Why do trucks wait until you are away from home?

[vampress_me]

In middle of vacation, we were in Yellowstone yesterday. Pulling into Old Faithful parking lot so kids could see Old Faithful go off, and the check engine light comes on. :banghead: Really?!?!? On a year old truck with 13,000 miles on it. Engine knocking at low idle, goes away at higher rpms. So, get up this morning, drive down to Rexburg, ID to Ford dealer (Bozeman dealer told me on phone it would be 2 weeks before they would even pull codes to see what it said). Now, I sit in Rexburg with the truck, hubby and kids in West Yellowstone in the campground and town, and codes say possible bad injector. Sigh... Plus side, busy dealer, but very willing to help me out. Thank goodness!

On other plus side, our main side that was making funny/ bad noise bofore we left home is working just fine. I 303'd the seals and the noise in the floor went away. Go figure.

[Pull Toy]

Hope it gets better!

Have a good rest of your trip... and maybe... name your truck "OL' FAITHFUL" as a memory of your adventure!

[Signguy71]

Could be worse, I had to buy a new truck 950 miles in on a 4700 mile round trip to Yellowstone this year.

[first time 5er]

Is it better now? I said the same thing last year Christmas eve.
The plate on the EGR valve broke off going down the highway.
Truck was bucking like a bison. he he
I was 100 miles from home.
Had to leave it there and pick up the next weekend

[bsmith0404]

Well ay least you made it to the dealership and it's only a fix or repair daily and not a found on road dead truck. Good luck, enjoy the rest of the trip.

[chuckster57]

Well ay least you made it to the dealership and it's only a fix or repair daily and not a found on road dead truck. Good luck, enjoy the rest of the trip.

And once its fixed it will be First on race day :D

Hope it's fixed quick.

[kfxgreenie]

And once its fixed it will be First on race day :D

Hope it's fixed quick.

Keywords here.....hope the cab doesn't have to come off. Might want to trader in and head on your merry way. :p:D

[vampress_me]

I think I just used all my good luck for the year. TSB said they had to perform 5 or 6 different diagnostic tests before officially a bad injector. On the 3rd or 4th test, it came back as throwing code due to bad fuel. Cetane level was too low for what the truck wanted, and it eventually threw a code with the check engine light while we were in the park.

The diesel mechanic working on our truck couldn't believe that's what it was. He had the other diesel mechanic there doublecheck just to make sure what the computer was telling him, and then they took it for a good long test drive also. He was positive he was going to be taking the cab off and replacing an injector tomorrow, and so was I. So, I was back on the road headed north in the afternoon instead of sitting at the dealer and then trying to get a new injector in. Good diesel and cetane booster was added, truck was happy all the rest of today, and so were we.

I have to say a huge thank you to Woody Smith Ford in Rexburg, ID. They went way out of their way to figure out what was wrong with our truck, and were very willing to squeeze me in and do what was needed to get us back on the road home.

[vampress_me]

And sorry guys, but I've had way less trouble with all our Fords than with our Dodge truck, so even as much as I loved the Cummins engine, this truck is staying with us.

But, "Baby Tomato" may have to be renamed to Ol' Faithful as suggested. "bouncey:

[notanlines]

Lynette, good on ya, mate! And also kudos to you for naming the good guys. Odds are we won't get a chance to use their services, but I can tell you that I would go out of my way to use them if given an opportunity. On a 1 to 10, how did your family enjoy Yellowstone?

[jsmith948]

Glad to hear that your lucky streak is holding. Where did you buy fuel prior to the check engine light? I ask so that we can avoid this particular fuel stop.
I suppose any station can get a load of bad fuel. Was it a truck stop that sells a lot of diesel or a little 'mom & pop' that sells one load a year?
BTW, there are many opinions on which fuel additive to use (and whether or not to use one). Drove truck for many, many, many miles/years and always had good luck with Power Service Diesel Kleen.
Hope the rest of your trip is trouble free.:)

[Larry1013]

Keywords here.....hope the cab doesn't have to come off. Might want to trader in and head on your merry way. :p:D

Thee cab coming off for repair is not a big deal with most trucks now. Most connections whether electrical or mechanical have been engineered for ease of cab off. Plus, I had rather have the cab off than someone trying to lean over into the engine bay to attempt the repair. Also less chance of the belt buckle damage to the paint.

Ford workshop manual uses the cab off for many repairs in the engine compartment. The injectors are not one of the cab off events.

[CaptnJohn]

Wondering ~~~ how much bio-fuel was being used on the trip. What I find strange is SOME Pilot/Flying J have up to B20 and others have good fuel.

[roadglide]

I read horror stores of some owners Putting DEF in the fuel tank its the location of the DEF cap being close to the fuel tank.

[Desert185]

Glad to hear that your lucky streak is holding. Where did you buy fuel prior to the check engine light? I ask so that we can avoid this particular fuel stop.
I suppose any station can get a load of bad fuel. Was it a truck stop that sells a lot of diesel or a little 'mom & pop' that sells one load a year?
BTW, there are many opinions on which fuel additive to use (and whether or not to use one). Drove truck for many, many, many miles/years and always had good luck with Power Service Diesel Kleen.
Hope the rest of your trip is trouble free.:)

I use Diesel Kleen every other fill up, primarily for injection pump lubricity. I figure its like me taking vitamins. Can't hurt...

