Today was the day to address Charlotte’s flatulence problem. Our 2008 F-250 has a 6.4 liter engine made by Navistar, which I think is a code name for International Harvester, longtime purveyor of substandard diesel heavy equipment. Back in the dim past, I worked for a logging outfit that used IH (read “Cornbinder”) bull dozers and they were spectacularly mediocre in performance and economy. Now I find Ford farmed (and that’s no idle descriptor) the engine manufacture in their 6.4 liter-equipped diesel to Navistar .
One of the terrible aspects of the motor system is that it requires a DPF (diesel particulate filter) in the exhaust system and, not surprisingly, it eventually plugs up and begins highly wonky operation. Our poor Charlotte has recently liberated some truly impressive clouds of white smoke, always in town where we can let other motorists and air breathers enjoy the design as much as we do. Sometimes the giant miasma of smoke pours out of the twin tailpipes for miles, bringing joy and burning eyes to the masses.
Accordingly, we took Charlotte to Tower Ford in Coos Bay. The mechanic, Ron, pretty much explained what ramifications there are for folks like us who have bought F-250s with the 6.4 liter Navistar engines – replacement of the overly complicated and poorly designed DPF system or, more plainly, $3,306.
Maybe I should reconsider my ardent touting of Ford products based on my wonderful experiences with Charlotte’s motor. We bought the truck used, but it was in great shape. Initially, the motor worked perfectly. We have been into the Pacific Northwest three times, once all the way around the country counter-clockwise, into the Great Basin in early 2016, once to Vegas and a quick 7,000 mile trip to Texas late in 2016 and early in 2017. Up until 2017, the engine did quite well but things have been a bit crummy since. Our first Navistar engine took a shit in Amarillo, Texas, and we were obliged to replace it with another, new Navistar engine in Santa Fe. That cost $21,000+ if we don’t count car rental, inconvenience, additional travel or costs for an extended stay in New Mexico while the engine was changed out. This last May we had to replace the alternator but the little whirring unit had 180,000 miles on it and I can forgive that. Now we are going to replace the DPF system for three grand and a couple month’s allowance. We are scheduled to have our money extracted Friday. This repair will now make the cumulative costs for repairs exceed the purchase price of the truck. As Donald Trump tweets – “Sad.” Might be time to consider (shudder) Chevrolet or, frighteningly, Dodge.
A good part about yesterday was we got to see my brother’s widow who lives in Coos Bay. To make things even better, she took us to a great fish place called Captain’s Choice for dinner and paid. The red snapper was very tasty. So was the clam chowder.