Matt Saunoras

Jeez what's your labor rate? There isn't anyone making over $30 (usd) in this area, atleast not in a dealership. I get $5 less an hour too for anything not diesel.

One ambulance smoked the primary alternator. When they said it was "smoking" they weren't specific. The other ambulance needs some cooling system repairs. Rad, tstat, degas bottle etc plus a number 6 injector. Got a couple 6.7s here too. One is getting 3 EGTs, put 14 in a few weeks ago now it returns for 12 so I sold the remainder. The other one needs an a/c compressor and a primary rad. Tomorrow I need to flush the stud job I'm doing.

Don't the earlies have the "V8 powerstroke" badge on the front fenders? Never mind I didn't read. I think they say intercooled on the air box lid too

We've never been to a point where we had to book ahead and I'm thinking there's no way we'll ever get there either. I don't know what's with this damn shop. Lately we've been so dead I can't help but think about moving on. The less I work on trucks the more it takes to get back into the swing of it. I can only imagine working here is like being held back a grade in school. You're all set to move on and before you know it you're backing doing the same shit as before. I put a PTU in an Edge the other day. That's basically what I started on back in 06. I've never seen anyone else in the shop reseal or replace a damn PTU but my 18k racks will lift an Edge so guess what.

Doing another cab off stud job for my favorite fleet of 6.0 super duties. Also there's a few ambulances here for some minor stuff.

Man did I get burned by this high pressure oil leak. STC is blown out. Almost 2 years ago I fished the snap ring out of the lpop regulator for the first time it was a no start. Somehow air checking this thing must have been enough to reseat the o-ring. This thing started and ran for me Friday and Saturday, I'm real lucky it didn't strand me on the road test. Every time I think I've seen everything the 6.0 never let's me down. I "assumed" there was no chance that fitting hasn't been changed.

Looked a little deeper at a 6.0 no start that was towed in from another shop. It's an 06 with 295,000 miles on the clock and I am no stranger to this thing, I knew it as soon as I saw it on the hook.About 10k miles ago we blew this guy outta here because the truck is a perpetual oil leak. I would fix one leak and 2 more would show up. Wound up finding the turbo compressor seal leaking not only oil into the intercooler but I suspect it is boosting the crankcase slightly. This was a year and a half ago and I haven't heard a word from this guy since then. At one point in time I pulled a piece of STC snap ring out of the LPOP regulator and I assume it's had the updated fitting put on it.So I get the batteries juiced up and give it a crank. It'll build ICP but only about 430-460 PSI, maybe .75v, not quite enough, it almost sounds like it wants to start but it just won't. Since I put coolers in this thing a few years ago I pulled the IPR to check the screen. It's fine so I toss my tester into it just to see. Still a no start, same ICP. Check to make sure the oil filter housing fills and it does. On to the air check, which I am dreading because of the mileage on this thing, it's almost guaranteed all the updates are done.Now I air check, close the IPR with a 12v source and I begin to hear a louder hiss under the right valve cover. Fair enough, I'm not sure how much diag time I'm allotted but everyone's left for the day so I look both ways and dig in. The air appeared to be coming from around 5 or 7, hard to tell exactly where but the standpipe looks okay so I pull the oil rail hoping and praying I can actually see something wrong with an injector d-ring. Nope.Then I flip the rail over on the bench and start wiggling the nipples. 1,3 and 5 are tight. 7 moves around easy. I've been dying to use my oil rail tool so I pop the nipple out. The o-ring is super hard but it's intact so I'm not convinced that's the problem. I changed the one o-ring, stuck a couple bolts in the valve cover and gave it a crank. To my surprise it reluctantly fired up and idled just fine. I let it run for about 10 minutes and watched my IPR settle down to a good 23%.I don't know what I'm going to do with this thing. I'm going in tomorrow and put it back together, if it still starts and runs I'll play with it some more and check it hot. I don't think that o-ring is it. I might have just fixed it well enough to get that couple extra psi of ICP it needed.Oh and my service manager doesn't understand that sometimes you have to fix these things to diag them. <sigh>Update - drove it around a little bit this morning. It's now a no-start hot. My guess is injectors since it appeared all on the right side are originals. I can still hear an air leak near the same spot as yesterday.

Yeah brazing would be fine for that application. I'm shocked you don't have a brazing tip, I almost never use the cutting tip anymore. Just to heat something up the smaller tip seems much more precise. I've never actually brazed with a brazing tip but I do intend on trying it some day.

Well I had to drill one. No longer batting 1000 with the welder. The pro-maxx drill guide is a piece of shit compared to the beydler. There is too much slop in it so while you can drill down the middle of the bolt you won't be perfectly center. Once I got to about 1/4" I was left with a half moon bolt still in the head that I was able to dig out(not easily). After all the remaining bolt was out I worked up to 21/64 and was able to tap M8x1.25 STI. Everything went perfect honestly but it took way too long due to the fact I'm not a drill expert. Oh well, the job will outlast the truck.

