New to Me Tow Ride

[zegm]

Wish the one of big 3 would put a oil burner in a 1/2 ton.

Chevy was going to launch their 1/2 ton diesel in 2009 and then the bottom fell out, there is much on the web about this.
And Dodge is also about to do something with a diesel, I believe it was related to a Mercedes diesel so that one may have left the radar too now that Mercedes is out of the picture. We will see what Fiat does. If you go to Europe now everyone is driving diesels and this is a good thing because Europeans also like to drive fast.
Not sure that Ford was going to do anything with 1/2 ton trucks. The problem is making them 50 EPA legal (notice if we dropped California they would probably be sold already). And the other issue is that gas prices did come back down. Now people will argue Diesel is just as much but when my wifes car gets 40mpg everywhere and she is a LEAD foot then you still can't argue, especially when this little 2.0 Liter makes 235lb-ft torque at 2000 rpm.

[mmandley]

Fill the rig up yesterday first time. 94 bucks for 28 gallons. I thin it has a 40 gallon tank as it was on 1/4 tank.

No biggie i guess.

I took the boat out and man its true you don't even notice the weight when accelerating. The turbo spooled up to 15 psi and off the speedo went headed to 50 in no time lol.

Desided to hit up Yale because i really wanted to drive on the highway and see my mileage.

Dam lake was closed. I was so pissed. 1.5 hour drive for a closed lake. Then drove all the way back to town and drove out to the Hagg. Spent almost 4 hours just driving, i was furious as i got to Hagg and all the days Clear Sky's and sun had turned to nasty dark clouds.

Still launched and after a couple beers i calmed down and finally took a few sets behind the boat. Water was chilly, not as cold now as its 60 degrees.

I will say i was a bit disappointed in Black Betty for mileage. After all that driving i still only averaged 12 MPG. I was getting 10 in Big Blue. I expected to see a lot better and i really didn't. I had a lot more power, man did i have power no issued out running people on the on ramp, getting to free way speeds, no problem climbing the big hill by the zoo at 55MPH lol.

Is there Diesel tune up? Wondering if i need some attention and maybe shes not running tip top. I think i need a new idle arm as i have some play in the steering wheel too. Thought's??

[thesack]

Sucks that the lake was closed on ya.

12 MPG is probably on par for your truck. My dad had 2 Ford with the 6.0L diesel in them. All of the trucks my dad has owned get approx. 125K-150K miles of freeway driving put on them before he trades them in. He rarely towes anything, so he mainly looks for fuel economy. His 04 was getting around 17 mpg and his 06 was getting around 14 mpg on average. With his 06 when diesel prices jumped to over $4 a gallon (about $150-170 at least once a week to fill the tank) he looked into increasing the fuel economy. He added an air intake, 4" exhaust, and a programmer which was set on economy mode. His mileage increased to 16.5 mpg on average. More then likely your best bet to increase mileage is going to be thru mods.

But to begin with make sure your air filter is clean. When ours would get dirty we would see a decrease in the average fuel economy after our monthly trip to Grants Pass for work. Also if the oil life was over extended, which was usually around 15K+ miles of use we would see a degrease as well. So check to see how your oil looks. If you are wanting to change it just be prepared for an expensive oil change as compared to your F150. Think the 6.0L takes something like 14 quarts. So just go to Costco and get the case of Delo. But at least the oil filter is easy to change, its just a drop in filter.

You could also change your glo-plugs, but I would think that with the mileage on your truck that they would be fine still.

[viking]

Mike,
Isn't there a river there close you can dump in at too?? Or can you play on that?

[Sled491]

I have a F250 SD with the 7.3 turbo diesel. Before that I had the Dodge. Here is what I've noticed. The Dodge had less power probably due to the inline configuration, but got better gas mileage. the Ford has more power but worse mileage.

My dodge didn't work well until I switched to a 4" exhaust, K&N FIPK and chip. My Ford needs the same upgrades.

