Diesel Engine Question

[Marveltone]

Which is probably why they keep them plugged in and warm, so they are hot to trot out of the gate.

Um... Plugging them in doesn't keep them that warm. You still have to warm them up a bit.

Joe

 

[Soundguy]

The dealer claims to have just changed the oil (and what is on the dipstick looks new), I am planning to go to synthetic at the first oil change.

My temperature gauges aren't calibrated, but the transmission temp is starting to move up and the engine coolant is still at the bottom when this happens. I start it at my house and go to the bottom of the driveway which is about 1/2 mile long and about a 10-15% downslope all the way. Next comes a short ~1/8 mile of 7-8% upslope and the truck does not want to go up the hill without really putting my foot into it.

that's odd. I have an 04. I start it and go get the paper from the box and let it warm 30 seconds or a minute before driving.

In cold temps ( florida? ) or if it has sat a week, it might run rough the first few SECONDS.. but never mor ethan 5 seconds till all 8 are hitting fine.. at that point.. she's ready to go.. even though I don't gun her for about a 1/2 mile or so as I'm driving out of my neighborhood with a 40mph speed limit before I hit the hiway at 55mph.

I had been using motorcraft 15w40 powerstroke oil, but switched to valvoline 5w40 premium blue full syn. I run it in both my 99's f350 and f450 with 7.3 powerstrokes. I find it to be a quite superior oil.. at least to my laymans eyes and ears.

have you doesed yer fuel heavy ( double does ) of cleaner.. serviced both filters and the air filter? Mine has the upgrade filter box.

soundguy

 

[Wnc3]

My new to me 2004 F-250 with ~67000 miles runs very well once it has warmed up. But the engine is very sluggish and underpowered when it is cold. It has the 6.0 liter engine.

I have never owned a diesel truck before and need to know if this is normal or is something wrong? I have a 50-50 warranty on it for 30 days after purchase, so I want to be able to get it fixed if there is a problem.

Since this is your first diesel pickup, Please don't judge all the others based on your future experience with the 6.0....I hope you never have any problems.

Hope your feeling lucky. My luck and money ran out.

 

[Soundguy]

Since this is your first diesel pickup, Please don't judge all the others based on your future experience with the 6.0....I hope you never have any problems.

Hope your feeling lucky. My luck and money ran out.

Any vehicle or engine can be bad/go bad, be damaged. sometimes it's use, abuse, act of god or design fault or parts failure, accident damage, sabotage..e tc.

I've got 3 powerstrokes. (2) 99's - 7.3's one with 126k m the other 181k m.. and the 04 6.0 with 120somethingk m on it now.

no engine problems...


soundguy

 

[Wnc3]

Any vehicle or engine can be bad/go bad, be damaged. sometimes it's use, abuse, act of god or design fault or parts failure, accident damage, sabotage..e tc.

I've got 3 powerstrokes. (2) 99's - 7.3's one with 126k m the other 181k m.. and the 04 6.0 with 120somethingk m on it now.

no engine problems...


soundguy

And my 7.3 in a 99 f250 has over 450,000 miles on it. Your luck has not run out on that pos 6.0

 

[Soundguy]

at 120k, I think it's well past 'infant mortality' stages.. like some of the early 6.0's faced.

 

[dynasim]

Dave,

My issue(which sound a lot like yours) would have been found by hooking up the diagnostic computer. The computer diagnostic charges for the first go-around were >200$, though. The specific test is the oil pressure on the high pressure oil pump in the fuel pump assembly.

A friend gets the lend-lease diagnostic equipment from the automotive store, but I have never done that.

Chris

 

[pjbci]

Here is the simple answer to a simple question. Yes, a diesel is more sluggish when cold than the gas engines your used too. Nothing is wrong with your truck.

 

[CurlyDave]

Dave,

My issue(which sound a lot like yours) would have been found by hooking up the diagnostic computer. The computer diagnostic charges for the first go-around were >200$, though. The specific test is the oil pressure on the high pressure oil pump in the fuel pump assembly.

A friend gets the lend-lease diagnostic equipment from the automotive store, but I have never done that.

Chris

Chris:

Did they have to hook it up cold, or can it be diagnosed on a warm engine?

Makes a big difference in whether I have to leave it overnight at a repair facility.

* * * * * *

The big diesels in fire engines and such have injectors which work on an entirely different principal then the way this one does.

 

[tlbuser]

Which is probably why they keep them plugged in and warm, so they are hot to trot out of the gate.

Not sure about everywhere else, but no, ours are plugged in for a trickle charger on the batteries. We've got an assortment ranging from Ford Crown vics to a 100 foot ladder truck.

 

[TheGoose]

I also have an '04, now with 120,000 miles on it.

It will not get out of it's own way when first started. It definitely does not like cold weather.

It turns out that my thermostat was sticking open, the truck would never truly warm up. It was only getting to ~160*F, it should run at ~190*F. After changing the thermostat it runs much much better after getting warm.

I'm gonna give you a good piece of advice about that 6.0 Ford motor. They are good engines, but only after they are "fixed" from their factory state. There aren't a whole lot of things you can do yourself these days but I highly encourage you to buy a plug-in monitor like the Edge Insight to monitor certain parameters of the engine.

You really need to watch your ECT/EOT temps. ECT = Engine coolant temp, EOT = Engine oil temp. Those trucks have an oil cooler (right on top of the motor) that is VERY prone to plugging. This and the EGR on these trucks are their Achilles Heel.

When your ECT/EOT delta gets to about 15 or more degrees it's time to have the cooler replaced. If you don't do that you either rupture the cooler and end up with oil in your water or water in your oil. Worst case is you pop a head gasket. Replacing the cooler is about a $1500-$2500 job at a mechanic. Engine coolant runs about 190*, Engine oil should be no more than 10-15* above that.

With an edge insight you can monitor your ECT/EOT delta (difference), FICM voltage (should be 47.5V), turbo boost, fuel mileage, etc. It's not a cheap unit, they run about $300-400 and they plug into the OBD II port. I think I saved several hundred dollars already on mine because I was able to see that I was running cold (Ford gauges have no numbers) and that my turbo boost was running low. I was only building 12 psi of boost max when I should be running 25-28 psi. It turns out I had a hose coming from the turbo with a hole in it. After replacing the bad hose I was building my full boost, it was like driving a different truck.

The truck is still sluggish when warming up but warms up much quicker and runs much better after warming up. The Edge Insight will even check and clear any codes you may have.

 

[dynasim]

Dave,

They diagnosed my truck when it was cold. They could read the output from the fuel pump oil pressure sensor. I could let my truck idle for 5 minutes, an it wouldn't power up. Both dealers claimed that it was a recurring(but relatively uncommon) problem, and had the parts in stock.

Good luck.
Chris

Edit. I didn't answer your question, and don't know. Sorry.

 

[JJZ 109]

Another good spot to look for advice:
Ford Diesels - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com

 

[sparc]

Um... Plugging them in doesn't keep them that warm. You still have to warm them up a bit.

Joe

yes but its better than starting out with a stone cold motor at 30ｰF or less. Keeping the motor in the 70 to 80 range is a big jump from 30 or 40 or even lower.

I worked a place for a time that has a big standby diesel generator (ALCO 16CYL, 2000HP). They keep those motors ready to run at a moments notice. They have to be up and running and spinning the generator at full output in 20 seconds. To accomplish that the crankcase oil constantly heated AND circulated through the motor by a small pump 24/7. Oil was at ~150ｰF IIRC.