A mechanics opinion of P.S.D.

[FFutch]

THEY SUCK!!! I just had the pleasure of doing a galley plug on the back of the head for the hi pressure oil system. I thought this was going to be a 30 minute job and ended up taking 4 HOURS . Phord in their infinate wisdom puts the turbo down pipe in such a position that you can't get it out without dissambling half of the truck and jacking the cab up. And the stupid plug is right in front of it. It took me with 2 prybars and another guy with a pipe and a breaker bar and we still almost rounded it out,then it would have to have the head removed . But it did break loose,luckily. This is the third different plug/o-ring set up that phord has tried hopefully this fixes the leak for good. The guy at our other service center(power co. )that gave me this plug had a whole box of them and said "we do a whole bunch of them". Of course he didn't tell me how much of a P. I. A. it wasgoing to be!I went home after all of this and put 6 injectors,flywheel,clutch,and transmission back in my Dodge in 4 hours . God I'm glad I own the correct truck . O. K. I guess I'm done. I'm still P@*sed off tho. Doug

 

[KennyM]

Doug, I have a brother Inlaw who has a 99 PSD. He has been asking me if I would start doing simple maint on it. Oil changes, Feul Filter changes Ect. Is there anything I need to know before I make the mistake and say yes. I have not been under its hood yet. So I'm curious on how hard or easy the filters might be to get to. Thanks Ken

 

[Texas Diesel]

Thanks for posting that story.



Here is my story: We weant a truck shopping on a nice Spring day, only had two choices, f**d and Dodge ( looking only for Diesels). Test drove and loved the Dodge but had to look at the f**d. Took one look under the hood and left laughing Still laughing



Bad thing is there are still only two choices for Diesel trucks f**d and Dodge. Atleast Dodge is offering a REAL HO in 2003.

 

[Lil' Dog]

A co-worker of mine was putting in a 4" exhaust kit in a 2002 and had the same problem with the downpipe. It wouldn't budge more than about an 1" down or up. Finally got out the Ford Wrench (Torch) and hacked it in half. It's like they had the running gear on the chassis and then dropped the cab on it. .



I feel for you... Who needs that frustration.



Happy holidays!



J-eh

 

[FFutch]

Kenny,the filters aren't too bad. I actually think the fuel filter is a little easier than my 99 Ram. The oil filter is underneath the truck so it's a tad easier also. The fuel filter is underneath the little plastic "powerjoke" cover on top of the engine. But I'd much rather have the little bit of filter location hassle than what I went thru yesterday . The truck I worked on was a 97Phord,the new body styles are worse to work on. I've got one of each . Sorry about the rant but I can see why the Phord garages can't keep good mechanics . I used to work on only big trucks and have just recently started on the smaller stuff. I'm still learning on the 5. 9,but I'm learning real quick which one is less of a P. I. A. . Doug

 

[Texas Diesel]

Originally posted by Lil' Dog

Ford Wrench (Torch) ... "Ford (zip) ties"

J-eh

ROTFLMAO!!!

 

[Forrest Nearing]

hey, I resemble that remark!



my Dodge is the only non-Ford product I've owned/driven since ~93? I built a little 81 Fairmont station wagon that went low 12's NA with about $3500 in the whole car... I'm working on a little mustang coupe with a 2. 3 turbo that ought to run high 11's with LESS than $2k invested in the entire car!



but it's funny you mention zip ties... my cars are held together with those things!



I'm not blinded by brand loyalty... I just do "what works", and Ford (namely the fox bodied platform) has always "worked" for me! and I find myself hating working on anything else...



BUT, when it came time to buy a truck that could put in some real work, I didn't look ANYWHERE but the Dodges because of the Cummins! if I could have gotten one cheap with a Ford wrapper? I'd have been all over it...



Forrest <-- loyal only to logic!

 

[emarsh]

Forrest; Got to agree with ya! I have had all Fords (all but 3)since1968, and the Foxes are certainly the best bang for the buck, I've have had 5 of em, still have 2. An 88 t-bird turbocoupe, soon to get a 5. 0 and a 84 Mercury capri RS with an injected 331 cu in stroker.

I may make my living working on the blue oval, when it comes to a REAL truck, you got to have a mopar powered by a cummins!

 

[MOWPAR]

My service truck at work is a 97 psd that I've driven since it was new, but you can see what gets me to it each day



Jim

 

[Power Wagon]

The easy way to do this job, is to buy a performance downpipe. They come in 2 parts.



You cut the old downpipe in two, pulling part up and part down to remove. Then, install the new one after using a big pry bar, big hammer and some other tools to bash the firewall and cab seams in enough to fit the new downpipe in place.



No, I'm not kidding. The only way to do the job decently.

 

[Evan A. Beck]

PW, you don't know fun until you get the enjoyment of having to move the cab back to fit the downpipe in. Seems that Ford has no "standard" for cab installation on the 94-97's... You can bend the firewall all you want, but there's still not enough room.



FFutch,



I know exactly what you had to go through. I have worked on dozens of PSD's, and they can be a pain, but after MUCH repetition, they get pretty easy. *LOL* trust me, you'll ge to do this job a lot. *LOL* What I really hate is on the 94-97 AT PSD's, how the trans dipstick bracket is mounted DIRECTLY over the top of the fuel gallery plug. That one irks me.



