HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME!!! engine converting 03-05!!

[Loca]

Hey everyone!
I need help pleeeeeeeease! My truck (03 F350 PS 6.0L - dually) has been at the dealership since the week before Christmas awaiting a heart transplant. I got a newer '05 6.0L to put in it. The service manager is now saying that it can't be done because they don't know what processor they need???????? This seems a little far fetched to me, since when does FORD not know what parts will work for what vehicles? (He said he has had Ford engineers come out and they don't know either)

He said the processor for the '03 won't work with the '05 engine because the '05 has extra drivers, the '03 isn't big enough to fit all of them. However, they have to find the right processor for specific wheel base, etc. Maybe I'm stupid but why can't they get a processor for my exact truck in '05 model???

Please help me! This guy is trying to talk me into just buying a new engine from them for $12k, when I have a perfectly good one right there at his shop.

Thanks guys!

[alwil]

Sounds like a cop out to me....I am not sure of the rest so here is a bump

[m-chan68]

Originally Posted by Loca

Hey everyone!
I need help pleeeeeeeease! My truck (03 F350 PS 6.0L - dually) has been at the dealership since the week before Christmas awaiting a heart transplant. I got a newer '05 6.0L to put in it. The service manager is now saying that it can't be done because they don't know what processor they need???????? This seems a little far fetched to me, since when does FORD not know what parts will work for what vehicles? (He said he has had Ford engineers come out and they don't know either)

He said the processor for the '03 won't work with the '05 engine because the '05 has extra drivers, the '03 isn't big enough to fit all of them. However, they have to find the right processor for specific wheel base, etc. Maybe I'm stupid but why can't they get a processor for my exact truck in '05 model???

Please help me! This guy is trying to talk me into just buying a new engine from them for $12k, when I have a perfectly good one right there at his shop.

Thanks guys!

Your situation is the exact reason why I always tell people who ask me questions regarding engine compatibility, I advise them to obtain a donor engine from a vehicle of identical model year and vehicle specs. No more is this true, than it is with 2003 model years specifically. How far into the repair has the dealership gone? Have they actually installed the engine into your vehicle? Do you mind posting the VIN of your vehicle AND the VIN of the vehicle where the donor engine originated? Those would be the first two pieces of information that will help sort out this mess. By the way, they ARE right. The 2003 PCM will NOT work on a 2005 engine.

[Loca]

Thanks for your posts!

Our truck's VIN is:1FTWW33P73EC77559

I don't have the VIN to the donor truck. I can try to get it from the guy who sold us the engine if you think it would be beneficial. I left it up to the "pros."
It was a 2005 F250 King Ranch 4x4 Long Bed Crew Cab. Our truck is the same except F350 Lariat.

We were told by a different dealership (who couldn't get to the truck for 3 weeks-reason why it's at the other dealership) PRIOR to buying the engine that a 2005 would "go right in" the 2003. That is why we went ahead and bought it.

Into the repair:as far as I know they have taken the old engine out and put the new one in. We called about a month ago and he told us we'd need new wiring for the engine and a new processor - which was fine. Now a month later with no communication from his part, he hasn't gotten the new wiring and can't seem to figure out what processor to use - his recommendation is to just get a new engine and be done with it. So I can't even say 100% that the new engine is actually even in. We are in Iraq and the truck has been at the dealership for 4 months now, so we can't go check on it or anything. My friend is staying at our house and has my cel phone which he is supposed to call with updates, but doesn't. It's always when we call him to get a status that we have found these things out.

I would be happy to provide any information that might help us get this sorted!

I deeply appreciate the help!

[2005F250]

Why can't they strip the 05 engine down to just "long block" status and then build it back up with 03 parts from there?

[Loca]

I have this post going on another forum as well and someone just suggested the same thing. We have asked this to the guy and he insists that the '03 parts are not campatible with the '05 engine. For instance, he told us that the injectors are a different dimension. I will call him tomorrow and ask him again and let you all know the exact answer he gives me. We have been around and around with this guy trying to figure out a solution, but he is the expert and seems to get offended when we ask "stupid" questions. LOL

Grrrrrrrrrr!

[m-chan68]

Originally Posted by 2005F250

Why can't they strip the 05 engine down to just "long block" status and then build it back up with 03 parts from there?

