The new PowerStroke's flawed launch is the major reason for bad blood between Ford and International Truck.

Last year, Ford abruptly canceled plans to buy International Truck's 4.5-liter diesel V-6 for the new F-150. International Truck swallowed a $170 million charge to cover the cost of engine development and factory tooling.

The company later received compensation from Ford. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Martens has ruled out new contracts with International Truck. "We stopped work with International on the V-6," Martens says. "Right now, there are no plans to restart that work."

Autoweek Story (http://autoweek.com/cat_print.mv?content_code=04255651)

If Its cummins and allison Im selling my truck in 2 years after the bugs are worked out.Edited by: problemchild

I'll be next in line. Once I get close to 100K miles this truck is gone. This is the second time I've bought a GM product that has the potential for major repair costs. I won't make this mistake again. Don't get me wrong, I like the truck, but having the stong probability of major repair costs looming over the horizion is not what I purchased the truck for. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Dead.gif

Why a V6? seems that an inline would be a better choice. Better balance, less vibrations and no problems putting it in a rear wheel drive vehicle.

Even you guys have to admit, an F150 diesel would be sweet!
GM is yet again shooting themselves in the as..uh..foot by not offering the Canyon/Colorado with a diesel which has already been on the market in Australia (Holden Rodeo) and Thailand (Isuzu Dmax) for over a year now.
Gm has also been cutting a couple of cylinders off gas engines for lighter applications for years now. They could "band-saw" the Dmax, mate it up to a smaller tranny and drop it in the 1500s and SUV's. Then instead of shooting their own, they'd be kicking other's...well you knowhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Embarrased.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Embarrased.gif

Just some thoughts,
Ox

Why a V6? seems that an inline would be a better choice. Better balance, less vibrations and no problems putting it in a rear wheel drive vehicle.

I hear the Cummins 4 banger is just that. Shakes like mad.

Isn't vibration an issue with the 03 Cummins in the Ram as well?

Ford should go for the green one (John Deere). They have made nothing but inline diesels since the 60's. Plus, they are made to work under a full load all day long for a minnimum of a 6000 hour life. http://www.deere.com/en_US/deerecom/media/images/us_homepage/us_canada_new2002/nrlad4_03may.gif

Folks, the reason they don't do it here is very simple. EMISSIONShttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif Ah, yes, the dreaded "E" word.


Doliver, I like that idea. I have seen some big rigs with JD emblems on them. I think at one time JD made a motorhome chassis.

If someone puts a V-8 CAT in a truck I'd seriosly think about buying it......in fact, I think that anyone with a set of balls would have to. That's a diesel. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif Edited by: Minn-Kota

The General should have went with John Deere or CAT

We have a great pack of diesels to choose from once Detroit gets them ironed out. Ford, GM and now Cummins with common rail F.I. will rock once they get the injectors to hold. I had a Cummins marine dist. stop by today and through the keys to me and said "this is to showcase the engines you'll be putting in your boats in 04". I think it's a tag quieter at idle, had good throttle response and rode o.k. GM's still got it beat, but that was the 230 hp version. Ford isn't leaving I.H., they'll mend their cat fight and move on. I did note that Cummins isn't as stupid as Gm, they have a 10micron and 2micron filter system standard on their trucks. I guess GM will have to piss off all their new diesel customers and deal with a ton of warrantys before they figure it out....

I think you guys are being too hard on the Duramax. In all honesty only a small percentage of us hear from guys with major issues. Sure the injectors are a bit spendy, but that's being rectified somewhat with the LLY.


I think this motor is fantastic all around. Sure there are weak spots, but when was the last time you couldn't name a weak spot with a everyday, mass produced vehicle?


I'm not sold on the fact that because I've read some horror stories that I'm going to have injector failure after 100k. Yes I do run a secondary, but I'd probably also do that with any diesel that didn't offer one factory.

My nephews Duramax with 25,000 miles on it has major problems with the injectors right now. I'm not hard on Duramax, I'm hard on GM's management. The least they could do is let us break into the fuel system after the stock filter without telling us we'll lose our warranty. They could even require us to have the dealers install them if they're worried about hammer heads messing with the fuel systems. If everyone keeps their mouths shut nothing will change............these guys watch these sites.

Folks, the reason they don't do it here is very simple. EMISSIONShttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif Ah, yes, the dreaded "E" word.