Next week I have a 95 E350 van coming in with "hard starting problems," which means glow plugs, UVC harnesses, and the standard injector o-ring treatment. Should be a TON of fun, since everything in the van is easy to reach. *LOL* Oh well, another day in the life of a PSD/Cummins mechanic.



But the funny this is, I may botch and complain about it, but I love every minute of it.

 

[Bill Lins]

Originally posted by Evan A. Beck

Should be a TON of fun, since everything in the van is easy to reach. *LOL* Oh well, another day in the life of a PSD/Cummins mechanic.

Wassamatter- lose your Sawzall?

 

[Power Wagon]

Originally posted by Evan A. Beck

PW, you don't know fun until you get the enjoyment of having to move the cab back to fit the downpipe in. Seems that Ford has no "standard" for cab installation on the 94-97's... You can bend the firewall all you want, but there's still not enough room.

NOt quite sure what you mean, but of all the downpipes Doug put in (I refused to do them. I let Doug play with the Fords) we never found one that could not be installed that way.



Some of the cabs have bigger seams, some seem to have firewalls that were shaped differently, but all of them had enough room to get the downpipe in AFTER you beat the snot out of a few places.



Fortunately, it's relatively easy to bend the cab... Must be pretty thin. Of course, the 6 foot 2X4's tended to give one pretty good leverage

 

[Pit Bull]

Quality

I am not brand loyal. The last big "3" vehicle I owned was a 1968 "396" 375 hp Chevel (can't even spell it anymore), quality sucked on the "American" vehicles. I went German and Japanese until the Dodge, Cummins. Last 15 years I have had Toyota, Lexus, Porsche, Acura NSX, and Mercedes, even had a 2001 Toyota Tundra, nice truck but "no" personality. I was interested in the Cummins and the Dodge was attached to it. Did a years worth of research before I bought and you guys were a big reason I bought. A lot of knowledge on this site!!! I felt like Dodge had worked through a lot of the "bugs" since the new truck was introduced in 94. I feel my truck is a quality vehicle, and I know what problems to look for and you guys have figured out how to overcome any weak points. I did not want to wait for an 03, to many changes and problems for Dodge to work through on a new model. I am happy with the Dodge Cummins and the TDR. The combination can't be beat When the warranty is up let the BOMBING begin

 

[COBRAJET]

I agree on old body style PSD's. They were a pain. The inner fender had to be taken out just to put a chip in the thing. The newer body style seems to be pretty easy. Atleast it was designed knowing a diesel was going in it... unlike the older body style. My downpipe came out in less than 15 minutes. There was plenty of room. The Banks Big Head was kind of a pain until I bent an awl at 90 degrees to get the e-clip back on. The fuel filters on the PSD and the Cummins seem about the same. I hate the oil filter on the Cummins. It will not come out the bottom and tends to get oil all over the suspension getting it off. I untighten it and catch it in a large freezer bag... . a much better method. An inline is always going to be easier to work on... I just wished they made the oil filter a little less messy. Anything other than maintanance will go to Ford anyway... . which has not happended yet... 81K and climbing... . CJ

 

[Power Wagon]

Originally posted by Evan A. Beck

Next week I have a 95 E350 van coming in with "hard starting problems," which means glow plugs, UVC harnesses, and the standard injector o-ring treatment. Should be a TON of fun, since everything in the van is easy to reach. *LOL* Oh well, another day in the life of a PSD/Cummins mechanic.



But the funny this is, I may botch and complain about it, but I love every minute of it.

So, have you tackled glow plugs and injectors on a Chevy Van yet? Especially one with a replacement 6. 5 in it?



I used to go look under the hood of my PW every now and then just to remind myself that it IS possible to build something easy to work on.

 

[DieselB59]

The T444E is, by design, a diesel Jaguar. You have to take too much of it apart to service it, the dowels on the block that the cylinder head locates on are so thin that they just bend if the head goes on any way but perfect, and the entire engine has to be removed to change a cracked front cover. I still like it for being a diesel, but its design is more gas than diesel, running entirely off of a conglomerate of sensors. I actually like the Cummins oil filter location. I drop the drain plug on a hot engine, grease the front end, and by that time, the oil is sufficiently cooled so that the remnants of what's at the filter is below the gasket area. Still, I use a ziplock bag with the idea that you won't need it if you have it there.

 

[COBRAJET]

I always drain the pan first. I grease it, clean out the breather bottle... another strange idea, but better than the open tube I had on my 93 that just dripped everwhere. I then fill the new filter with oil then take off the old filter. It still comes out all over the place, running down the side of the filter. The ziplock is the only way to go... CJ

 

[Joe G.]

CJ,



I let mine drain over night. That siphons enuff oil out of the filter that it doesn't spill. If you have time enuff to do that, then no mess. Actually, the P7100 pump takes a while to drain about a quart of oil out of it anyway. I use a long screw driver kind of like a chisel on the top rim of the filter to loosen it instead of a filter wrench. That makes it an easy job.

 

[Evan A. Beck]

PW,



Worked on lots of 6. 2/6. 5 vans, and they are a PAIN, especially the newer ones. The worst is when the tips of the glowplugs swell up like Ballpark Franks. Then it's time to get out the vise-grips and slide hammer and carefully try to extract them in one piece. If one breaks, off comes the head. Wooohooo! Let the good times roll! I had an '85 6. 2 that had 4 swelled up plugs--took nearly 3 hours to get them all out. Didn't have to pull the head that time.



Speaking of vans, injection pumps are a real joy too!