Video on F250 Powerstroke & brakes

[Donald]

I know some are not a fan of Powerstrokehelp.com, the guy is a bit arrogant.

This video shows him replacing the front caliper. Claims the brakes are not doing the proper braking when he steps on the pedal. He really does not diagnose the problem, just replaces the front caliper & bracket, not pads or rotors. He says pads and rotors are in good shape.

He claims its rust around the pistons that is the cause of the problem. But you never see him pull out a caliper piston to verify. He pulls the brake hose off the caliper and what drips is clear brake fluid not all black. I my opinion, a little rust around the caliper piston might prevent the caliper piston from retracting, but you have so much hydraulic force from pushing the brake pedal, that unless it was crazy rusted the caliper piston would still go out properly when the brakes are applied. Remember southern vehicle.

He goes off to the parts store with caliper in hand leaving the brake hose dripping. If you get delayed at parts store and you come back and master cylinder is empty you are going to wish you had planned better.

He comes back from the parts store with a new caliper and bracket. It does not show the work but I assume they swapped the old pads into new caliper bracket and then installed the caliper and problem fixed.

I think something to do with the pads in the caliper bracket was the problem all along.

He does not show the steps involved and hints its a liability issue. If you mess up your brakes and have an accident then you cannot blame Bill Hewett.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The calipers on the 99-04 SuperDuty are notoriously awful and very well known for the pistons seizing in the bore. The steel pistons I can usually get 2 years out of and the phenolic ones maybe 12-18 months.

I'll disagree with him that the steel will seize up sooner; phenolic corrodes and swells immediately as soon as it gets hit with the salt brine spray. The only purpose of the phenolic is it won't transfer heat back to the brake fluid as easy. Also, you can switch between and these trucks don't care. I'm currently running "incompatible" steel pistons in my originally phenolic equipped truck.

My truck is 21 years old and has been through 6 or 7 sets of calipers in its lifetime. Any time the brakes start feeling "funny" I know it's time for a new caliper or two.

 

[Donald]

I would have put a C-clamp on them to push them back in. If it was difficult then pull the caliper piston out and have a look. Maybe new piston & seal and hone the cylinder. Brake caliper is pretty simple.

 

[bdcardinal]

The calipers on the 99-04 SuperDuty are notoriously awful and very well known for the pistons seizing in the bore. The steel pistons I can usually get 2 years out of and the phenolic ones maybe 12-18 months.

I'll disagree with him that the steel will seize up sooner; phenolic corrodes and swells immediately as soon as it gets hit with the salt brine spray. The only purpose of the phenolic is it won't transfer heat back to the brake fluid as easy. Also, you can switch between and these trucks don't care. I'm currently running "incompatible" steel pistons in my originally phenolic equipped truck.

My truck is 21 years old and has been through 6 or 7 sets of calipers in its lifetime. Any time the brakes start feeling "funny" I know it's time for a new caliper or two.

Ya, even on my 07 I am planning on calipers when I have to do brake work.

As far as Powerstrokehelp, I take all of his advice with a grain of salt. He has been around for a long time and has probably seen everything there is to see with Ford diesels, and has made a pretty good living fixing them. Like with anything I listen to his advice, as well as others who are knowledgeable on the subject and draw my own conclusion.

 

[Hall]

You realize the main point of YouTube videos is getting people to watch 'em ? You did. You got others here to potentially watch it. He won.

 

[Donald]

Ya, even on my 07 I am planning on calipers when I have to do brake work.

As far as Powerstrokehelp, I take all of his advice with a grain of salt. He has been around for a long time and has probably seen everything there is to see with Ford diesels, and has made a pretty good living fixing them. Like with anything I listen to his advice, as well as others who are knowledgeable on the subject and draw my own conclusion.

I wonder if the guy at powerstroke help.com has a plan after the older (before the 6.7) Powerstroke models become too old to be rebuilt. It seems like their main business today is bullet-proofing the Powerstroke 6.0. That cannot last forever.

 

[bdcardinal]

I wonder if the guy at powerstroke help.com has a plan after the older (before the 6.7) Powerstroke models become too old to be rebuilt. It seems like their main business today is bullet-proofing the Powerstroke 6.0. That cannot last forever.

They do 6.7s also. FWIW the older trucks still bring in big money, I bought my 2007 F350 in February and I paid 22K, but the sticker was 29K. I bought it from my work and relentlessly hounded my GM to sell it to me. He said they had people offering the full amount, but wanted to give me the first shot at it because of the good job I have been doing. The price is kinda high even at 22K, but it had 82K miles on it and is in really nice condition.

