Stitches In Time: Strictly Diesel’s Top 5 Problem-Solving Products

When you compare a gas truck against a diesel truck, the diesel’s torque is tough to beat. When it comes to towing and heavy hauling, there is no substitute. There also comes with diesel a sense of durability, with many engines surpassing 300,000 miles. As the Big Three ratcheted up their diesel programs certain shortfalls with each brand became apparent. Even the most rugged and proven of diesel trucks has its shortcomings, and Strictly Diesel has been finding solutions to fixing known diesel issues.

Strictly Diesel makes better and more DIY-focused solutions for many diesel issues plaguing Cummins, Duramax, and most of all, Power Stroke motors.

We spoke with Dennis Schroeder, Co-owner of Strictly Diesel to learn more about some of the products to address common problems across the Big Three. His top five picks narrowed down to the Cummins Fan Hub Adapter, Duramax Power Steering Hose Kit, and three Power Stroke products – a 6.7-liter Engine oil pan, 7.3-liter dipstick adapter kit, and 7.3-liter/6.0-liter regulated return fuel system kits.

Diesel Issues: The Cummins – Fan Hub Adapter

diesel issues

While originally developed as a Cummins-swap part, this adapter is becoming more and more popular with Dodge pickup owners that don’t want to replace the expensive OEM electronic fan clutch.

These days, it seems like whenever something can be made mechanical or electric, an OEM engineer will side with electric. From parking brakes to mirrors to steering systems, it’s endemic to trucks, and oftentimes a hassle to deal with. One such area causing diesel issues with Cummins pickups is its electronic fan clutch.

“An electronic fan clutch is operated by the engine control module, while a mechanical fan clutch responds to the temperature of the air passing through the radiator,” says Schroeder. “The mechanism inside the electronic fan clutches seems to get ‘loose’ and become unreliable over time, meaning the fan will not turn at the correct speed, even when commanded to do so by the ECM. Thus, a lot of guys like mechanical; they’re simpler, and they seem to be more durable and consistent.”

The Cummins fan hub adapter was the brainchild of GOS Racing, a product of their experience swapping Cummins engines into Ford trucks. In fact, this was how Strictly Diesel came upon it. “We used it in a swap years ago and really liked how it performed,” says Schroeder. “We approached GOS and offered to produce the part on a larger scale, with a better finish and better pricing. We’ve been producing them ever since.”

Optionally, customers can purchase a new fan hub bearing to go with the new fan hub. Although not required, on older engines and with the customer already having everything apart for the install, it’s a good idea to include a new one.

The adapter, interestingly enough, takes a Ford part to make it work. “It was designed to use an Old Body Style’ Ford fan clutch,” said Schroeder. “Ultimately, it was chosen thanks to its compact size and the way it connects to the adapter, and the bolt pattern allows for different fan blade sizes.”

Strictly Diesel makes the fan hub adapter for 2003-07 5.9-liter Cummins engines, as well as 2007-16 6.7-liter Cummins engines. It can fit the Ford 6.0-liter 23.25-inch fan, or step up to the Ram 26-inch fan, but Strictly Diesel leaves it to the customer to determine the right size to fit their vehicle. But no matter which fan they opt for, they can count on the fan hub adapter to provide more reliable cooling to the engine for years to come.

Schroeder also had an interesting tidbit about a core exchange program coming for the adapter. “We will do a new bearing and remanufactured mount,” he said. “This will help customers that don’t have access to a hydraulic press, so all they have to do is a simple unbolt-bolt operation. After that, they send us their factory adapter and mount assembly to attain the core charge refund.”

Diesel Issues: The Duramax – Power Steering Hose Kit

For whatever reason, GM made the 2001-10 Duramax’s power steering system problematic. “It’s an extremely common problem,” commented Schroeder. “It’s like a 99-out-of-100 problem. I don’t know who made the hoses, but they’re awful and they’re mass-produced, which is a terrible combo. We would install OEM replacements for customers at our shop, and sometimes within weeks, they would be back to get the same problem fixed. We literally had brand new OEM lines leaking in amazingly short periods of time.”

The leaks tend to occur at the hose ends, where they’re crimped onto the hose. “They can also leak at any one of the pressure lines,” added Schroeder. “Two different hose assemblies – power steering pump to hydroboost and steering gearbox to hydroboost – make up the whole kit, and are usually the ones leaking.”

Strictly Diesel’s power steering hose kit for 2001-10 Duramaxes replaces the factory assembly with a sturdy, CNC-bent, stainless steel kit.

Strictly Diesel’s power steering hose kit comes with all-new stainless steel, CNC-bent tubing sections that feature a serviceable male AN fitting. “Our process gets rid of trading in cores for a new assembly,” said Schroeder. “The hoses are a non-braided type for better NVH properties, and are made with the corresponding female AN fitting, allowing the hose section to be serviced or repaired without having to buy an entirely new assembly or kit.”

Power Stroke – 6.7-liter Oil Pan

When it was released in 2011, the 6.7-liter Power Stroke was a “clean sheet of paper” design that included some impressive features. However, the plastic oil pan wasn’t one of them. The plastic drain plug was quickly found to be unreliable, and even the stamped steel replacement oil pan in later years was dysfunctional. It still had the same wonky, rear-facing drain hole that seemed destined to make a mess during oil changes.

“We do service work here at Strictly Diesel, and it came back that the drain plugs were positioned awkwardly and not easy to work with,” said Schroeder. “So between the plastic pans and crummy plugs, we decided to make something that was better geared for maintenance.”

