Seeking input on my diagnostics.

[Orestes]

Good morning all,

Specs:
2006 F250 Powerstroke 6.0L FX4 (Auto) ~175k miles
New oil filters
New fuel filters
New air filter

I bought the truck several months ago from a small lot that is run by guys who handle auction transactions.

When I bought it, everything seemed to check out fine except for a slight injector stiction issue. I added Rev-X within the first week and it cleared up.

Within the second month, I found a small crack in the top plastic portion of the radiator. As far as I can tell, it has only ever 'relieved pressure' during heavy towing. Even then, when it leaks, it's only minor and almost no water due to it's location in the highest point in the cooling system. There is no detectable loss of coolant and no detectable fuel or oil in the coolant.

Within the first month, the truck would give a slight puff of smoke when taking off from a stop after the truck was warmed up. It was nearly undetectable.

Since then, the smoking has become progressively worse. The point it's at now is;

When starting up cold, there is no smoke.
As the engine warms up the smoke gets progressively worse.
It starts out as a puff when leaving a stop, then at it's worst, it puffs light blue smoke at idle with a good cloud at take-off.
As the engine reaches normal operating temperature, it seems to improve somewhat. At normal temps, it only gives off a cloud of smoke when taking off from a stop.

I am attempting to do my best at identifiying all fixes that I need to start with for an upcoming repair.

I've bought a new radiator, reservoir and cap.
I ordered AutoEnginuity.

I think that I have several issues to tackle and wanted to get feedback from anyone interested:

I changed out the synthetic Rotella/w Rev-X and went back to 15w40 to try to force the stiction. If I can isolate the injectors, I may go ahead and change them out. I'm getting only slight stiction now. I've run the AE buzz test and power balance, but everything passes - no codes.

Question: When running the buzz test, I hear all injectors buzz, then each injector 'clicks'. Is this normal? I do not get a 'buzz' for each injector, only a click. The only buzz is when all injectors are buzzed together.

Using AE, I've identified that the difference between EOT/ECT gets as high as 15-17F. Thus, I'll be ordering an EGR delete and new oil cooler. I plan on flushing/draining for the radiator and egr delete, then refilling with ELC. I am also considering a coolant filter if the overall pricetag for this round of repairs allows space for it.

Now back to the one that's giving me the most trouble, the blue smoke. I pulled the filter and charge air inlet to check the CCV for blockage. The CCV pipe from the valve cover to the air inlet is clean, aside from slight oil residue.
I checked the turbo air inlet for movement, it does seem to move more than I would expect,but it's really hard to tell. I could see a small pooling of oil at the inlet charge pipe. I thought maybe excessive blowby passing through the system from the CCV. I removed the oilfill cap while the engine was running and got a small amount of blue smoke. I could turn the cap over and set it on the opening and there wasn't enough pressure to blow the cap off. Could this indicate that the problem isn't likely to be blowby?

There is no detectable oil consumption. The oil has been changed three times within the past thousand miles (first because it was due, then to go synthetic, and now to try to cause stiction to find borderline injectors). AE has shown that the ICP is always within a few psig of the Desired ICP (~580 at idle to readings as high as 3800 during driving). And, the oil is now cleaner than I've ever seen in any engine,

My instinct is telling me that I have a turbo seal that is getting worse. It seems that the oil leaking isn't burning until the engine gets up to temp. As the engine exhaust gets warm enough, the oil that has leaked burns off (making it at it's worst).Then, after the engine is fully warmed up, the smoke is from the oil that is leaking. My next step is to check the downpipe for oil.

Question: Should I be able to check the downpipe side for oil by pulling only the clamp at the turbo? Or, is it likely that I'll have to loosen something else to get enough clearance to see inside the downpipe?

So far my parts list is:

Radiator/Reservoir/Cap
EGR delete kit (gonna need a SCT tune to clear code)
New Oil Cooler

Possibly: a turbo kit or a remanufactured turbo
Question: If I go with the kit, what else should I gather to do the job correctly?
If I go with a remanufactured turbo, what else should I gather to do the job correctly?

Thanks in advance for anyone who decides to read this and offer thier input. I know it's long and I haven't contributed anything around here, but I refer to this site constantly and much of what I've written above is based on what I understand using this site.

Side note: I did try a mechanic. I went to the shop locally that everyone seems to think is the best. It didn't go so well. I had a horrible experience with them before anything ever even got accomplished. So I decided I would try to work through this myself.

[Orestes]

Bueller.... Bueller....


Ah well.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by Orestes

Thanks in advance for anyone who decides to read this and offer thier input. I know it's long and I haven't contributed anything around here, but I refer to this site constantly and much of what I've written above is based on what I understand using this site.

You have honestly contributed more than you think, by doing all the research and reading yourself. Im in the same boat as you trying to educate myself and take care of my truck. I dont like to see when someone doesnt get an answer or response to their problem, but its also very annoying when people come on here and say " my truck cranks and wont start, any ideas?"
Im thankful for that as Im sure some of the experts around here are too. If I were one I know I would! lol

From the 15+ hours I have spent reading different ford truck forums, you have done your research well and everything seems spot on. Only suggestion I have is check out the oil thread in my signature regarding an oil that has worked well for my truck and helped with stiction / running smoother. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Chango]

oh and since your replacing the turbo, inspect the turbo boots closely at the elbows, they have a tendency to crack and cause a problem.

[Orestes]

Originally Posted by Chango

You have honestly contributed more than you think, by doing all the research and reading yourself. Im in the same boat as you trying to educate myself and take care of my truck. I dont like to see when someone doesnt get an answer or response to their problem, but its also very annoying when people come on here and say " my truck cranks and wont start, any ideas?"
Im thankful for that as Im sure some of the experts around here are too. If I were one I know I would! lol

From the 15+ hours I have spent reading different ford truck forums, you have done your research well and everything seems spot on. Only suggestion I have is check out the oil thread in my signature regarding an oil that has worked well for my truck and helped with stiction / running smoother. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Sorry I didn't reply. I've been on vacation and just got back. Thanks for the input, I'll post back as I get things done and the outcome from each repair. I really like this truck and want to see it through. If I can get it in good shape, even at this mileage, it could turn out to be a good investment (and it pulls my boat really, really well ).