Operational problems with new diesel pickups

jshupe wrote:

You edited the post after my intial reply and made this about a fuel pump. Yeah, so that leaves only Ford shipping CP4s -- which have received incremental year to year improvements, by the way. The majority of your whole argument against diesels is the fuel pump, which falls apart here. Duramax moved away from CP4 in 17, I think.

The title of this thread is "OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS WITH NEW DIESEL PICKUPS".

I literally listed all the operational problems with 2011-onwards diesel pickups ("new"). I explained the cost of ownership of a "new" diesel pickup vs gasser and how many miles/years it would take to make up the $10K premium of a diesel engine vs a gasser engine. I explained that the new 2020+ gas engines are potent tow-ers with plenty of HP and torque, that can easily satisfy the towing needs of the general - occasional - towing public that tows weights below, let's say 16-18,000 lbs. I also explained that the new gas engines are also much cheaper to operate and maintain and do not suffer from all the drama associated with the new diesels.

IMHO the diesel truck manufacturers have been focusing on the wrong objectives - competing on extra lbs of towing capacity and higher torque. Instead, they should be competing on reliability and quality. But those things are not easy to measure. You can't say "New Duramax is 17.3% more reliable". What is much easier to say is "New Duramax has leading torque in its class, exceeding the competition by 17 ft/lbs of torque and 12 HP". In essence, they are competing on "whose is bigger" and the unwashed masses that are conditioned to lap this up - are lapping it up.

As for your claim that I am overstating the CP4 problems - there are literally millions and millions of trucks out there with a ticking time bomb (the CP4 pump) - all powerstrokes from 2011-2021, Duramaxes from 2011-2016 and Cummins from 2014 and onwards. That's a lot of potentially expensive repairs for a hell of a lot of people. Ford is embroiled in a class action lawsuit, so is GM. RAM is probably next.

You telling me that my beef is with a pump, not a fuel system is silly. Diesels can be great but they are NOT great in millions and millions of vehicles sold in the last 10+ years.

What about emissions systems? Plenty of expensive repairs in that arena as well. Why do you think half of these trucks are deleted, despite the fact that it is illegal to do so?

jshupe wrote:

You grossly overexaggerate the issues.

I could equally say that you are understating the problems.

I could say that your whole premise has been "I am rich and buy what I want and I want a diesel and if you can't afford it, buy a gasser"? Although you also said "buy the right tool for the job". So, one of us must be confused ;)

For most of the fools out there towing, say, 8-15,000 lbs once or twice a month to the local campgrounds within a 500 mile radius and whose trucks otherwise do not work for a living hauling equipment around construction sites etc. - please explain to me why the diesel is the right tool for the job (righter) than the new 2020+ gasser like the 7.3L Ford or the 6.6L Chevy. Esp. at the $10K premium right off the bat and the much higher maintenance/operational cost down the road.

jshupe wrote:

On Ram, there are three different transmissions, three different transfer cases, and two different rear axles in use for 2019+MY. Don't know about Ford. Generally, diesel parts across the board are strengthened to deal with the additional torque.

These are bogus claims, of course. Diesel engine have higher torques so they have strenghtened parts - well, you are explaining why - to deal with higher torques and the heavier weight of the engine. I have never heard of a higher axle or frame or transfer case or anything else failure rate in gassers than in diesel, don't be silly :)