I LUV my 09 F250?

[Big Bird]

We purchased our F250 July 4th weekend 2009. We experienced exhaust fumes in the cab soon after and the dealer laughed it off. Coming home from the Mt Rushmore Rally the on board computer asked to send a vehicle condition report to Ford. We OK'd it and immediately received a text from Ford to get the truck into the dealer. Got home and the dealer said the turbo was not producing the right amount of air pressure and the unit needed to be replaced. It was under warranty. Last week the on-board message center on the truck advised us to get the truck to our dealer ASAP. Got the truck back today with another new turbo. Yes, under warranty. We have about 30,000 left on the 100,000 mile power train warranty and I am a little more than concerned. Have any other folks with F250 diesels had any turbo problems?

[dfredendall]

I have not had turbo issues, so far on my '08 F350. I regularly get stinly exhaust smells inside when the message appears telling me it is"Cleaning Exhaust Filter", aka: Exhaust Regen cycle, aka; Stuff a potato in the tail pipe. Air clears after cycle is completed and I quit grumbling because it seems to always happen when I'm pulling a grade and need the power. Good luck! Did you get a new turbo or factory rebuild? Was it Coking? That is the term for sooting or oiling the turbo piping circuit when seals weaken. Signs are excessive oil vapors at the turbo hose connections for the intercooler. I am on my first diesel and have much to learn.

[Big Bird]

This time it was a real surprise. We did not have a lot of smelly exhaust and no smoke from exhaust. Dealer says it was a marginal loss of pressure that would not cause a significant loss of power. The front cover for the timing chain was also leaking. I do not know if the two are related or even could be related.
I did get a new turbo with all the associated parts included. I am told if it happens again that in Calif. Ford may have to give me the full purchase price back under the lemon law. I have not verified that. It is funny because I really like the truck. It is sound in every other way.

[Randyman]

I'm curious Dana, I have an 08 too and it seems to also clean the filter anytime I need the power instead. We took a 1500 mile trip pulling the 5er and it was cleaning so often we started writing it down. It would go for about 40 minutes without cleaning and then clean for 20 minutes. It kills the fuel mileage and of course the power loss. Does yours or anybody else out there with one of these have that much cleaning going on when you are pulling? I've asked my Ford garage about it and they just say they don't know. The truck checks out fine, no codes or oil usage. Love the truck, just get frustrated with all the cleaning going on and the resulting loss of power and mileage. Randy

[dfredendall]

My Exhaust Re-gen does not occur with any real regularity. I have 95,000 miles on it, with 45,000 towing the fifth wheel. My observations are: If I do a lot of short hop town driving where the engine does not heat up completely (30 minutes plus) it will tend to regen every trip until it gets a good trip to cook off any soot. My exhaust does not smoke, nor do I have any oil consumption, fortunately. My exhaust tips are clean and clear colored just like the outside of the ex. pipe. While traveling, I have noticed more frequent re-gens with some fuel-ups, telling me that the fuel I bought may have had higher water or other issues. I have never had the fuel/water message light come on, fortunately. I avoid Bio-diesel as much as possible. If you are in Nebraska ,a state that requires ethanol mix in diesel, it may be getting to you. Try fueling at different places to see if it makes a difference. Avoid the French Fries in your fuel, LOL. When traveling I have noticed re-gen as often as every 200 miles, then on other trips it seldom happens. I attribute it to last fuel up product quality. My driving style does not vary. I have a 60 gallon tank so purchased fuel can vary the frequency for many miles. One of life's mysteries.

[Chief409]

Never had a problem with a turbo, so far. Some have stated on Ford Truck forums that water in fuel can cause turbo seal problems and everyone knows about piezoelectric injector failures, so I'm picky when it comes to fuel stops.

I quickly learned to avoid off brand fuel at truck stops with my '09 6.4 even before I heard about possible turbo seal/injector problems caused by fuel.. I fueled twice at a local truck stop and experienced frequent regens and it also resulted in a loss of MPG. Love's, Pilot, Shell, Chevron are my stops now.

Jeff

[Big Bird]

Fuel in Arizona, Nevada and California come from three refineries in California and the three units are connected by a pipe line system. Fuel refined in San Francisco may end up with retailers in Arizona and/or southern California. There are no other sources for retailers in these three states. So, no matter where you buy it, the source is the same. Summer gas in California has added chemicals to reduce smog accounting for the additional cost per gallon and is not shipped to Arizona or Nevada.
My Ford dealer informed me that my turbo may have started failing months ago and not until the pressure dropped enough did it trigger the message center notice. The dealer told me when we traveled to Moab the turbo could have been failing, just not enough to be noticeable.

[Illona Lucas]

Big Bird, we have a 2006 F 350 and at 22,000 miles we had to have the center rotating housing replaced in the Turbo. In our truck we kept getting the check engine light coming on. We never had a loss of power and we were pulling the Bird. We did however by a 4 year extended warranty after that, it was much cheaper then buying a Turbo. They told us to start adding Cetane to the fuel and this would help. We know that the 2006 Fords Have had problems. Yours is newer and we were hoping all the problems were solved by now. You may want to look into Fords extended warranty, We think it has been worth the piece of mind.

[Big Bird]

Thank you Illona, we are looking into to that option.

[bigbunkhouse]

its a shame and embarrassing (for ford and those of us who bleed blue) that you have to jump thru so many hoops to keep your powerstroke running reliably. That being said, fuel filters every 10k, drain water separator every oil change, synthetic oil every 5000miles, limiting short trips and idle time as well as driving it like you stole it to make sure the turbo is spinning and moving and blowing the soot out help tremendously! We have alot of them in our fleet and have only had to clean one turbo, once, and it was a used truck.