[jsmith948]

I read horror stores of some owners Putting DEF in the fuel tank its the location of the DEF cap being close to the fuel tank.

You know, I keep hearing about this. Can't imagine anyone being that asleep-at-the-wheel. The caps are clearly marked and are different sizes and different colors! I think it's another of those brand loyalty 'urban myths';)

[darrylwt]

I read horror stores of some owners Putting DEF in the fuel tank its the location of the DEF cap being close to the fuel tank.

My DEF cap is under the hood so it would be hard to get it in the fuel tank.

[byrdr1]

even in my 7.3PSD. I add Diesel Kleen Cetane booster fluid(silver bottle).
I got 17.79 mpg on one tank of fuel without camper in tow going to OK to get my camper 2 weeks ago. So I know this helps me and it adds to the cost of a gallon of fuel but I feel like it is worth.
Just an FYI on my end.
after almost 6000 miles driving and pulling this summer in a 9 week period I understand your grief if it was something major wrong. Glad it was nothing major.
randy

[kfxgreenie]

Thee cab coming off for repair is not a big deal with most trucks now. Most connections whether electrical or mechanical have been engineered for ease of cab off. Plus, I had rather have the cab off than someone trying to lean over into the engine bay to attempt the repair. Also less chance of the belt buckle damage to the paint.

Ford workshop manual uses the cab off for many repairs in the engine compartment. The injectors are not one of the cab off events.

I'd rather my truck not have to be worked on. ;)

PS I'm just slinging some shiat, I know all makes and models need repairs today, some just more than others.:eek:

EDIT: On topic Lynette did they change the fuel filters out?

[bsmith0404]

Thee cab coming off for repair is not a big deal with most trucks now. Most connections whether electrical or mechanical have been engineered for ease of cab off. Plus, I had rather have the cab off than someone trying to lean over into the engine bay to attempt the repair. Also less chance of the belt buckle damage to the paint.

Ford workshop manual uses the cab off for many repairs in the engine compartment. The injectors are not one of the cab off events.

After looking under the hood of a new power stroke, I don't see how any repair could not be a cab off!

I read horror stores of some owners Putting DEF in the fuel tank its the location of the DEF cap being close to the fuel tank.

Mixing DEF and diesel is basically the same as putting water in your fuel since DEF is 68% water. It is also very corrosive and would require draining the tank, purging all lines, replacing filters and possibly worse. I heard that is the reason GM puts the DEF fill under the hood, but they place it next to the fuel cap on vans, so that statement may not be accurate either.

[notanlines]

The same brain surgeon/rocket scientist that put DEF in their diesel fuel spout in their Dodge will be the same individual who put DEF in their engine oil fill spout in their GMC. You simply can't fix stupid.

[vampress_me]

We are back in the land of wifi. Just spent the last few days in the Big Horn Mtns dry camping. We haven't tried that before, but I think I like it! Our battery on the other hand didn't like it, so we are now thinking on how to add a second above it.

To answer the questions: They did not change out the fuel filters. The fuel we got didn't have water in it or other foreign stuff, it was just not a high enough cetane level for the truck. What I have now been told by a few different diesel mechanics out here, the diesel sold in MT, ID, WY, etc is not as regulated as diesel sold farther east. So, it does not necessarily have the higher cetane levels our trucks may be looking for, and may eventually lead to a "fuel knock" which is what we had happen, and the check engine light. So, since then, we have been adding cetane booster on ever fuel-up. And the truck has worked beautifully at 2000 foot elevation on up to 9600 feet and back down.

We absolutely LOVED Yellowstone, it's still as good as it used to be. Except the traffic....that was a nightmare! But, we finally made it around the north loop (have always done the southern loop by Old Faithful before) and went up the Lemar Valley a ways and did a little hiking. Saw the huge herds of bison in the Valley (at least 200), and the usual elk and bison in other areas of the park. The best was seeing 4 wolves one night. Never thought we would see them. But, am happy I saw them in the park and not out where we like to hunt elk in MT.

The last tank we had bought prior to the check engine light had been in Ennis, MT. It was definitely a busy gas station, so I don't blame them at all. I try to stay away from stations that don't look like they get much diesel business, just to try to get the "freshest" diesel we can.

I cannot say how much biodiesel was bought over the course of the trip. This truck was specifically bought because it can handle B20 where our old F-350 was only rated for up to B5. Last year MN changed the law so all diesel sold in the state has to be B20 in the summer months. This was starting to wreck havoc with my 2009 F350 and was going to get expensive, so traded it in on one that can handle the requirement.

Overall, I still think we have a great truck. Both hubby and I have said more than once that for our use, the 440hp this truck has is enough. It worked great coming up the west side of the Big Horns on 14, and the engine braking and exhaust brake are awesome coming down both the east side of Yellowstone into Cody and the east side of the Big Horns on 14 into Sheridan. Apparently, it just likes to keep me on my toes...