Majorly Disappointed

[Foshee]

OK, so I am not new to diesels. I've owned an 05 Duramax and a VW TDI and currently own an 01 Excursion. I have loved every diesel engine that I've had.

I recently bought an 04 F250 CC SB Lariat 4x4 with the 6.0 with about 106K miles on it. The interior and exterior are fine and dandy. But I absolutley hate the way it drives and the lack of engine response.

It absolutely wanders all over the road - even with brand new tires, drag link, and tie rod ends. The ball joints look fine with no visible wear or audible noises. I have yet to try the set screw on the steering box...

As for the engine, there are no signs of head gasket or EGR issues. I put 4" Turbo back exhaust and an AFE Stage II intake on it, plus the zoodad mod. Everything sounds great, but unless I lay on the thing, it just "feels" slow. Especially compared to the Duramax - even on stock setting.

Maybe I was spoiled by my Chevy (4" turbo back, Airaid intake and Edge Juice w/ Attitude) and my 7.3 (4" turbo back, Airaid intake and Edge Evolution II). But I don't want to tune this thing without doing head studs and an EGR delete (myself). And another $2000 (after already putting $2000 into this thing) seems ridiculous just so I can be happy with it.

I've only had this truck for 2 weeks and I am already looking to get rid of it.

Is it safe to tune this thing without head studs? I am not looking for anything crazy - just enough make it feel as strong as the Excursion.

[Cory S]

yes it is go with a sct with custom tunes from innovative diesel it will awaken the beast

[Foshee]

Any other opinions?

[Big Tone]

Delete the EGR

[jdalhaus]

Something isn't right...if that thing even stock is slower than the excursion, something isn't right. I'd check the turbo, maybe have it cleaned, and there's an injector flush procedure for the 6.0s that I hear does well - I priced it at my local dealer for 145+tax. Either way, I think it's worth checking in to, if it's that disappointing, something doesn't sound right...

[05blackdemon]

Hey another okie!!! man, delete the egr, get a sct with custom tunes from innovative diesel. you will fall in love.

[WLDHRSE]

Not sure I understand. You're dissapointed cuz your stock 6.0 doesn't run like your tuned diesels did? Did you really expect it to?

Throw an SCT at it and hang on!




Only thing I can think of on the wandering is alignment. Did you have that done with all the new parts? Maybe they did a poor job?

[Foshee]

Worked on the set screw (pre-load) on the steering box. Helped quite a bit, still needs a little fine tuning, but overall better.

RE: Stock vs. Tuned Diesels - I did not expect it to run like a tuned diesel, although I did hope it would feel a bit more like the Duramax on stock setting. I just hate laying on the damn thing to get it to really "go."

With all the reading I've done here, I am just very worried about tuning before head studs. That's my main concern.

If I keep the truck, I will definitely get rid of the EGR post haste.

As I am an Edge customer, SCT is a new animal to me, but I am reading up on it...

[WLDHRSE]

Other than an Insight, there is no place on a 6.0 for anything that says Edge on it. SCT is the only way to go.

Studs, you can go either way. You're not likely to lose the engine if the head gaskets start to go, so waiting until the problem exists is not likely to be anymore costly than doing it now. Watch your EGT's and check for signs of puking. Of course if you're gonna delete the EGR, that's the perfect time to do studs.

I would definitely keep the truck. Even if it was powered by 3 squirrels with arthritic knees, its still a better "truck" than anything else on the road. Slow is a reason to get an SCT, not a reason to get rid of it.

[EODguyJake]

I'm running the 4in turbo back with no cat, air raid intake, zoodad, and sct with tunes from innovative, and I haven't had any head gasket issues. What really flattened out my power band was the "mild" option FICM reprogramming from Power Hungry Performance. It doesn't add power, but it squashed every bit of turbo lag I had. No body here has mentioned it yet, so I HIGHLY recommend it. Gotta yank your FICM off, which is only a minor pain if ya got long arms and big sandwich clamps like I do, and mail it off. Turn around was super fast. My truck was down like 6 days, and that is only because I mailed it off when I went out of town for work, so I wasn't there when the computer came in. I think it was only like $125, and it was the best $125 I have spent yet. My truck runs pretty damm good for what it is.

Oh yeah, and I got another 2mpg on winter blend fuel. Deployed in Feb so I don't know what I'll get when I run the good stuff.