6 LT turbo and 600 Kawa something..

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Since 15 our economy here in AB. Has taken a down turn. We found ourselves working further north of our territory and so needed some mobile accommodations and a larger utility trailer as well. This also meant we’d need another truck for hauling as in 07 I switched to tool vans from pickups!

 

Working with a budget we started looking for a F350 6lt Power Stroke and happened to find one up in BC.. Well the seller was a retired project manager for oil & gas where it is common to not run trucks past 4 years of use. Although he had been following this rule he kept his 1^st 6lt for personal use and was ready to move it on as he moved on.

 

It was a good buy and value for us as he listed the inspection report which allowed me to put together a budget should we decide to take it. The big plus for us was that it had always been dealer maintained something a PM would want to keep records for in a highly responsible safety position and regulated industry as is here in AB.

 

So we made the deal for $2600.00 and had a $4000.00 top end repair budget plus brakes and rubber, nice! All in we came in under $8000.00 well below what we thought to buy one for.

 

A good thing the trip back was all downhill cause there was zip for power. Took us 3 weeks to tear down, repair, replace then inspected. The inspection was a bit of a surprise as the manager was someone I knew from the old street drag days back in the industrial parks on the West Island of MTL. Go figure;) Those days I would tune carbs on race nights for $15.00 even 6 packs.

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Back to last Sunday, we pulled onto the ranch where the trailers were stored when not in use and of course there was a nice lunch planned for the company a tour of recants improvements and small talk which included a Kawa they had just purchased from an estate sale of an uncle. I could see the sky clouding over and made my way off to setting up for the haul out.

 

Years of safety training makes such everyday stuff miserable for me, I have to check everything.

The Kawa showed up stalling and only running on choke… so I grabbed a screwdriver and dove in. I was surprised by the volume of the air box and the twin carbs set off to the side flaming about 3” over the stacks when under mild load. But I could see the jets working well enough so I replaced the lid temporarily holding it down with my knee while bend over and adjusting idle then shutting the choke down. I thumbed the throttle slowly increasing rpm till she stopped drowning out and continue to push the rpm up and hold as it began vibrating to a decent note, hold there and go higher and hold till I finally got to the rev limit and held it just under. Then I simply began running through the ranges till she began accepting throttle in typical CV way, buttoned it up, adjusted rpm again and Ajay took this 4 wheeler thingy for a tare. This took something like 15 minutes to sort.

 

So what’s your thought on this type of problem?

 

Trailer now ready we hooked up and pulled it out said our goodbyes and hit the road. First hill we hit yikes no boost. Ajay was at the wheel as we came to the blacktop; after the turn I said try a rapid acceleration to see if she’ll spool. Nope and the rains came and we push slowly on. We switched seats in Red Deer and talked about the hills and twist up on HW 40 or, taking another and longer route but flatter one? We had some miles to do before the decision at the Olds exit, so I pushed her to what she’d allow trying not to drown the jugs with too much diesel, washing out the rings or blowing gaskets.

Started hearing what sounded like heavy splashing in the wheel well left side only. Ajay thinking it rainwater, I allowing him that comforting thought but knowing my planning had assumed too much.

 

I am meticulous with maintenance for this 6lt and stick to factory parts for everything as these power strokes falter with aftermarket junk.

 

The truck had been parked all winter and used mildly last spring around no load driving so, I had no idea the turbo a VGT by Garrett was seized up!

 

We pushed on and decided on the 40 to 22 route HW 40 is a nice motorcycle run lots of locals enjoy.

So we made it and I spent much of this week working on the 6lt for the next moves we need to schedule.

 

I’m sure some of you know well how much fun the F350 is to work on, with the cab on Also that the early 6lt was recalled for engine rebuild and or head bolts swap. This one is the early 04 and the PO tried to get it in before blowing the engine but scheduling for both sides didn’t work and the engine blew which Ford honored under warranty. This meant for us that the engine base only had 150K klm when we took possession but, that the peripherals had true mileage of 310K so a cake without the icing maybe but never the less a good deal.

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Below are the pics of the turbo, if you expand them you can see a catastrophic event; but it never effected boost performance! So if I were a dealer of course I would have to show the pitting and recommend replacement. I get why that would be their reasoning, but I am a practical theory guy and used this to walk my decision through and decided to clean it up and place back into service. These VGT vanes were for me very interesting because of their shape and how that design compresses flow one against the other. This increases velocity which cheats actual flow pressures, nice right, and all before the compressor side of the unit.

 

Anyways I put each vane through its geometry course and found zero restriction due to pitting so I worked the vane pitting down and buffed a bit. The unison ring was the problem as it seized to the inner hub not a difficult fix and of course I used Deep Creep to clean and brush off all parts.

I used a small amount of anti seize at the hub and back of plate only, I found the first 4 teeth of the position drive slightly packed which caused the cam and plate to resist movement, another easy fix - this part though must be timed/synced when reassembled. The rest is straight forward; really the hard part was the prep and the removal of on the early 04s. One song playing over and over in my head “space lord mother mother…” and all because of one impossible bolt.

While in there I went through all the related exhaust components and sensors, everything checked out nice and clean.

 

Of course she needed a seat of the pants testing which was also easy, brakes on peddle down let it rip, of course I had to go through my safety checkoff list 1^st man I’ve matured!

 

If you guessed Kawa sticking valves? Then yep just another long parking issue!

 

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Here are the pics, I didn't take any during reassembly weather was closing in and dirty gloved hands..

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Here's a link that gives an overview of the VGT.

 

https://www.drivingline.com/articles/why-vgt-turbo-s-fail-and-how-you-can-prevent-it/