank for you? Maybe some lotboy put unleaded in rather than diesel?


I was thinking that might be a possiblity but don't really want to even consider that!!! BAD!! I think if that happened it would not start are run at all and certainly not go 88 miles.Could open the drain on the fuel pump and see what comes out. And then an injector could be a problem. Are you throwing any codes?
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
Did the dealer fill up the tank for you? Maybe some lotboy put unleaded in rather than diesel?

I had that thought too, but didn't even want to bring it up! I remember several years ago in Germany, one of my soldiers put gas into a diesel 5Ton truck. It still ran, but very violently and with no power.
 

Peteandsharon

Well-known member
Ouch. I don't even want to think about that. But I agree that it would not have gone 80-90 miles and it did run very smoothly until I was about 5 miles from home. Then the bottom fell out. So.... I would doubt that seriously.

But I still can't get over the fact that the first thing I noticed was how bouncy it was driving. I was absolutely convinced that I had a wheel/tire issue. I thought either I had taken a nail in the tire or somebody forgot to tighten down some lug nuts. I had no clue that I had an engine problem until Sharon told me it was still bouncing when I had it idling on the side of the road and I was checking the tires. Then when I was pulling in the garage it got very obvious with the clattering and then finally the check engine light. One of the strangest things I've ever experienced in a vehicle.
 

Peteandsharon

Well-known member
One other point. I'd like to know if it is throwing codes. I would bet it is. However, I don't have any way of reading the codes. Don't own one of those.
 

RVCamper

Well-known member
There is a yellow valve on the fuel filter / pump combo under the truck, driver's side. Get a clean ball jar and open that valve. Let it drain out, should take about 45 seconds or so. You'll get a little more if you take off the filler cap. Shut off the valve, then cycle your key on for 15 seconds, then off, on for 15 seconds, off. Repeat this about 6-8 times to re prime the system. Take a look at what came out of the filter.

  • Does it have white goobers in it? - it could be gelling - needs additive & new filters
  • Is it dirty? - Needs to have filter replaced (both)
  • Does it smell like Diesel, or Unleaded? - Let's hope just diesel - this is not fun
  • Does it have water in it? - Yes you can have water in it, but not enough to set off the sensor.
BTW: you should do this every 30 days or so, just to get the sediment, out of the filter. Safer for the injectors, and motor health.
  • Also note that in the latest Rev of the processor software release there is a new limp home mode / pollution control saver that I guess is supposed to save the particulate filter from going nuclear if is has not been cleaned. This may be part of the issue, since sitting on the dealer lot it probably did not get driven, but just started and moved. The dealer must reset the PCM in this case.
 
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