How to identify mods

[RitterJD]

So, I recently bought a 2006 F350 King Ranch, 6.0l PSD with low miles. I traded in my 2004 F250 6.0l PSD so I am not totally unfamiliar with the 6.0l.

On my first long trip pulling our 5th wheel, we lost a turbo charger on the highway over in MD. Fortunately we were close to a large Ford dealer that had all of the turbo parts and got us underway by the next morning.

The dealer where I purchased the truck, had a 90 day warranty and they reimbursed me for the cost. But I though that maybe I should go ahead and get a Extended Service Plan from Ford. So I took the truck in for inspection today. Besides some smaller issues such as ball joints, there were a couple of items that failed inspection.

1. EGR/ EGR Cooler bypassed.
2. Catalytic converters removed.
3. Airbox replaced with aftermarket.

The dealer will likely be forced to buy this truck back due to Ohio's tamper laws but I was thinking, how could I tell what else may have been done to this truck? Has it already been bullet proofed? Maybe all of the potential problems have been fixed/removed already!

[colo_dually]

What I would recommend, is having the dealership fit the bill, and restore the emissions control equipment. That shouldn't come out of your pocket, if I understand Ohio's emissions laws correctly (the dealer shouldn't have sold it altered). Try to get them to do the ball joints, if they can.

Check the head bolts down by the valve cover. If it looks like a standard bolt, its the stock TTY bolts that are junk, if it looks like a nut on a threaded stud, you're studded, and that truck is worth keeping.

Most of the other bullet-proofing won't be accessible for you to be able to tell on a '06.

[RitterJD]

Originally Posted by colo_dually

What I would recommend, is having the dealership fit the bill, and restore the emissions control equipment. That shouldn't come out of your pocket, if I understand Ohio's emissions laws correctly (the dealer shouldn't have sold it altered). Try to get them to do the ball joints, if they can.

Check the head bolts down by the valve cover. If it looks like a standard bolt, its the stock TTY bolts that are junk, if it looks like a nut on a threaded stud, you're studded, and that truck is worth keeping.

Most of the other bullet-proofing won't be accessible for you to be able to tell on a '06.

Thanks Benjamin. I'll take a look and see it it has been studded. I assume that since the EGR and cooler has been bypassed, that a custom tune is loaded as well. Wouldn't it throw codes otherwise?

The dealer where I bought the truck just called me back a few minutes ago and asked me to bring the truck in on Wednesday so that they could convert it back to factory equipment. What's the chance that the EGR and/or cooler are bad, if they are still there and just bypassed? Is there an easy way to tell without risking the engine?

[colo_dually]

There isn't much room in there to bypass anything, and leave the stock components. The dealer is most likely going to install a new OEM EGR cooler, and the other emissions gear. Its most likely a deletion, and by pass is the term used by your emissions enforcement.

The truck wouldn't throw a code unless it had the latest flash from Ford on it. (something I would mention to the Service manager, and ensure nothing is getting flashed while its in there.)

If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[RitterJD]

Originally Posted by colo_dually

The truck wouldn't throw a code unless it had the latest flash from Ford on it. (something I would mention to the Service manager, and ensure nothing is getting flashed while its in there.)

Are you saying that the latest flash should NOT be installed?

[RitterJD]

Originally Posted by colo_dually

The truck wouldn't throw a code unless it had the latest flash from Ford on it. (something I would mention to the Service manager, and ensure nothing is getting flashed while its in there.)

Are you saying that the latest flash should NOT be installed?

[Lilpooh]

In the pic below, I'm holding the stock head bolt, to the left is what the stud/nut will look like.

[SnoracerX]

I would ask the dealer to do an in house extended warranty for major components and not change anything back that way you have the best of both worlds maybe it already has studs to and you have a bulletproof 6.0 that costs upwards of 5 or 6 grand to do I feel if you let them install all the stock components back on you would be taking steps backwards and they should refund some of your money........maybe see if they will give you a head gasket warranty and oil cooler warranty to make it even that way they don't have to spend any money out of pocket to look the other way win win if you ask me

Also don't let the, reflash it if you have any say in the matter


Sent from my iPad using Autoguide

[Lilpooh]

In the first pic you will see where I placed a yellow "X", this is what a EGR cooler delete tube looks like. Directly to the right is a small hose clamp around a blue hose. The EGR delete tubing will make a horseshoe 180* turn coming off the blue hose.





In this second pic, the yellow "X" is on a stock EGR cooler tubing. Look for your small blue hose and see if it makes a horseshoe 180* turn like the first pic, or does it stop like the second pic.

[RitterJD]

Originally Posted by SnoracerX

I would ask the dealer to do an in house extended warranty for major components and not change anything back that way you have the best of both worlds maybe it already has studs to and you have a bulletproof 6.0 that costs upwards of 5 or 6 grand to do I feel if you let them install all the stock components back on you would be taking steps backwards and they should refund some of your money........maybe see if they will give you a head gasket warranty and oil cooler warranty to make it even that way they don't have to spend any money out of pocket to look the other way win win if you ask me

Also don't let the, reflash it if you have any say in the matter


Sent from my iPad using Autoguide

I've been kind of torn about this. I would not mind having the mods that are already done except for the Ford ESP problem.

However, with the Ohio Tamper laws, they cannot knowingly leave these mods on and of even more concern to me, I can't legally sell or trade the truck in (when I am ready) without reverting the truck back to stock. In this case, as I understand the law, even the dealer that sold it to me can go to the previous owner and recover their costs to repair. I don't want that hanging over my head as I tend to trade vehicles regularly.