Doliver, I like that idea. I have seen some big rigs with JD emblems on them. I think at one time JD made a motorhome chassis.





Pick, you're right JD DID make motorhome chassis for a while. One problem though. Engines of choice were Ford 460 gasser and Cummin(g)s 6BT 160HP diesel. There was never a JD engine in them. I worked for a bus manufacturer that used these chassis day in and out. JD eventually sold the division or rights to OshKosh Chassis...


cadman_ks

Fact is, GM botched the Dmax fuel system design and there isn't anything to suggest it will change with the new LLY. GM's recent news release reports 100k mile injector "service" cycle, a new standard for world class nondurability. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Angry.gifEdited by: Ray403Dmax

Yeah, I feel real good knowing that I paid approximately $5K extra for the old standard (prior to LLY) of world class nondurability. It burns me up that I have to pay the bill in order to correct GM's poorly designed fuel system.


There are quite a few things that in hindsight I should have been more aware and educated on; for instance: The Dmax TICK TICK TICK TICK, 26 gal fuel tank, weak pu bed structure, limp mode, small tire size for Allison, weak headlights and crappy shocks. Oh yeah, and I forgot one big item: no under-hood or foot well lights and the fact that I'm going to have to pay close to $500.00 for a decent set of TTT mirrors.


I have a feeling that the re-sale on our trucks is going to be terrible in a few years, if not already. I'll probably have to go back to a gasser so I can actually get over 100k without major maintenance problems. I haven't had any problems yet , but with 25K on the truck I'm starting to get concerned for the future.


I'm not trying to rain on anyones parade. I'm just venting a little. Several times I've put my faith in GM and I've been dissapointed. Maybe it's time to spend my money elsewhere.


General Motors, I hope your listening.

There is only one thing GM or Detroit for that matter can understand and thats competition in the marketplace. We diesel consumers will continue to receive the slo-roll treatment until they feel threatened by competition ~ notably foreign competition and I can't see that on the horizon anytime soon.

Well I'll give you the small fuel tank, hood light, and better mirror options, but I still think the D-max Alli combo is one of the best out there.


For a weak bed structure? Explain that one please.


Crappy shocks, well all OEM shocks I've had haven't been the greatest(except my last early 00 Z-71 had Bilsteins)


the ticking, well that's cause it's just a quiet motor, only at idle and when parked near a building and intermittent at best.


Tire size is a personal taste issue in my book load range is my key issue.


Limp mode is good, would you rather have you pan blow out like Fords used to?????


Additional filtration, well, the book is still out as to whether or not it'll extend life, but hey for less than $150 I added my setup. Which on top of cleaner fuel added 1.5mpg better on average, so it'l quickly pay for itself and then some over the life of this truck.


No it's not a perfect truck, I don't think that exists from any manufacturer, my only regret with this purchase is I settled for a short box crew, rather than holding out for a long bed.

Any of you had experience with these fuel tanks?


http://www.transferflow.com/html/gm_tank_0.html


They look to be a good product for those of you who feel the need to carry more fuel.

VR,


From what I've read in past posts the pickup bed needs an additional reinforcement kit if you want to put a lumber rack on it. It's my understanding there are seam splitting issues. A while back I saw a TSB number of: 1-08-66-005. Do you think you should have to buy a special kit to reinforce your "Heavy Duty" truck bed? I don't.


As far as the rest of the items; I know you want to give the truck the benefit of the doubt. We all do. So... for what it's worth, I just returned from taking my father's truck(not a Dmax) to my favorite GMC dealership. I asked the service mngr. about problems related to the Dmax. He said that they had actually researched the problems and the number of Dmaxes sold by the dealership. He said they did this because so many people were not interested in them because of the problems they had been hearing about. He told me their dealership had sold a total of 584 since they came out and none had returned for injector failures. They had mainly returned for 4x4 encoders, steering wheel clunk and the transmission NSBU switch. He said that they had just dealt with one yesterday that had a failure related to Dexcool. He said it had to have major work done on it. I wasn't able to get any more info out of him since the line was long and he was the only one dealing with customers. If this info helps calm nerves, that's great. But, I'm still irked with myself for buying a product with inherent design flaws.