My buddie bought almost the exact same truck color year and everything last fall. Has been in the shop twice now for major work. Watch the heads and seals on that truck. There's a reason Ford gave a 100k warrenty on the heads

So that all being said, if I were you I'd live with the stereo and upgrade the exhaust, intake and tuner first, then you'll be smilling.

[mmandley]

Thanks guys for the advise.

Viking yes we have tons of Rivers here. Claudia hates them all. So to make her happy we use the lakes LOL.

Sac, yea sounds like your right about my mileage.

Sled yea i read a ton on the heads and other issues these 6.0s have. I got a solid 4/48 extended warranty. Do you know if the 100K on the heads is a factory for the truck or only a 1 owner type of warranty?

As for upgrading the truck, i stopped by the exhaust shop and i got a 3.5 straight pipe already but it does have a muffler. They said honestly they would sell me anything iw anted but the only real change i would get is sound if i went with a different muffler and 4inch pipe.

I kept the programmer off my f150 and talked to PHP today. They said for 165 they will reprogram it to a Diesel, give me a new dash mun and include the thermocouple? Whats a thermocouple and where is it located?

Sounds like a good tuning start.

[zegm]

I have a F250 SD with the 7.3 turbo diesel. Before that I had the Dodge. Here is what I've noticed. The Dodge had less power probably due to the inline configuration, but got better gas mileage. the Ford has more power but worse mileage.

Inline sixes are awesome engines with 120 degree crank throws (anyone who has a BMW baby six will tell you it is the best engine in the world and it is) they are very smooth running and tend to make more torque than a 180 degree engine due to the piston dwell!!! But being a large bore means you lose efficiency, smaller pistons make more power per cc (cubic inch for you old timers). So a V-8 will have smaller pistons if the displacement is the same. Now because hp is a function of rpm times torque a smaller bore & lighter pistons will spin faster so you get more hp too. My Touareg is a 5.0Liter V-10 (500cc per bore) it redlines at 4500 rpm . My wifes Jetta is also a 500cc bore but they now have these 2.0 Liter diesels redlining at 5000rpm!!! The 5.0 makes 313hp and the 2.0 makes 140hp (current state of the art diesel engine = 1 Liter = 70hp, 5.0L x 70 = 350hp, 7.3L x 70 = 511hp!!!) , now if only VW would make a pickup!!! And to think GM was making a 4.5Liter V-8 diesel with over 300hp for the 1500!!! Probably had 5000k tooled up ready to go, wonder where they are sitting???? I have a thought, I wonder if Indmar needs some diesels! I would wait in line for a Diesel powered ski boat! Oh that's Right Master Craft had one! What was that a VW V-10 diesel! Hey but I don't have a 100k! All fun in the world of boats and truck and what could have been!

[zegm]

I kept the programmer off my f150 and talked to PHP today. They said for 165 they will reprogram it to a Diesel, give me a new dash mun and include the thermocouple? Whats a thermocouple and where is it located?

Sounds like a good tuning start.

A thermocouple is a temperature sensor that provides data for view or for control. Diesel engines are pretty much governed (the amount of fuel injected) by the amount of heat the cylinder heads experience. So these chips take away the factory settings and let the engines make more power but also more heat but not to the point of damage.

[Sled491]

Bottom line is that a Diesel is just a big air pump. Bigger inlet, bigger Outlet, it just works better. Exhaust temp is the determining factor with a diesel. Running too hot, get a bigger exhaust. I don't care what the guys say, if it don't breath right it won't run right,, simple as that.

Z I believe the biggest problem with a diesel in a ski boat is the weight, they just weigh too much. In order to get the weight down you need exotic materials which in turn drive the cost up.

[viking]

Sled,
Good argument for installing an EGT guage. Get things too hot and you've got issues. When towing large loads and taxing them uphill they'll tend to creep up a bit. I've got one just haven't installed it yet. Not looking forward to tapping the manifold!

The twin diesels in the offshore boats are impressive! Saw a couple of them down at SEMA last year! I'd like to see them on the water.