"New Diesel Owner" Suggested Reading

cookiemonster

Tremor Fiend
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Lots of people on this forum are getting their first ever modern diesel, and we even attract non-Temor folks looking to learn about the latest iteration of the powerstroke diesel.

What do folks recommend as the guides to read for owning a modern diesel?

I'm thinking of entry level to intermediate knowledge. Things as simple as "drain your water separator every other Sunday" (is that a good rule of thumb? I have no idea).

It seems most of the issues people have with modern diesels is because they don't even know how they're supposed to be maintaining it - me included.
 
Huh Drain your water separator. Shit i bought me my first diesel and i have NO CLUE WHAT I"M IN FOR. I always wanted a diesel and just got mine. I pick her up Monday. I hope this THREAD WILL HAVE aA LIST OF THOUSANDS OF "MUST DO THIS" ON IT. THANKS FOR THIS THREAD MY MAN. ? ? ? :cool:
 
Lots of people on this forum are getting their first ever modern diesel, and we even attract non-Temor folks looking to learn about the latest iteration of the powerstroke diesel.

What do folks recommend as the guides to read for owning a modern diesel?

I'm thinking of entry level to intermediate knowledge. Things as simple as "drain your water separator every other Sunday" (is that a good rule of thumb? I have no idea).

It seems most of the issues people have with modern diesels is because they don't even know how they're supposed to be maintaining it - me included.
If you have to "drain your water separator every other Sunday" I would be looking for a different place to buy your fuel from.

The owners manual is a great place to start and has good information on what needs to be done maintenance wise
 
Wait a minute...you mean you don't just drive it like a gas vehicle and change your oil every 25k miles?

Kidding!

Great thread and I'm subscribed. Second modern diesel for me, but I didn't keep the first long enough to service it. I did notice that my short distance daily driving requires a long weekend drive every other weekend to allow for an uninterrupted DPF regen cycle.
 
Lots of people on this forum are getting their first ever modern diesel, and we even attract non-Temor folks looking to learn about the latest iteration of the powerstroke diesel.

What do folks recommend as the guides to read for owning a modern diesel?

I'm thinking of entry level to intermediate knowledge. Things as simple as "drain your water separator every other Sunday" (is that a good rule of thumb? I have no idea).

It seems most of the issues people have with modern diesels is because they don't even know how they're supposed to be maintaining it - me included.
I don’t have a diesel Tremor, but I do have a 4 year old diesel Ranger. It has the DPF but not the DEF. I do oil changes every 5,000kms, have added a pre filter for the fuel and a catch can. Pre filter gets replaced every 5,000kms, main filter every 10,000kms. Mostly Highway use, so far so good.
 
If you have to "drain your water separator every other Sunday" I would be looking for a different place to buy your fuel from.

The owners manual is a great place to start and has good information on what needs to be done maintenance wise

This is good feedback - should you do any sort of active maintenance on draining the water separator? From what I've read online, if you wait for the sensor to tell you to drain, you need to drain right now. So if you just started a 300 mile trip, it can't wait until the end.

Just what I've read and some of the unnecessary fear I'm trying to understand and hopefully help others understand.
 
This is good feedback - should you do any sort of active maintenance on draining the water separator? From what I've read online, if you wait for the sensor to tell you to drain, you need to drain right now. So if you just started a 300 mile trip, it can't wait until the end.

Just what I've read and some of the unnecessary fear I'm trying to understand and hopefully help others understand.
That’s why I run a prefilter. More opportunity to trap water and other contaminates. To date, I have not found any water in either filter. But you need to buy from branded sites with a good reputation. One advantage of a long range tank is that you can buy in the cities from sites that have high turnover of fuel.
 
On water in my fuel - could this be beyond fuel quality from shady stations? Say I have a half tank. It's parked outside all day in 40 degrees. I drive it home 10 miles and put it in a heated barn. Am I going to get condensation in my tank that will contribute to water contamination? If that's my drive every weekday?
 
On water in my fuel - could this be beyond fuel quality from shady stations? Say I have a half tank. It's parked outside all day in 40 degrees. I drive it home 10 miles and put it in a heated barn. Am I going to get condensation in my tank that will contribute to water contamination? If that's my drive every weekday?
I don’t know. I doubt it. Plastic fuel tanks though are better in this regard, and that is what I use. I don’t operate my vehicle in those conditions
 
On water in my fuel - could this be beyond fuel quality from shady stations? Say I have a half tank. It's parked outside all day in 40 degrees. I drive it home 10 miles and put it in a heated barn. Am I going to get condensation in my tank that will contribute to water contamination? If that's my drive every weekday?
What is the point in buying a diesel if you aren't gonna drive it enough to even get it fully warmed up? Diesels are designed to be workhorses, if you use them as grocery getters, the exhaust system will be doing lots of regens and the engine will be producing extra carbon in the EGR cooler. They need to get fully warmed up, and worked, to be the happiest.

Water condensation in the fuel won't be a problem. But it will be less if the tank is kept full.

There is no perfect maintenance schedule for draining the water separator. Here's why: You could drive 500,000 miles and not see any water in the separator, (I have), or you could go to a station with contaminated fuel and get a separator full in one fill up. So draining it on a certain schedule does not mean much. Just change the filters as per Ford's recommendation and if you get a water in fuel alert deal with it right then.
 
What is the point in buying a diesel if you aren't gonna drive it enough to even get it fully warmed up? Diesels are designed to be workhorses, if you use them as grocery getters, the exhaust system will be doing lots of regens and the engine will be producing extra carbon in the EGR cooler. They need to get fully warmed up, and worked, to be the happiest.

