6.0 Power Stroke Questions

   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #11  
Some of those 6.0 blew right away. My cousins business partner bought one and it bent/broke a rod with only 10 miles on the clock. He told the dealer that they could keep the truck and he bought a different brand thank goodness.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #12  
Speak of the devil. One of out 6.0's at work just went down, again. Headed for the shop.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #13  
Seeing we are talking about 6.0s....

My '06 lost power this weekend, headed up a slight incline, I could not pass some bicycles!!!! No power, and billowing black smoke, I was trying to figure out where I could get it pulled over, when it woke up and now all is well!!! Anybody with a 6.0 ever had that happen?

It has 150k, I bought it from the original owner, who claimed to service it regularly. He put two turbos on it, one under warranty. I have done the 'blue spring upgrade', replaced one of the inter-cooler tubes, and had to replace the EGR valve, other than that, just VERY regular maintenance with Motorcraft filters.

Sorry, I do not mean to hi-jack, just thought this might be a good place to discuss.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #14  
Seeing we are talking about 6.0s....

My '06 lost power this weekend, headed up a slight incline, I could not pass some bicycles!!!! No power, and billowing black smoke, I was trying to figure out where I could get it pulled over, when it woke up and now all is well!!! Anybody with a 6.0 ever had that happen?

It has 150k, I bought it from the original owner, who claimed to service it regularly. He put two turbos on it, one under warranty. I have done the 'blue spring upgrade', replaced one of the inter-cooler tubes, and had to replace the EGR valve, other than that, just VERY regular maintenance with Motorcraft filters.

Sorry, I do not mean to hi-jack, just thought this might be a good place to discuss.

And this is a good point as well: Only use Motorcraft oil and fuel filters on the 6.0. Other non-OEM spec'd filters are not direct replacements and wills screw up a 6.0. Unfortunately, WIX/NAPA filters are notorious for this.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #15  
certain years of the 6.0 were deemed a safety (recall ?) hazard by Ohio and other states ( severe loss of power , stalling , lack of steering and brakes when engines quit ) ... of course not all engines were affected.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #16  
By default, I have found myself in charge of maintaining a company truck. 2006 6.0 PSD, F350, 4x4 flatbed. We finally got to 36,000 miles on it this year (yes really), and I checked with the garage that was doing the oil changes, and the oil changes were the only work ever done. So I had them do the 30,000 mile service, and that's where the fun started. I don't think we need a new mechanic, but it is possible. The truck has been back to them twice since the service, and the check engine light is on again.

The first check engine light was obvious enough, a turbo hose had split, truck was down on power.

The second check engine light was not so obvious, the mechanic said the turbo and MAP sensor were not in agreement on pressures, so they replaced the MAP sensor.

The current check engine light, I'm going to guess is the same thing.

I don't have the exact code, but I will have to get it out of the computer shortly. The mechanic says we can replace the turbo or ignore the check engine light. Neither of these is a good option. It doesn't need a new turbo-I towed a 14,000 pound trailer with it right after the MAP sensor was replaced (before the check engine light came on the third time), and the truck was not down on power, temps were normal.

I'm assuming that at some point with the check engine light on, the truck will go into "limp" mode and cut the power and richen the fuel? (Not that you would notice a decrease in mileage with this pig, but power would be missed).

Anybody have a good starting point to keeping this engine happy?

MAP, BARO, and EBP should read the same KOEO. If one shows different you found the problem. Check their connectors for pin fit. The little EBP pipe gets plugged with carbon alot too. Those are simple things that fail alot and cause problems.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions
  • Thread Starter
#17  
So, I got another round of "windshield time" in the truck yesterday. I figured it was a good time to test the "stuck vane" theory. That is not the issue, truck still has all the power (and a little more) than the rear tires can handle from a standing start, so plenty of low end boost. Then I decided to check out the passing power on the Interstate and embarrassed the guy in the Mercedes, so it's fair to say the turbo is fine. I'll probably have to take it to a repair shop more into big trucks than our local oil and tire guy.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #18  
So, I got another round of "windshield time" in the truck yesterday. I figured it was a good time to test the "stuck vane" theory. That is not the issue, truck still has all the power (and a little more) than the rear tires can handle from a standing start, so plenty of low end boost. Then I decided to check out the passing power on the Interstate and embarrassed the guy in the Mercedes, so it's fair to say the turbo is fine. I'll probably have to take it to a repair shop more into big trucks than our local oil and tire guy.

Taking any diesel to a joe mechanic is a huge mistake, especially a Ford 6L. These are complicated motors and spending more on a good "diesel" mechanic will save you thousands down the road.

