I have not used those in a year? I really like the Baldwin/Hastings off Rockauto, but the price with shipping is a little high, these Donaldsons we will see. Been using them on the diesels with decent results, so we will see on the gas trucks.
Ford 7.3L Godzilla cam issue; Tell me what you think
- Thread starter Spike555
- Start date
I have not used those in a year? I really like the Baldwin/Hastings off Rockauto, but the price with shipping is a little high, these Donaldsons we will see. Been using them on the diesels with decent results, so we will see on the gas trucks.
He is long gone, he opened his own independent shop and that failed because of his shoddy work. I have no idea what he's doing now.
Funny enough he used to work for a shop that I use for things I can't/won't do before they fired him for shoddy work.
My fleet down there is now out of triage and in physical therapy. It is in well enough shape that I have started working on cosmetic things.
Breakdowns are few now, still some on the older trucks, finding 6ft of wiring with 12 butt connectors in that 6ft.
DEF/after treatment issues, getting those sorted by the shop as they come up.
So far in my two Transits I have not had any problems with them.
The 6R140 on the other hand...the parking prawl is weak, my guys set the parking brake when they park against the belt so the truck doesn't rock back and forth and ruin it.
The valve body in the 6R140 is junk, it wears out around 100k, ****s really hard once hot. Replace the valve body and good to go.
$400 for the valve body, $200 for programing, another $100 in filter, fluid and labor and good as new.
I change the fluid on those as soon as the fluid starts getting dark, I put drain plugs in all of the transmission pans. So it's just like changing the motor oil.
My 10r80 I’m theorizing had some VB sticking issues, as it got really, really bad and the dealer was no help. after 2 fluid changes with no difference, a later *splash* of a fluid additive fixed it like day and night. I’ve had to dose it once more and reset the adaptives and it’s back to being near flawless. I can attest to valve body suspicions.
consider a small, small dose of lubeguard red, like 1-2 ounces, if yours starts to demonstrate banging around or missed shifts or banging and dropping to neutral….
Thank you, I will.
What are you programming? Solenoid strategies? Allegedly Forscan will do it. I haven't done it but I read it on the internet so it must be true ??
Taking a big gamble with the interval and oil you have set.
Wrong oil. but good you caught it. Go thinner to prevent lifter skating and better startups.
Is the cam cast iron or forged steel? I would think the torrington would fail first.
15W40 is for dinosaurs, I don't know what Godzilla is.
- Ken
dnewton3
Staff member
I'm going to ask that you clarify that "won't cover it" means to you?
If the cam/lifter fails during warranty, I'd think Ford would be obligated to cover it.
If out of warranty, they probably won't, unless some "recall" or other form of obligation comes into play such as warranty extension.
How's that any different from any other part in an engine? Once the warranty runs out, it's gone. Period. That's not news by any means.
I have Forscan and a USB to OBD adaptor that is Forscan capable, have not gotten it to work yet. So far the shop I'm having install the valve bodies is having someone come and program them to the truck, I do not know what exactly needs to be programmed, all I know is it will not learn on it's own.
Incorrect. No gamble is being taken with the service interval and oil being used. The OLM comes on around 7500 miles saying to change the oil, I do 10k.
Oil samples say go longer, I do 10k.
Pictures prove there are no issues, I'm sticking with the 10k and the 15w-40 diesel oil.
I have 50 trucks to maintain, the lowest mileage one gets in a week is ~800.
I have my service reminders pre-programmed in the computer so I get text messages when a unit is 1,000 miles away from an oil change.
Trans fluid every 50k. Trans filter every 100k. Diff serviced every 100k. Power steering fluid changed every 100k. coolant every 100k. Air filters as needed. Diesel fuel filters once a year. Everything is greased at every oil change with fuel synthetic grease.
I am saving a ton of money, I have reduced breakdowns and I am extending the life of the equipment.
I'll keep doing what I'm doing, thanks.
Godzilla is a mutated lizard.
The Ford Godzilla is a 7.3L gasoline V8 engine, single cam, push rods and lifters, cast iron block and aluminum heads, two valves per cylinder. It is basic, simple, reliable, easy to work on and made to work, and work hard.
I will not go with a thinner oil, all of the other contractors use a 5w-30 full syn and have to replace their engines every 150k or so. They start burning oil around 100k.
My trucks do not use a drop of oil between oil changes. Zero sludge. Clean as a whistle on the inside. All of my trucks are parked inside a heated building. Subzero start ups are not an issue.
Judging by the weight, I assume the cam is forged steel.
It is a known issue, Ford knows of the issue, if it fails under warranty Ford will repair it for free.
All of my units are out of warranty.
It is a known issue, by Ford. They know how to repair it. They know what's causing it. They will not do anything about it unless it fails under warranty.
In my opinion, Ford should offer a TSB on this and replace the cam for free, even outside of warranty. Since they know all about it and all.
That is what I mean by "won't cover it"
from what I know U-Haul wants their trucks filled with 15W-40 for similar reasons, despite GM and Ford wanting thinner oil. Amazon vans get the cheapest swill Firestone or Oil Changers/Jiffy Lube has, I always see one at the local Ford dealer for repairs.
I don't know what U-Haul uses, I've heard UPS uses 10w-40, but do not know for sure.
The "recommended" oil is because of EPA and CAFE regulations, that's it. That's the only reason.
Years ago I had saved a open letter that a engineer at Ford had put out, he said that the only reason for the Ford recommended 5w-20 was MPG, it only takes 50hp to move a F-150 down the expressway at 60mph, the engineers want to use full synthetic but they know their customers won't do that, conventional oil won't hold up, so they compromised and went with semi synthetic motor oil.
Same reason they tune all of their engines to run on 87 octane, they know their customers won't use premium fuel.
This letter is long gone, it's on one of my old computers that's been recycled a decade ago.
Bottom line, you have to use the correct oil for your application.
I would never tell you to go to hell.
Just to share I guess, there are basically two camps when it comes to motor oil, use what the manufacture says and change it when they say or your engine will blow up the universe.
And those who use whatever they want and change it whenever they want but have little to no proof that what they're doing is working for them.
When I first posted what I was doing on here I was flamed for doing it all wrong, to long between oil changes, wrong oil and I'm going to cost my company tons and tons of money when engines start blowing up and aren't covered under warranty because I was doing everything wrong.
I've been doing everything wrong right from the get go, first oil change at 10,000 miles, drained the factory oil and changed the factory filter and started with the diesel oil and a quality middle of the road oil filter.
100k+ later and here we are, everything is going great. Zero oil consumption, zero sludge, zero varnish, timing chain still tight...
I like to share and give hope to those who are also doing it wrong that it's only wrong if it doesn't work.
Got it. You never know until you try. Again just my opinion… a final conclusion can’t be made until the end of the vehicle’s life cycle. No problems now doesn’t mean no catastrophic failures toward the later half. Personally I was never one to gamble with our law enforcement fleet. It would be job loss if a decision resulted in failures and downtime for equipment and personnel.
A TSB wouldn’t cause it to be fixed for free out of warranty.