Yep. I'm not saying I intend to grocery get with the truck. I'm providing a bit of a contrived example where I head over to the shop for the day, always ready to use the truck to work, but that specific work never comes and other stuff shows up.

These would be the sort of examples for the hypothetical "new owners" guide - what sensor alerts do you have time on, what do you have another 50 miles for, etc. What if I spend weeks waiting to tow and the work never comes? Am I good or should I get out and drive (sounds like I should get out and drive).
 
What is the point in buying a diesel if you aren't gonna drive it enough to even get it fully warmed up? Diesels are designed to be workhorses, if you use them as grocery getters, the exhaust system will be doing lots of regens and the engine will be producing extra carbon in the EGR cooler. They need to get fully warmed up, and worked, to be the happiest.

Water condensation in the fuel won't be a problem. But it will be less if the tank is kept full.

There is no perfect maintenance schedule for draining the water separator. Here's why: You could drive 500,000 miles and not see any water in the separator, (I have), or you could go to a station with contaminated fuel and get a separator full in one fill up. So draining it on a certain schedule does not mean much. Just change the filters as per Ford's recommendation and if you get a water in fuel alert deal with it right then.
I planned and plan on using my Platty Diesel for a lot of cruises. 10 miles to church and back. To go over one of my friends houses to say hey. I have a sick ass Jaguar that I thought would be used less now with my TREMOR. I want my Tremor to be my everyday ride and my Jaguar to be my special ride. That’s what I thought. I want my diesel to last and at the same time this is going to be my Freakin Joy. I did not sped 95,000$ with tax and another 20,000$ or more in mods to not be driven every freakin day. If I need to roll and do a Regen snd go to the beaches and try to get a longer drive in at times so be it. It does suck that this extra added consideration to me owning a diesel I’d what’s needed do be it. So maybe anyone out there reading this keep in mind the 6.7 yo the 7.3 debate maybe worth listening to.
 
Lots of people on this forum are getting their first ever modern diesel, and we even attract non-Temor folks looking to learn about the latest iteration of the powerstroke diesel.

What do folks recommend as the guides to read for owning a modern diesel?

I'm thinking of entry level to intermediate knowledge. Things as simple as "drain your water separator every other Sunday" (is that a good rule of thumb? I have no idea).

It seems most of the issues people have with modern diesels is because they don't even know how they're supposed to be maintaining it - me
Lots of people on this forum are getting their first ever modern diesel, and we even attract non-Temor folks looking to learn about the latest iteration of the powerstroke diesel.

What do folks recommend as the guides to read for owning a modern diesel?

I'm thinking of entry level to intermediate knowledge. Things as simple as "drain your water separator every other Sunday" (is that a good rule of thumb? I have no idea).

It seems most of the issues people have with modern diesels is because they don't even know how they're supposed to be maintaining it - me included.
I’m also new to the 6.7 world. I’m working on my YouTube PHD on the powerstroke. There are a lot of great super duty channels that go through a lot of the maintenance.
 
I planned and plan on using my Platty Diesel for a lot of cruises. 10 miles to church and back. To go over one of my friends houses to say hey. I have a sick ass Jaguar that I thought would be used less now with my TREMOR. I want my Tremor to be my everyday ride and my Jaguar to be my special ride. That’s what I thought. I want my diesel to last and at the same time this is going to be my Freakin Joy. I did not sped 95,000$ with tax and another 20,000$ or more in mods to not be driven every freakin day. If I need to roll and do a Regen snd go to the beaches and try to get a longer drive in at times so be it. It does suck that this extra added consideration to me owning a diesel I’d what’s needed do be it. So maybe anyone out there reading this keep in mind the 6.7 yo the 7.3 debate maybe worth listening to.

I would take his comment with a grain of salt. Across the pond there are an epic shit load of diesel grocery getters. Lots of unnecessary diesel snobbery goes on in the truck world I've noticed. Some guy will pull a trailer once and think he's king of the road and everyone else isn't using their truck correctly.

Only thing that really merits attention is that if you are in regen or getting close to regen, do your best to let it finish if you can.

Enjoy your truck
 
New to the 6.7 as well. Daily driver 40 min. To work each day and will be towing with it occasionally. Not going to worry about what might go wrong with it, going to use it as I intended. I have a diesel tractor with emissions and learned rather quickly that it won’t regenerate unless it’s up to full temp And needs to complete its cycle. Don’t know if the 6.7 works the same way, but I would guess it’s similar. The one thing I like about the tractor is that it tells you exactly what it’s doing. Starts it’s regen at 78% and shows it burning down to around 10%. It would be nice if the the tremor would do the same. Tremor has 2200 mi. on it now, love the truck and it’s performance.
 
I haven't owned a Powerstroke. That should change in March if my build stays on track. But, my current daily driver is a Duramax L5P and I only have a 15 minute commute. My brother has a 6.7 Cummins and an even shorter commute. Neither of us have had any issues with emissions or the engines themselves. I think if you follow the maintenance recommendations in the books and take a little bit longer drive every so often to let the engine completely warm up the new diesels will all be just fine. Like Cropgun said, it's best not to shut them down in a regen if you can avoid it...but there will be a lot of times you can't just keep driving around to let it finish. If you have to shut down in the middle of a regen don't sweat it...and enjoy all that horsepower and torque every time you get behind the wheel.
 
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