Chris
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #19  
Seeing we are talking about 6.0s....

My '06 lost power this weekend, headed up a slight incline, I could not pass some bicycles!!!! No power, and billowing black smoke, I was trying to figure out where I could get it pulled over, when it woke up and now all is well!!! Anybody with a 6.0 ever had that happen?

It has 150k, I bought it from the original owner, who claimed to service it regularly. He put two turbos on it, one under warranty. I have done the 'blue spring upgrade', replaced one of the inter-cooler tubes, and had to replace the EGR valve, other than that, just VERY regular maintenance with Motorcraft filters.

Sorry, I do not mean to hi-jack, just thought this might be a good place to discuss.

I bet its the turbo starting to act up.... been there.....owned a dec 02 built 6.0 psd had it for 6 yrs 60kmiles two turbos heading towards a third when I dumped it.
 
   / 6.0 Power Stroke Questions #20  
No it doesn't.

It happens due to the interactions of a crappy EGR design, poor coolant choice, poor head bolt choice and poor cooling design.

To whit:

Ford designed the EGR coolant flow to go through the liquid/liquid oil cooler first, then to the EGR to cool incoming exhaust gases. The coolant side of the oil cooler has very small coolant passages that is prone to being plugged up. When this happens, coolant no longer flows through the oil or EGR cooler and the EGR cooler starts overheating and eventually fails, leaking coolant into the cylinders. Enough coolant leaks and you can then lift the heads leading to a headgasket failure.

So in addition to this poor EGR cooler design, Ford also uses their universal Gold coolant in the 6.0. This is a good coolant except not for diesel engines with EGR coolers since the Gold coolant has silicates in it. These silicates under high temps, precipitate out and, you guessed it, plug up the small oil cooler coolant passages. Now couple this with the fact that Ford designed the 6.0 heads with bolts (180ksi yield) instead of studs (220ksi yield) and you have a recipe for disaster.

Simple fixes for the above:

- Install a coolant filter - stat!
- Replace the Ford Gold coolant with CAT EC-1 spec'd ELC (or Ultra ELC) coolant. CAT EC-1 coolants have no silicates that will precipitate out under high temps.
- Install an aftermarket gauge that will allow you monitor coolant vs oil fluid temps. +15 degrees difference means you have a plugged oil cooler and an impending EGR cooler failure. Example is a Scangauge II that will monitor ECT and EOT.

Upgrades include installing an EGR delete kit and replacing the head bolts with studs (plus alternator and battery cable upgrades).

Once you do the above, the 6.0 is pretty bulletproof.

Those who say to "drive it like you stole it" are exactly right. These trucks need to be worked, not pansied around getting groceries.

Hope this helps.


This guy knows his stuff.

The first thing to know, is to my knowledge, the 6.0 was the first diesel in pickups to pioneer many of these emissions systems. So there probably needed to be a bit more R&D before they pushed it out the door.

Coolant filter is a must. You change the first one after only 500 miles. You wouldn't believe the stuff that came out when I cut the filter apart. Kits are around 120 or so. I built my own for the same price so you might as well just order one instead.

The drive it like you stole it part is true. Without some WOT time the variable vanes don't always see a full sweep, which can allow carbon deposit in those areas. Ever listened to an idling LBZ duramax? The change in exhaust tone back and forth is a programmed vane sweep. Both motors use essentially the same Garrett turbo too.

The egr system is bad news. Excessive idling will give any newer diesel issues. The egr valve can get plugged with carbon and not seal completely, letting boost pressure escape out the tail pipe. On top of exposing your coolant to temps in excess of 1200 degrees. You can get simple delete kits for not much money. Or like me go all out and replace the intake manifold with one that was all plugged and tig welded, with the coolant rerouted. And a new up pipe with the T removed.

Another issue in the past (or currently still) is frequent misdiagnoses. Like failed egr coolers being treated as headgaskets. Similar symptoms, coolant loss, burning coolant out the exhaust, pressurizing the coolant system etc.

I went to a seminar at my local dealer meant for fleet managers and small garages. They showed us some absurd things, like how a failed starter can be attributed to a cheap oil filter. To side step patent rights on motorcrafts filter, some brands will do things like make the filter 1/8" shorter. In doing so, the filter will not properly seal the drain valve in the filter housing, allowing all the oil to drain each time the engine is shut down. And because the engine uses a HEUI system, you will have extended crank time to refill the liter of oil, then allow the injectors to operate.

Anyway, i think ive gone far enough off topic here.. Usually have the girlfriend to tell me when im rambling haha

Jay
 
 
Top