Any Tech Help Please-Engine hiccup, skipping

[trucksr4girls]

Have some trouble with my 2004 F-350 6.0 L it has 115K miles, I’ve owned it the entire time.

Problem had been going on about 2 months, when the truck has been sitting about 4 hrs (going to lunch, after work) the engine skips and sputter, hiccups, bucks & chokes, what ever you want to call it. It does not put out smoke, only if you really get on it, then it puts out grey smoke. When it skips it also has a lose of power,

It got really bad last week and we took the EGR valve out and cleaned it, it was really clogged up. Truck runs a lot better, BUT now it skips a little bit all the time.

I do know that the EGR Cooler is cracked, happened back in February, and we put 2 bottles of Bar’s Leak and it has not leaked more than 1” per week out of the degass bottle, and then only if I take a couple hour trip, then it leaks only that night.

I have run Lucas fuel cleaner thru 3 tanks, 1 tank with kerosene, 2 tanks with Sea Foam, and have changed both fuel filters. We have also had the truck running with the computer hooked up with no codes coming up.

The skipping never gets bad enough to stop the truck, just have tried everything I’ve been able to think of if it’s dirty fuel.

It is a stock truck except it has a Hyper tech computer chip.

I know it’s impossible to diagnose with just my limited info, but any suggestions of what to look for would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for any input, let me know if you need more information.
Tracy

[cchase]

I would just delete the EGR all together. but I am a 7.3 guy so its more of a guess

[trucksr4girls]

I'm thinking about it, going to do something w/ the EGR cooler, just not sure what just yet.

Thanks for the input,
Tracy

[jhaddox]

is it like a missing hiccup? you could have bad ficm. or an injector goin bad.

[Dave]

Its an EGR issue. either replace the cooler or delete it. Flush the radiator and get the bars leaks out of the system as well. Thats bad for business

[trucksr4girls]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to replace the egr cooler soon, just buying time.

I guess I need to do it sooner rather than later. The bars leak bought me another 7 months which did help.

Thank you so much for the help.
Tracy

[Dave]

No problem Tracy. Glad to help. Welcome to the site

[m-chan68]

How about your OIL cooler? That's what causes EGR coolers to fail in the first place. If you have access to a scan tool, monitor your EOT (engine oil temperature) and ECT (engine coolant temperature) differential. If your EOT readings exceed your ECT readings by more than 25 degrees Fahrenheit, your oil is restricted, and needs replaced as well, or you will fail your new EGR cooler very shortly. DO NOT FORGET to replace the oil screen under the oil cooler, if/when you have the oil cooler removed/replaced.

[trucksr4girls]

Result:

I took the truck into the shop, the problem seemed to be fuel injector #5, and the thermostat.

I had the injector replaced, and the thermostat replaced, also had the cracked EGR Cooler replaced.

It runs like a champ!!!! Yippy.

The thermostat was the problem with the cold start, and both problems has gotten really, really bad just before the repairs. Very rough running, cylinder cutting out, missing and lack of power.

Hope this info helps everyone.

Tracy