 

[Donald]

They do 6.7s also. FWIW the older trucks still bring in big money, I bought my 2007 F350 in February and I paid 22K, but the sticker was 29K. I bought it from my work and relentlessly hounded my GM to sell it to me. He said they had people offering the full amount, but wanted to give me the first shot at it because of the good job I have been doing. The price is kinda high even at 22K, but it had 82K miles on it and is in really nice condition.

But the 6.7 PSD do not need much beyond general maintenance where the 6.0 PSD needed a $12K bulletproofing.

The 3 things that have gone wrong with my 6.7 PSD were all emissions related.

 

[bdcardinal]

But the 6.7 PSD do not need much beyond general maintenance where the 6.0 PSD needed a $12K bulletproofing.

The 3 things that have gone wrong with my 6.7 PSD were all emissions related.

He will probably jump on the "disaster prevention kit" bandwagon when the time is right.

 

[Chris142]

I wonder if the guy at powerstroke help.com has a plan after the older (before the 6.7) Powerstroke models become too old to be rebuilt. It seems like their main business today is bullet-proofing the Powerstroke 6.0. That cannot last forever.

People that live in rust free places tend to drive stuff a very long time. I'm coming up on 20 years with my Jeep.

 

[Donald]

He will probably jump on the "disaster prevention kit" bandwagon when the time is right.

My initial action to prevent an engine disaster is to buy all fuel at Mobil diesel pumps.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

He will probably jump on the "disaster prevention kit" bandwagon when the time is right.

"Disaster prevention kit" for me would be the 6.2 gas or 7.3 gas engine

Emissions diesels are a nightmare!

 

[Chris142]

"Disaster prevention kit" for me would be the 6.2 gas or 7.3 gas engine

Emissions diesels are a nightmare!

My old 6.9 is our disaster vehicle. I'm already stocking up on fuel filters. Don't know what I may be burning in the thing soon.

 

[bdcardinal]

"Disaster prevention kit" for me would be the 6.2 gas or 7.3 gas engine

Emissions diesels are a nightmare!

Both are great engines. Some 6.2s had issues with the valve springs and there are some 7.3s with oil pump sprocket issues. I think we have only done one 6.2 and that was in a Raptor and the customer absolutely scattered it running off road.

 

[mattd]

He will probably jump on the "disaster prevention kit" bandwagon when the time is right.

Those kits are waste of money. The metal will still find a way in and destroy the rest of the system if the cp4 fails.

As far as powerstroke help, that guy is an arrogant moron.

 

[bdcardinal]

Those kits are waste of money. The metal will still find a way in and destroy the rest of the system if the cp4 fails.

As far as powerstroke help, that guy is an arrogant moron.

Ford has the kit to replace all the parts when one lets go, but we mostly sell it to people who put DEF in their fuel tank and instead of stopping and draining the tank/fixing it, they send it. My tech will walk in an say "I need the oops I f'd up kit for this truck." Its in the $4-5K range just in parts and then we have to get the fuel cooler, frame pump, and filters. Plus having to dispose of all the contaminated fuel..

 

[meadows]

I have 200,000 miles on my 2000 that I bought in 1999. Checked the front brakes at 150,000 miles and decided to replace the pads since I already had them and was there. They didn’t even need replacing then. Only 22.5 years old now.

 

[mattd]

Ford has the kit to replace all the parts when one lets go, but we mostly sell it to people who put DEF in their fuel tank and instead of stopping and draining the tank/fixing it, they send it. My tech will walk in an say "I need the oops I f'd up kit for this truck." Its in the $4-5K range just in parts and then we have to get the fuel cooler, frame pump, and filters. Plus having to dispose of all the contaminated fuel..

Yeah that’s how much that kit goes for but it is very complete. At one point (not sure if they still are) the kits were on back order I think because of the injector jumper lines

 

[bdcardinal]

Yeah that’s how much that kit goes for but it is very complete. At one point (not sure if they still are) the kits were on back order I think because of the injector jumper lines

They still are on backorder for the most part. I have a constant cycle of having one on order, selling it a day after it arrives, and then waiting 4 months for the next one to come in. A bunch of dealers have been reporting getting theirs in after waiting months on end and the box is blown open and missing a bunch of parts.