Doliver,


Transferflow makes an excellent product. Their fabrication plant is just north of me in Chico, CA. A friend of mine, that I trust, has been up there and said they have a top notch outfit. From what I recall, you will have to spend approximately $1k for an installed 56gal underbed tank. It's too bad GM couldn't have given us short beds at least a 40gal tank. Then I could use the coin that would be spent on a larger fuel tank for a set of TTT mirrors. Live and learn.

I have had my 04 DMAX for 2 months now, and I am really enjoying Ihad 2 3500 trucks in the past a 98,and an 01. both were big block gassers. I got great service out of both. I bought the diesel this time because I know several people that have them and all just rave about them for the power and the fuel economy. one has 232,000 on his 01.I talked to all of them before I bought and none of them had any complaints about the DMAX. and none has any secondary filters. I talked to the diesel service tech at my dealer, and mentioned all the horror stories about injectors and the need for extra filters on the fuel system. he told me that they have not had one DMAX returned for any type of an injector issue. he went on to say that diesel engines are dirty by nature, and it is never too soon to change the oil or the fuel filter. he said he recommends to any diesel owner that comes to thier dealership to change the fuel filter at 8,000 miles rather than the gm recommended 15,000, he also said he recommends changing the oil at 5,000 miles rather than depending on the oil life monitoring system. I for one am going to enjoy my truck and not worry about what could happen, at 100,000, 200,000 300,000 miles.

Every one of us deserves a great product for what we are paying. GM pricing for injectors sucks, and so does thier policy concerning warranty replacement.


However after having worked with several different brands of diesel engines for many years, I don't see this as a huge issue. They all (CAT, Cummins, Navistar, Detroit, John Deer, Isuzu, UD, Hino) cost money to keep them on the road after they are a few years old. The worst overall that I have seen have been the CATs, and the best have been Isuzu and UD (Nissan) engines. I'm sure others have much different experiences than me, but I won't believe anybody who claims that thier fleet of anything is trouble free.


The value of this forum to me is that I can learn the nature of what might happen and hopefully be prepared for it if it does. I'm not worried about these things, and neither are the three diesel mechanics that I work with who own Dmaxes. --SS

We better hope it's the filtration system......by the way, Dodge is running the same Mfg injectors as GM, so we're not alone. Good news the dealers are saying it's not a big issue, my dealer said the same, only two in for repairs so far.

I think that some of you guys bitch too much about your trucks. You paid 40k for a pile of thousands of different pieces designed, assembled and driven by human beings. 40k doesn't buy perfection. Most of you have not experienced a failure, and probably won't. You are bringing down the brand just because you have read about a few failures. How do you think this looks when the Ford and Dodge guys come over and check out the site? They go back and tell all of their buddies that the Dmax is a piece of crap. This is how the B.S. "heads blowing off" rumors start. You should all go get in your trucks, drive around and be happy and thankful for what you have, And if you can't do that, hold your breath until you have an injector failure.

DITTO MAX PAYNE!!!!!!!!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif While this is my first DMAX, it's not my first diesel. I've owned and driven class 8 diesels for years. I've had break downs on the road that most pick-up truck guys would really freak out over! I currently own two diesel 250 Furds--I meant to say Fords. My new 04 2500HD C/C only has 2500 miles on it so far. It's loaded with every option available from Chevy---leather-onstar-tt mirrors-XM-truck phone-cab marker lights-etc--etc--etc. I LOVE THIS TRUCK!! It drives, rides, handles, looks, and performs better than the Fords. To add iceing on the cake, I payed less than 40K new!!!! Time will tell about reliability but I really feel good so far. Sometimes I think many of us forget how lucky we really are. I enjoy this forum. This is my first reply on it.----------later!-------Phil Mcintyre Of couse it's a 4X4!Edited by: CRUSHER

Well the truth is GM wants the truck to last past the warentee and hopefully longer than the compition with out many problems, but they also want to sell you another truck ASAP. You could custom build your own truck from scratch with all this technology for about a billion dollars. Yes new trucks are fairly costly, but for the 40K you pay for the entire truck you would not even get a good start building your own rig from scratch. These trucks are designed for the average Joe. They will never be all things to all people as if you could ever get two people to totally agree with each other. I also wish they were perfect but I decided a long time ago just because they cost more does not make them better. Actually the bigger problem is the technology has out paced the techs ability to fix the new problems that are created with each new model. Well thats just progress I guess. Just my .02http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif