Missing and Sputtering

[Deer Creek]

Hello fellow 6.0 owners,

I am new to the forum and I just wanted to say this place is like Google for a ford truck owner. This site is GREAT and hopefully I can save myself some time and money by learning from your knowledge and experiences.

Here is my problem; about a year ago my 6.0 was puking oil into my degas bottle. I took it in to my local (reputable) diesel mechanic and had the oil cooler replaced and the EGR and turbo cleaned and I believe they flashed the computer. Truck (04' F250 4x4 crew cab long bed with 220,000 miles on it) ran good until about two or three weeks ago. It has started skipping and sputtering. I thought maybe it was the fuel and or fuel filters, changed them and problem still exists. now that its winter I start it up to let the engine warm up but have noticed that even if the defrost is on hot/high the cab does not warm up. It does blow a little white smoke at start up but other than that just the normal black smoke if I lay on the pedal at high speeds. Mechanic said it could be a head gasket problem?????????? In my experience the symptoms don’t fit head gasket failure. I did some looking around on this site and seen everything from EGR Delete kit to fuel injectors as a fix. There are no codes or dash lights on other than my water in fuel light.

Could a bad thermostat cause this sputtering?

Could it be a clogged EGR valve?

What are your thoughts on an EGR Delete kit? (I wish I would have known about this when I had my oil cooler replaced)

Has anyone done an EGR Delete kit? (which brand do you recommend)

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Deer Creek]

Any suggestions?