^^ OK, so you have the WLT engine, which is the direct-injection turbodiesel (the older model engine)... it pushes 101HP and 266NM of torque, BTW.... while ur TARE is 1720KG, so you have a pretty decent Power:weight Ratio
This engine has a history of developing cracks in the head, usually at around 120,000km or more.
THis doesn't happen in every single unit that's produced by ford/mazda, but there have been a few claims here & there about it happening. One guy on tuner recently posted about visiting a mechanic and seeing a few of the non-turbo WL engine blocks laying around in the garage with cracks in the head.
However, your salesperson may be bullsh1tting you into coming back for every single service.
Once you service the engine regularly and on time (diesel engines require very regular servicing in order to give you all those years of life), you would be in a good position. Most modern diesel engines would need:
- oil change
- oil filter change
This is to be done every 5000km, esp. if you're running mineral oil or at least semi-synthetic oil (eg. Castrol CRB or Hypuron oils)
If you're running synthetic oil (eg. Amsoil, Mobil 1, Gulf synthetic, Shell Rimula R4 & R6) then you can push the changes to 7500 - 10,000km's, but not too much more. By that time your change interval is limited by your oil-filter's capacity, not so much the oil's useable life (eg. Amsoil is actually rated to last up to 20,000km between changes - those long-haul freight trucks in the US use Amsoil often for that same purpose).
So basically change your oil on time, as well as your oil filter.
And if you can, use the highest quality filters available - I prefer to use OEM factory filters and I buy from ROC in bamboo cuz I get better prices than at the Firm (neal & massy)
Now when it comes to diesel engines, they run MUCH hotter than a gasoline engine simply because it uses a very high compression of the fuel:air mixture in the cylinder to create the spark/explosion which drives the pistons, while gasoline engines use lower compression and a spark-plug to ignite that fuel:air mixture. When you compress oxygen + fuel high enough, the heat created by all those molecules jumbling-around in the cylinder and the friction between them will eventually become enough to cause a KABOOM and thus drive down the piston. That's why you won't find a spark plug in your diesel engine.
All this heat can be detrimental to engine blocks, metals, plastics, etc - esp. over years of hard-working service. Hence it's of CRITICAL important to always take care of the cooling system in your diesel truck, both turbo and non-turbo.
Always have your radiator inspected and flushed at the appropriate mileage intervals (I dunno what's Mazda's intervals, but I do know that for my Navara N&M flushed it at 20,000km after I bought it brand new - so that's a decent guideline for you).
Hence it might be a good idea to ask your service rep (not necessarily the sales rep, they may not know the service info, just the sales/vehicle info) when will they do the radiator and cooling system services (usually at 20,000 & 50,000km).
When your truck gets older (say 60,000km and more) you can probably start doing some checks on the water pump, thermostat, etc. to make sure the cooling system stays healthy. Some WLT owners may even go as far as to change out the radiator and install a 3-core radiator to help with cooling.... but that's for later on.
Of course, if you push your truck hard on a daily basis eg. drive hard, shift at higher RPM, carry heavy loads, pull trailers, pull stuck pickups out of the mud - on a regular basis, it would be prudent to make sure you change your oil at sooner intervals. The oil is the life-juice of the engine and if it breaks down under heavy loads, your engine's internal parts will start to suffer.
Synthetic oils would last longer and break-down less under heavy load than regular mineral oil. My recommendation would be Amsoil 15W40 synthetic oil, or Gulf 15w40 synthetic (it all comes down to brand-preference, which can differ amongst everyone else). Shell Rimula R6 is also a good synthetic oil.
If you don't want to stay with Southern Sales for too long with respect to services, you can always try to look for a good mechanic/garage with similar equipment and do your services there. I don't know South trinidad so well, maybe one of the other guys here can tell you where is a good garage to go to.
Also, I posted a service manual for the WLT engines under the
"Ford tech thread" which will apply to your BT-50's engine as well. I didn't look through the entire thing in great detail, but there should be a "service intervals" section which would tell you what should be done at what mileage. Or you can check your vehicle's owner's manual or service booklet.
That way you'll save a bit of money if you're concerned about the stealership being a bit too greedy.
In fact - send a PM to
sureshot james about servicing your truck, I was talking to him the other day about this and he has a very good solution for you, if you decide to service outside of the firm. Or give him a call - Mosely Enterprises: 3749339.
Trust me, you might like what you hear (I certainly did!).
Oh, BTW.. it's 'GREDDY'... not 'GREEDY' for the brand of turbotimer.. heh heh heh
As far as a turbotimer goes - it's meant to protect your turbo. From your previous post, you said you had a SR20 B14, but you didn't specify if it was the SR20DET or N/A SR20 engine, so I'll have to assume it was N/A.
Whenever you kill the engine, the oil-supply from the sump pan to the turbo is also stopped. This is bad news for a turbo that might still be spinning down after a hard highway run and a ton of boost, because the turbo's fans are still spinning, which continues to generate heat. Whatever oil is left in the turbo will literally "cook", and create a "coke" or a sooty sediment which will block out the piping in the turbo, hence cutting off the oil-supply and lubrication effectiveness.
This will cause the bearings in the turbo to overheat and eventually seize whenever you drive the truck later on, and destroy the turbocharger. Also, the excess heat will be indirectly transferred to the engine block, the hoses, the intake, etc. etc. and cause more problems.
Most of the time you can prevent this by waiting 30-secs or more after running the engine at high-rpm (eg. parking in the mall after driving hard on the highway). But most folks may forget to do so and switch off immediately - hence the turbo timer comes in handy to help preserve turbo life.
Dont' believe the bullsh!t that dealers will tell you - when I went to McEarney Motors to check out the Ford Ranger, the old man who was trying to sell me a Ranger said "Oh, these have newer turbo's, they both water + oil cooled, you don't need a turbo timer".
Bullsh!t.
If you run at 3000+ RPM for a few minutes on the highway (say around 110-120km/hr), then pull into Pricesmart and cut off immediately... ANY friggin turbo, whether oil or oil+water cooled will cook the oil and damage the turbo.
I don't know how often SSL and McEarney Robinson would put in Turbo Timers into the WLT-engine trucks back when they sold the older model rangers and B2500 pickups from 1998-2006, but I believe that may be one of the contributing factors for head-warpage.
At any rate, it certainly wouldn't hurt the engine to put in a turbo timer, so it's a good safety measure.
Anyway, that's enough about that.
Hope you've been enjoying driving that truck around these past few days. Sure it's not as fast/quick as your old SR20 B14, but I'm sure you're enjoying the torque and power of that diesel, not to mention the great mileage (you should be getting about 450-500km per tank, at $85 or so to fill up).
Enjoy that truck man, and keep on truckin' !
