'03 6.0 Hard to Start - Cranks for a LONG time and pumps out LOTS of white smoke

[DownTown]

Originally Posted by cajun1963

I brought mine to the dealship because it was still under warranty. I brought it back to them four times before they figured out what was wrong. I'm not possitive but i think the check valve is located underneath the reservoir. I know it took them two days to replace.

Diagnostics could not find the problem because they looked at it four times and could never figure out what was wrong. I believe the mechanic unscrewed the cap on the oil filter housing and found no oil in the reservoir after the truck sat there overnight.

When I remove the cap and the oil filter, should it be full or almost full?

[tazman651]

You may want to check the glow plug module connectors as well. I have had some with poor connections and had some with bad modules.

[elm302]

i would like to know what you find out mine is hard to start as well it will crank for 25 or seconds in the mornig befor it cranks over and thers a little white cloud

[cajun1963]

All i know is what he told me. It should have some oil in the bottom of the reservoir. He told me mine was dry after is sat all night.

I wish I could help more.

My truck cranks up right away now with no white smoke.

[DownTown]

Thanks!! I will check the filter housing first. Then I'll check the glow plug connectors.

If that's not the problem, should I then do the dealer diagnostic thing?



And I will for sure post the out come because its always annoying reading these other posts that just end with no out come even after they said they would. It may be a week or two since I'm just doing it myself and can only work on the weekends.

[03f250stroke]

everyone with a problem in here, how are your batteries have you put a load tester on them to see how they are?

a poor battery can cause issues, FICM failure, long cranks ect

[cajun1963]

I can understand your frustration. Ford had so many problems with this motor so there are so many things that can go wrong. I beat my head against the wall a many of times with this slow crank problem. All it took was one experienced mechanic to figure out how simple of a fix it would be. And this check valve falure was not a common problem!!

Anyway, I would try to find a reputable mechanic shop in your area instead of a dealership. You may even find a better deal.

[VeeDubTDI]

Mine did this once, after it sat for a month. Personally, I'm not buying the bad injector theory. First, it would be unlikely that enough of the injectors failed, causing minute-long cranking before the engine starts.

I'm leaning towards either a.) a bad engine sensor somewhere causing improper start of injection timing (coolant temperature? oil temperature? fuel temperature?), b.) an issue with the high pressure oil system, or c.) a bad check-valve at the bottom of the oil filter.

For proper diagnosis, you really need to get the truck on a scan computer that gives you sensor readouts, and see what's going on while it's cranking, and then after it starts.

For the oil filter housing, you will never see oil in it. As soon as you unscrew the cap, it opens the check valve at the bottom of the housing and drains the oil back into the engine. If you ever do see oil, then your check valve is stuck closed, which doesn't actually cause any problems, except for sloppy filter changes. I'm not sure how you'd check to see if it was stuck open... perhaps someone else can shed some light on that.

[DieselJuice]

I've got issues to with my 03 6.0L....it won't even start now without ether unless it's been running and I shut it off then start it up within 10 minutes or so. When I do fire it up,it will idle a bit rough and if I hold the throttle wide open (when hot or cold) it poors white/bluish smoke out the pipes. (I have dual exhaust straight pipe). Today I got pissed off with it and held it wide open for 10 minutes or so...lol after about a minute or two it cleared up and I would rev it on and off then wide open (3900 RPM's) I held it so long it started overheating. Then I let it cool down then shut it off. Took it out for a ride around town all day and it hasn't ran this good in about a month. Sounds like I'm a retard but I'm so pissed off with this POS 6.0L Ford engine.....
Sorry to hijack but I have similar problems to what's posted here..Do I need injectors,ICP,EGR cooler,EGR valve,ICP or IPR sensors....what a fu^&ing joke!!!! Why do these a$$holes need so many damb sensors???? Would love to strangle the engineers who designed this engine...lol
I just wish it was easier to diagnose.....
Just started it up...engine was off for 15 minutes...it started right up...held it wide open and it wouldn't rev out just smokes whiteish /blue...then it cleans out and revs out prewtty good...any suggestions??

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Last edited by DieselJuice : 09-25-2009 at 02:19 PM.

[DownTown]

It was diagnosed at a shop and the glow plug control module was bad. New module and now she starts up. On to the next problem.