There are A LOT of internal differences between the two engines. Let's see now. Both engines use completely different injectors, glow plugs, pistons, branch tube, high pressure oil rails, high pressure oil pump front cover and water pump. Those are just a few of the KNOWN differences.

If I have to guess at why they can't sort out the PCM issues, it would be because the PCM incorporates the wiring for the body control, which is also tied exclusively to the specific application of the vehicle. This is why I ask for the VINs of BOTH vehicles. This way I can look up the information in HVBOM to determine the EXACT specifications for BOTH vehicle applications. Getting this vehicle to work is going to depend heavily on the tech's knowledge of how to use IDS to program in "as-built" data.

For future reference, for those who are needing an engine, and choose to install a used engine, I highly recommend searching for one that is from identical model years to avoid any headaches like this. I can't promise anything, but I will try as best as I can to round up all the parts needed to get this vehicle to work. I'll keep you posted.

[2005F250]

Well what was wrong with the original engine?

[Loca]

m-chan68 - I appreciate your help and I understand what you are saying. I will try to get the other VIN in a little while. We did call a dealership in our area and before my husband could ever get the question out (will an '05 6.0 go into and '03) the tech guy said IDENTICAL! "You should be able to put it in and fire it right up." That is why we went ahead and bought the engine. He wasn't the only person who told us that. Now we are finding out otherwise.

2005F250 - It has been over a year of nothing but problems from the monster '03 6.0L POS! The dealership it is at now is #8, I think - maybe more, within a year. It has left me on the side of the road too many time, and had probably 170k miles or more on it. It's favorite thing to do was to just shut off without any warning. Just.... stop. This last time was with the high pressure oil pump, low pressure oil pump, Injector control whatever its called, and various other things. The main problem was suppsedly the high pressure oil pump chewed up the little screen for it? and sent pieces of metal all throughout the oil system, so we were basically looking at replacing everything there. Just the estimate was over $4000, so we decided to have a new engine put in, since we were going to do that at the end of this year anyway because of the high miles and the fact that it is a POS!

Thanks again for helping guys - I'll get back in a bit.

[m-chan68]

Originally Posted by Loca

m-chan68 - I appreciate your help and I understand what you are saying. I will try to get the other VIN in a little while. We did call a dealership in our area and before my husband could ever get the question out (will an '05 6.0 go into and '03) the tech guy said IDENTICAL! "You should be able to put it in and fire it right up." That is why we went ahead and bought the engine. He wasn't the only person who told us that. Now we are finding out otherwise.

Please do get the VIN of the truck where the donor engine came from. Whoever told you it "should be able to put it in and fire it right up" is either feeding you a pile of cowchips, or is not very familiar with the difference in operating strategies between the two model years, not to mention the internal differences between the two engines, only a handful of which I already mentioned in the previous post. When you do finally obtain the VIN of the donor truck, I will try to pull up the build specs of both vehicles to see where the problem is, with regards to getting it to work. In the meantime, PLEASE provide any more information you can that will help on your part. For example, vehicles that use dual alternators use a different PCM. If the donor engine came from of vehicle equipped with a single alternator that could affect how this plays out too. Did the donor engine come from a 2WD, 4WD manual shift or 4WD ESOF? Your truck is an automatic. Did the donor engine come from a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission? These are just some examples I'm throwing at you that could potentially complicate this process. If you were to have replied, indicating that they hadn't yet installed the "new" engine, I would've advised you to return the '05 engine, and continue your search for an '03 donor engine.

Originally Posted by Loca

2005F250 - It has been over a year of nothing but problems from the monster '03 6.0L POS! The dealership it is at now is #8, I think - maybe more, within a year. It has left me on the side of the road too many time, and had probably 170k miles or more on it. It's favorite thing to do was to just shut off without any warning. Just.... stop. This last time was with the high pressure oil pump, low pressure oil pump, Injector control whatever its called, and various other things. The main problem was suppsedly the high pressure oil pump chewed up the little screen for it? and sent pieces of metal all throughout the oil system, so we were basically looking at replacing everything there. Just the estimate was over $4000, so we decided to have a new engine put in, since we were going to do that at the end of this year anyway because of the high miles and the fact that it is a POS!

Thanks again for helping guys - I'll get back in a bit.

After coming across this thread last night, I took a few moments to read through the thread you started back in March of 2008. All I can say is, once this mess is sorted out, you would be very well advised to rid yourself of this vehicle, even if it is at a loss.