I can't understand how a small shop can run straight flat rate. It hasn't and currently isn't working for us that's for sure.

I got all but one out, the top rear isn't budging. I've broken weld after weld on it and it's about 1/8" below flush now and I can still see a rust ring between the bolt and the head. It's soaking right now and I'll give it one more shot in the morning. Then I'm going to have to drill the first bolt I've had to in years. I actually wore out about 5-6 of my little turbo sockets because I discovered that my 1/4" impact works wonders on these badly stuck studs. You can see the hammering action knocking the crust away from the threads. The shop has a pro-maxx drill guide for gassers but it's never been used. I'd like to keep it that way

I ordered the gauge block from rotunda so I'll try that with a dummy pinion bearing to see how it works first. I know one thing, I'll feel better knowing I gave it my best shot.

I only used 93 to do one thing so far, scan a 6.0 no start. Worked okay for that at least. I did have my vcm on the truck when I updated it

Someone ran normal off the hardware store shelf grade 8 bolts in this right side manifold. These things are giving me a pretty rough time. They're corroded a few threads in and aren't giving up the fight

Doing another set of 2 valve 5.4 manifolds on a super duty. Oh yeah and how could I forget. Did a primary water pump in a 13 F-450. I do believe I've found my least favorite job with my least favorite warranty time. I like a challenge but give me a break.

Thanks for posting that up, very informative. I've got a 10.5 to set up in the next few weeks with a new ring and pinion and the customer is buying a true trac for it also. I'd like to set it up properly rather than just reuse all the old shims like I typically would. All I need is a gauge block to have the full set of 10.5 pinion shim tools. Not sure what I'm going to do there.

I did a quick check of the WSM. If I have to reseal the case on this ZF it doesn't appear to be too involved. What a relief honestly I'm hoping they just ripped the shift lever boot, now those I have successfully repaired!

The only thing I can think of is if for some reason the synchros use a clutch type friction material that warrants the use of ATF, I remember seeing different synchros in class some of which had a friction material on them. I've never had one opened though and honestly I'm more than a little intimidated by the complexity of a ZF-6. Yes I've seen them apart and no I am not anxious to ever tear one apart that has to be put back into working order. I did a quick google search to see what fluid most guys are using and it doesn't seem like there's one magic lube. Some guys use synthetic gear oil and some guys use synthetic ATF. Next week there's one on the schedule for a customer that just installed a new ZF and they said it's leaking between the case halves. Can't wait to fix that

I've known this for quite a while but I can't seem to find an answer why the 2009-2010 super duty trucks equipped with a 6.4 and a ZF-6 specify 75w-90 syn MTF while all the previous years just take plain old Merc V (Even 08 still uses V regardless of engine). Can anyone enlighten me? Has anyone ever tried synthetic MTF in a 6.0 ZF6? I've got one of my fleet customers inquiring about the fluid and I don't know what to tell them. Obviously ATF is a much lighter oil and it's what is shipped in all the ZFs we ever changed. The one 09 ZF we replaced needed the ATF drained out and MTF added. I can't imagine what the difference could be with the actual trans. I'd just assume the ZF isn't that picky.

One just left here that is a repeat repair for this code. Other guy put a MAF sensor in it. Of course the freeze frame data for the MAF pid is useless. They need to drop the truck off if the code returns. Looking at it for 10 minutes didn't show anything obvious

Sold a right side manifold on a 07 F-250 5.4. Also got a 6.0 ambulance that needs manifold gaskets too. I'm sick of this crap.

Wow that is so sad. Jim's presence on the boards will be missed for sure.

Another set of manifolds on a gas super duty. This thing is the crustiest MFer I've ever seen. Definitely has salt on it left over from last year. Got all the bolts out, 10 broke total which is a new record for a 5.4. Tomorrow I've gotta figure out how to get that dipstick tube out.

Remember that Racor was the company who made the 6.0/6.4 filters and HFCMs. I wouldn't be surprised if they owned the rights to that exterior water barrier we see on the primary fuel filters The plastic bag on the other hand is free for everyone to use

Here are some other differences between the 03 6.0L turbo and the later years. The journal bearings are a few MM shorter and the spacer is longer in an 03. The overall length of both bearings and the spacer is the same so the longer bearings/shorter spacer can be installed in an 03 turbo. I believe one of the 6.0L coffee table books addresses this change. Also the collar and thrust washer are different from 03 and the later years. In 03 the collar is two piece and the thrust washer is a full 360°. The later years use a solid one piece collar and a 270° washer that slides into the collar. The 360° thrust washer is considered an upgrade worthy to any later turbos using a larger compressor wheel.