Update on repair - Day 1225 (Year 4, Day 130)

Lexington, KY

The 6.0L engine on the Ford trucks has a history of being cursed (there was actually a recall about 2 years before we bought it; too late to do anything about it now).  We always learn from experience and hindsight; we would not have bought this truck if we knew about the engine problems.

The problem this time was the turbo charger which went bad.  Dealer needs to order the part but promised he would get it today and we should be back on the road this afternoon.  I guess it's great that we broken down where and when we did.  The turbo provides the power to the engine, and the next leg of our journey will take us through the WV mountains, where we need as much power as possible.  It would have been horrible if we lost this while in the mountains!

Unfortunately, we're told this is not the end yet.  The head gasket, another major engine part, is also known to go bad in this engine, and it's just a matter of time when that happens (we're told it generally happens around 120K miles; we currently have 90K).  Besides the great expense, it also takes 3-4 days to install.  We don't want to wait until it breaks, so we will try to find a non-Ford dealer (regular, reputable diesel mechanic) and have the part replaced on our own time.  Hopefully there's a good place in Williamsburg.