05 6.0L Diesel doesn't like the cold

[jlkroner]

I have an 05 F350 with 85K miles, and 10K miles on egr delete, new head gaskets and studs, new oil cooler and CAT delete. This is the first time I've had this truck in weather below 30F consistantly.

For the first two months it was totally normal: a little smoke on startup, high idle kicked in and in a few minutes it was running great. It has, however, become more difficult to start with more smoke for longer periods of time. The high idle is not kicking in (still below 30F in the mornings), and it lopes a little bit when it first fires (maybe 5 or 6 seconds).

These problems go away when it is running at operating temp (except the high idle, of course). I have a short commute to work, only about 2 miles: could this be part of the problem? I take it out and run it for about an hour once a week to get it good and warm "blow out the carbon" so to speak. Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I'm looking for a cheap diagnostic tool (I've returned to school and am feeling the financial sting), any suggestions? Thanks!

[Term3]

Start off cheap, throw in some Rev-X and see how it is after that.

[Fishermedic]

Synthetic oil may help to if you're not already running it.

[JesseKK]

A scangauge II will read codes and monitor some imporant vitals

[pjsf250]

FICM voltage ??

[jlkroner]

I'll be throwing some Rev-x at it, thanks for the advice! That seems common after reading other threads...

May I ask what the advantage of Synthetic oil is? Is it cleaner/have better viscosity properties or something?

I'm a bit of a newbie, how do I check the FICM voltage? Can I do that with the Scanguage II, or just a Voltmeter?

Any ideas on why the high idle stopped working? As of November it was working just fine, but now it doesn't...could it be related to my other problems, or just a random malfunction?

Thanks everyone for the help...very much appreciated!!

[Fishermedic]

Injector stiction is the spool valves sticking in the injectors. They start to stick because of varnish deposits from running conventional oil. This doesn't happen with synthetic oil and it will actually help to clean the varnish from the injectors. It IS also a matter of viscosity. Most guys running Dino oil are running 15W40... Most of the guys running synthetic are running 5W40. So on a cold start the oil flows easier and therefore will build injection pressure quicker (you need 500 psi to start). The injectors rely on oil pressure to work properly. Since the cold oil is flowing better the injectors will also fire easier.

There's a ton of info to learn about the 6.0 and this is a great place to learn it. Injectors are the subject I'm getting into right now as I have a stiction issue and I'm running my first shot of Rev-X to hopefully get them through the winter so I can fix the issue. I hope I've got all of the above right! Haha.

As for FICM voltage either the scan gauge or a voltmeter will work. You want to do it on a cold start. Check the voltage key on engine off (KOEO), cranking and key on engine running (KOER). There's a thread on how to check it with a voltmeter (not sure where, I haven't bookmarked at home). How to test FICM


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[twoicebergs]

Me thinks you needs to walk to work or use a small gasser. It's not good for that one either! The poor old engine just isn't getting enough time to run. Warming it up in the driveway is probably just making it worse. Maybe take the scenic route to work with less time idling to warm it up.

[jlkroner]

I hear you, twoicebergs. The short drive to work is a temporary problem, but I have to figure it out as I'm too lazy to walk in the cold haha.

I have some Rev-x on the way as well as a Scanguage; I will update everyone again when I have some relevant data. In the mean time, any ideas about the high idle problem?

[southend]

Get a monitor.....Write Up: Monitoring the 6.0L PSD.
Scanguage II will work.

Load test your batteries, perform the ficm check procedure, cold.

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