Work Truck Upgrade

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Most of you probably remember my old 81 C30 Camper Special I bought from an impound sale last year for $500. Been using it as my welding and service truck ever since, and it served me quite well, but last Sunday afternoon she left me stranded in the middle of a cow pasture in 114 degree heat, pretty sure head gasket went but haven't gotten to diagnose it yet as I just got it home today. Everyone has been telling me for sometime now that I needed to upgrade to a newer truck, so yesterday I did just that. After a couple hours of negotiations between me, my banker, and one of the local used car dealers we are now the proud owners of a 2004 Ford F350. Nothing fancy, just your basic no options work truck, which is all I really needed and wanted anyway, I never have been big on all the options, though I do wish it had cruise control, but everything else I can easily live without. Truck is just a 2 wheel drive, would have rather had 4x4 but it will work, and is equipped with the 6.0L PowerStroke Diesel and auto behind it.

 

Here is the old 81 

 

And here is the new F350 after we got home last night

[Achto 27,571]

16 minutes ago, ClassicTractorProfessor said:

is equipped with the 6.0L PowerStroke Diesel and auto behind it.

 

Very nice looking truck. 

 

The 6.0 is a good engine with only one major flaw that I know of. When the EGR valve goes bad they will dump all of your coolant out the exhaust pipe. This dries the temp sender out and it will not read correctly so you may not know that the engine is over heating. This issue usually happens after 120k miles on the clock.

 

The solve? Change the ERG valve with an OEM one every 100k or do an EGR delete. I prefer the EGR delete, never agreed with pumping exhaust back into the engine. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Achto

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

9 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

Very nice looking truck. 

 

The 6.0 is a good engine with only one major flaw that I know of. When the EGR valve goes bad they will dump all of your coolant out the exhaust pipe. This dries the temp sender out and it will not read correctly so you may not know that the engine is over heating. This issue usually happens after 120k miles on the clock.

 

The solve? Change the ERG valve with an OEM one every 100k or do an EGR delete. I prefer the EGR delete, never agreed with pumping exhaust back into the engine. 

Yes, I installed many EGR deletes on 6.0s back when there were still several of them on the road...already been in the planning stages of doing it to this one in the next few weeks

[adsm08 2,056]

1 hour ago, Achto said:

 

 

 

The 6.0 is a good engine with only one major flaw that I know of. When the EGR valve goes bad they will dump all of your coolant out the exhaust pipe.

 

1) It's the EGR cooler failing that typically causes that, which is an issue endemic to all Ford diesels post-7.3. The real issue with the EGR system is coking. The coke builds up on the inside of the EGR valve and jams it, it builds up inside the fins and passages of the cooler, then undergoes thermal expansion at a rate different than the metal around it, rupturing the cooler. The real fix is to beat the piss out of them, low EGTs is what causes EGR coking, just like soot/creosote in your chimney, don't burn it hot enough and you get deposits.

 

2) I can think of a few other major flaws on that engine that are bigger, some more common than others. I can list them if you want.

[8ntruck 7,003]

EGR can actually help improve fuel mileage.  By introducing some exhaust gas into the intake air, it reduces the available oxygen in the intake charge.  To compensate, the throttle plate opens wider to increase airflow, and in the process reduces part throttle pumping losses, which increases efficiency.

Edited June 19, 2022 by 8ntruck

[Daddy Don 905]

You are a busy man. Lots of equipmen to take car of. 

Keep up the good work. 

[adsm08 2,056]

9 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

EGR can actually help improve fuel mileage.  By introducing some exhaust gas into the intake air, it reduces the available oxygen in the intake charge.  To compensate, the throttle plate opens wider to increase airflow, and in the process reduces part throttle pumping losses, which increases efficiency.

 

This is a potential and unintended side effect.

 

The real purpose of EGR is NoX control. EGR will cool the combustion reaction, while not decreasing it's efficiency because it is inert. Combustion above 1500 will create radical nitrogen/oxygen compounds which are very poisonous. Cats are also for NoX control, but work better if they are given less to begin with. EGR will cool the combustion reaction below 1500 degrees, on gas engines it can only be used when cruising at middle RPMs or it causes performance problems.

[Pullstart 62,861]

9 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

EGR can actually help improve fuel mileage.  By introducing some exhaust gas into the intake air, it reduces the available oxygen in the intake charge.  To compensate, the throttle plate opens wider to increase airflow, and in the process reduces part throttle pumping losses, which increases efficiency.

Interesting explanation, I never knew the thought process behind it.  How does it work though when there is no throttle plate?  Diesels are only speed regulated by fuel flow.  Unlike a gasser, a lean diesel is a cool diesel.  Too lean and it shuts off.  

[Pullstart 62,861]

Awesome deal Bryce!  As clean as that 81 is, it’s worth more than $500 broken to a Midwest fella like me!

[lynnmor 7,305]

15 hours ago, Achto said:

 

The 6.0 is a good engine with only one major flaw that I know of.

Actually they had a number of issues depending on year.  They can be made into a great engine if you do ALL of the needed things involved in bulletproofing.  Do some searching on the subject and you will see what I mean.  Personally I wouldn't want one unless I needed a serious project.

[adsm08 2,056]

4 hours ago, Pullstart said:

Interesting explanation, I never knew the thought process behind it.  How does it work though when there is no throttle plate?  Diesels are only speed regulated by fuel flow.  Unlike a gasser, a lean diesel is a cool diesel.  Too lean and it shuts off.  

 

@8ntruck 's explination of the physics is incomplete. There is a minor scavenging effect allowed by the pressurized exhaust being pulled into the intake under vacuum on a gasser, which can reduce pumping losses.

 

The bigger fuel savings from EGR comes from the physics of the internal combustion process. You take fuel and cold air, compress it, add heat, make it go BOOM, and it EXPANDS to push your piston down. But the expansion (keep in mind hot things expand), more than the explosion (yes, I understand an explosion is rapid and uncontrolled expansion), is more the driving force of the piston going down. Now engines need oxygen, and cold air carries more of it per liter, which is why we are all so obsessed with cold air intakes. But we need to then heat it up to make it expand.

 

Suppose we displaced some of that cold air with compressed air that is already hot. We'd need to add less heat to make it start expanding again. And we get our heat from burning our fuel. So dump (relatively) hot exhaust gas back into the mix to displace the colder intake air, and now you need less fuel to get the reaction going to the same level.

 

Also, a lot of modern diesels do have a throttle plate, that was put there for the sole purpose of creating small amounts of manifold vacuum to assist with getting EGR gasses into the intake.

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

5 hours ago, Pullstart said:

Awesome deal Bryce!  As clean as that 81 is, it’s worth more than $500 broken to a Midwest fella like me!

Are you saying you want to make another Oklahoma trip for another project  All joking aside she's not as clean as she looks in the picture, has the usual rust in the fenders and cab corners. Floors have some rust as well. Not to mention the brakes, or lack of I should say, and the two broken leaf springs under her rear. Maybe someday I'll get around to fixing her up, but right now I just haven't got the time to put all the work in to her and be without my work truck for that long.

 

As for the new one, still have to get the torch off the 81 and mounted, but other than that we are back in business