What emerged from this Power Stroke’s diesel issues was Strictly Diesel’s cast aluminum oil pan. “It was a first for us since we’d never done casting before,” Schroeder pointed out. “We had to determine tooling and do sample parts, but it was good because it kept the cost affordable for the customer.”

Of note about the Strictly Diesel 6.7-liter Power Stroke oil pan is its raised boss. “We put that there in case the customer wanted to monitor the temperature with a sensor,” said Schroeder.

The finished oil pan retains the same capacity as its plastic counterpart, and adds heat sink finning to help the heat dissipate more effectively. “We wanted to come up with a product that fixed the shortcomings in both the plastic and stamped steel versions, and make life simpler for DIY guys,” said Schroeder. “So we put the drain plug as close to the oil filter as possible, and pointed it straight down. We utilized a 6.0-liter drain plug so that customers could easily get replacement copper seals, or use any of the variety of aftermarket drain valve assemblies on the market.”

The oil pan has made a great impression in racing thanks to H&S Motorsports, who use it on their triple-turbocharged builds. “They use the raised boss to install a drain port for the primary turbos,” said Schroeder.

Power Stroke Diesel Issues – 7.3-liter Dipstick Adapter Repair Kit

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An oil dipstick is something you would think an OEM would get right, but alas, for the 7.3-liter Power Stroke, it was not to be. The adapter on the oil pans of this engine is made of “pot metal,” according to Schroeder. “It’s not high-grade material.”

The adapter installs from the inside of the pan out, and there is a keyed hole on the pan. “The adapter uses an o-ring, which does okay for a long time, but after so many heat cycles, it starts leaking,” said Schroeder. “So owners tighten it, the metal deforms even more, and the leaking resumes. It will get so deformed that new o-rings and tightening do nothing, and the OEM repair method requires engine removal to change out the adapter.”

The dipstick adapter repair kit will work on the Power Stroke 7.3-liter V8, but customers have also reported it working successfully on the sister engine – the International T444E. "As long as it meets the correct specs, our kit will work on any 7.3-liter V8 from Ford or International, no matter the chassis," said Schrodinger.

On the flip side, using Strictly Diesel’s dipstick adapter repair kit is a cinch and can be done in a driveway. “Our kit works with the engine still installed in the chassis, and it eliminates the factory adapter completely,” said Schroeder. “It’s a billet piece that is much more durable, too.”

“The kit installs by first removing the nut on the stock adapter,” explained Schroeder. “Next, a pair of pliers holds the interior part, and a pick is used to retrieve the o-ring. The big metal piece can simply drop into the sump; there’s no danger of it getting sucked in and wrecking anything since it’s too big to go anywhere. Our replacement mounts from the outside and uses two o-rings instead of one, and it’s completely serviceable.”

Power Stroke – 7.3-liter/6.0-liter Regulated Return Fuel System Kits

diesel issues

Last but not least, we have the regulated return fuel system kits for 7.3-liter and 6.0-liter Power Stroke engines. The need for the product arises from the performance side of diesel issues, but it makes sense for street-driven trucks as well.

When it comes to pure performance, fueling on these trucks is not as great as it could be. “In a 1994-97 7.3-liter Power Stroke, the fuel is pumped by the two-stage mechanical fuel pump, and reaches low pressure at around 50-55 psi,” said Schroeder. “The fuel goes in through one end of the cylinder heads. Out of the opposite ends, the fuel routes back to the fuel pressure regulator. So the pressure is regulated after the fuel rails. In 1999, the opposite happens; the pressure is regulated before the heads, which I believe was an emissions-related decision.”

Whatever the reason was, it led to an engine noise in the 7.3-liter that was commonly called “cackle” (which Ford tried to fix with a different number-8 injector). In both 7.3-liter and 6.0-liter Power Strokes, inconsistent fuel flow and pressure to the injectors occurred. To fix it, Strictly Diesel worked out the Regulated Return kits, which would in essence make the fuel system run the way it used to. “We removed the original plumbing from the filter bowl to the heads and put in our own high-flow components,” said Schroeder. “We installed additional lines at the opposite ends of the heads and tied that into an aftermarket fuel pressure regulator, and got rid of the factory regulator on the filter bowl.”

diesel issues

Fixing the issues of fuel “dead-heading” in the 7.3-liter and 6.0-liter Power Stroke engines meant turning around the filtration system. These kits make the filtration occur after the fuel has supplied the injectors, leaving the injectors happy and constantly supplied with the fuel they demand.

The upshot to this, instead of just simply working with the system Ford designed, was that constant pressure could be maintained to the injectors. “With our system, now it didn’t matter if the filter was clogging up or brand new, because it would keep the fuel pressure up at all times,” said Schroeder. “This was great for both regular diesel owners and later on, once bigger injectors became huge, performance enthusiasts. It meant that their 7.3-liter or 6.0-liter could get back to making big numbers and getting across the finish line faster.”

All of these parts and more are solutions to common problems that Strictly Diesel has been crafting since it opened its doors. The common threads have been twofold – making servicing easier, and making something better than what it was replacing.

We think these parts to correct diesel issues constitute a special place in the diesel world, and encourage you to check out more from Strictly Diesel today. Head on over to the company’s website and Facebook page to see new parts, events, videos, and more.

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About the author

David Chick

David Chick comes to us ready for adventure. With passions that span clean and fast Corvettes all the way to down and dirty off-road vehicles (just ask him about his dream Jurassic Park Explorer), David's eclectic tastes lend well to his multiple automotive writing passions.
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