new owner, any common issues I can avoid?

[turbocharged]

I just purchased an 05 lariat 6.0 with all the bells and whistles except navigation. as far as I know the truck is all stock, it has 136000 miles on it and some change. Any common issues i should watch out for? I have already seen a few posts about EGR issues. should i just knock out an EGR delete now?

I also had a code p1633 that popped up, i cleared it and turned off the MIL with a code scanner.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I love this truck, and would like to hit half a million miles on it. Thanks

[turbocharged]

I am a fairly competent mechanic, just new to diesel ownership. I been searching around on here and saw a few things about a coolant filter. I also searched for coolant filter and didn't find any good threads that explained it very well. My truck has 137000 miles on it, so hopefully most of the small stuff has been worked out.

I may have started this thread in the wrong section of the forum, its not really a diagnostics thread, more of a preventative measures topic.

The thing I don't understand is why you would need a filter for the engine cooling system, and wouldn't drainin and refilling it at the recommended intervals keep the contaminats down? Where would the contaminants come from? Also some sort of oil cooler upgrade or an egr cooler should be adressed? If anyone can explain this or some of these things I will be grateful. Thx again

[Longhorn7807]

I don't have much experience with the coolant filters so I can't help with that, but ford does recommend changing the coolant every 5yr/100k. Just look at it and see if it looks dirty, check the boiling/freeze point. For basic PM I would change the oil every 5k and the fuel filters every 10k. Check your air filter minder every oil change(located in back of air filter just below the degas bottle). As far as an EGR delete/oil cooler upgrade, thats never a bad idea on a 6.0. It wouldn't be a terrible idea to put an exhaust on it too. I wouldn't put a programmer on it without head studs also. I would suggest some spirited driving, 6.0s don't like to be babied and all the ones that do get babied have egr valve(would be eliminated with the egr delete) and turbo issues due to the coking. Also if you live somewhere that its consistently below 32*, a block heater is highly rec., they seem to help the injectors from sticking as much. I've noticed in the colder climates, esp on trucks that get babied, the injectors stick alot more often. any other ?s let me know

[colo_dually]

First step with the 6.0L is a monitor, let it tell you what the truck will need first, and learn what it tells you:

Write Up: Monitoring the 6.0L PSD.

I'm not a huge fan of the EGR delete, do to increasing emissions enforcement, but that is up to the owner.

As for issues I address most of them here, and how to correct them:
Write Up: Bullet-Proofing the 6.0L PSD.

Any questions let me know.

As for the coolant filter, its a great initital installation item, second only to that monitor system. I run the unit from Dieselsite.com.

[turbocharged]

thank you for the response and the links. My truck does seem to be using a bit of coolant, but there is no smoke in the exhaust at all. my wife is driving it to her parents house. I told her when she gets there to park it. I will plan on doing the coolant flush and replacing the coolant and the t-stat with new. I will also make sure the new coolant doesn't have silicates in it.

Thanks again for the response and the links.

[Tuscany]

Make sure you flush it good with fleetgaurd restore and restore+ then really well with water and make sure its clean. then install a coolant filter kit and refill with a good heavy duty diesel elc coolant (the red coolant) with 0 silicates in it. I second what Ben said about monitoring the 6.0 if you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you can buy the dashboss setup for $169.99 plus shipping and it monitors everything the edge cs/cts does for less than half the cost. Only thing is you need to bring your phone or ipad or ipod touch with you when you leave as it uses your device for the gauge readout display. Its not compatible with droid or any other smart phone or OS just apple IOS.

[turbocharged]

I appreciate your responses. my wife is gonna park the truck when she gets there and she already has instructions to leave it be until we get the fleet guard restore and restore + , and also a new thermostat.

Another quick question, what is the point of the coolant filter, if the cooling system is flushed and refilled?

I really LOVE this truck, it has 137,000miles on it, and I would like to hit half a million miles on it.


Also the issue with losing coolant, but the oil is not milky, and there is no smoke in the exhaust, any ideas what the cause might be? I am thinking the EGR cooler is clogged or partially clogged and it's causing the coolant to boil away, and then the air bubbles make there way to the overflow tank, thus lowering the coolant level.
also there is a bit of pressure in the overflow tank, but I would think that is normal because the cap says 18lbs.
thanks again guys

[Tuscany]

The point of a coolant filter is to stop this from clogging your oil cooler

[Tuscany]

The cap is supposed to be rated for 16psi are you sure it says 18 on it? if so I wonder if someone put that on there to keep it from puking and unload the vehicle on an unsuspecting buyer.

[turbocharged]

thanks, great info on the filter. I am not 100% certain on the cap, the truck is not here with me,
I will certainly do the coolant flush, and thermostat, and the coolant filter will be my next investment, then of course the monitoring.

thanks again guys, your help is greatly appreciated