First Time Diesel owner 2006 F-350 ?

[HorseRadish]

My previous F-150 4.2 liter 4 x 2 was really getting a workout hauling hay and my two horse bumper pull plus having wife pulled out by neighbor getting stuck. So we did a small upgrade
Just bought a 2006 F-350 King Ranch DRW 4 x 4 135,000 miles on it. I know it has a K & N 57 on it and an exhaust tip. Other then that I am clueless. Anyone know what I should do first? How long should I let it warm up before driving? Is there anything I should look for engine wise? Is there any recommended maintenance or post purchase updates I should be looking at.

Could really use some help feel lost and scared in this big diesel world. Don't want to ruin my new truck. And does anyone knows a good Diesel shop near South Central Kentucky.

Gary
HorseRadish Farm
Glasgow, KY

[dhanna6powerstroke]

Originally Posted by HorseRadish

My previous F-150 4.2 liter 4 x 2 was really getting a workout hauling hay and my two horse bumper pull plus having wife pulled out by neighbor getting stuck. So we did a small upgrade
Just bought a 2006 F-350 King Ranch DRW 4 x 4 135,000 miles on it. I know it has a K & N 57 on it and an exhaust tip. Other then that I am clueless. Anyone know what I should do first? How long should I let it warm up before driving? Is there anything I should look for engine wise? Is there any recommended maintenance or post purchase updates I should be looking at.

Could really use some help feel lost and scared in this big diesel world. Don't want to ruin my new truck. And does anyone knows a good Diesel shop near South Central Kentucky.

Gary
HorseRadish Farm
Glasgow, KY

Get rid of the K&N first and do a stock intake. Add a coolant filter bypass and switch the coolant to an ELC style coolant. Don't runit over 2,000 rpm's until close to operating temp. Definately don't tow until at operating temp. Change the oil at least every 5k and replace the fuel filters at least every 10k.

Coolant bypass
http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...S&Category=618

[dhanna6powerstroke]

Also recommend doing an EGR delete but you might have a check engine light come on. If you do, you will need an SCT programmer with a tune that shuts the EGR system off.

[artsamm]

Originally Posted by dhanna6powerstroke

Get rid of the K&N first and do a stock intake. Add a coolant filter bypass and switch the coolant to an ELC style coolant. Don't runit over 2,000 rpm's until close to operating temp. Definately don't tow until at operating temp. Change the oil at least every 5k and replace the fuel filters at least every 10k.

Coolant bypass
http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...S&Category=618

Good info on here about how to flush the coolant system real well.
May want to add a bypass oil filter system also.

[HorseRadish]

So what to do first got about $1000 I can invest right now

[smokersteve]

Originally Posted by HorseRadish

So what to do first got about $1000 I can invest right now

Try and get rid of the k&n filter. Get back the stock or S&B filter.

Coolant filter. You can buy a kit for $110-$130.

6.0L Diesel Coolant Filter Kit [GGD-Coolant] - $110.00 : Direct Injection Performance - GoGoDiesel.Com, Your Source For All Things Diesel!
http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=324
Ford Superduty Powerstroke 2003-2007 6.0L Coolant Filter Kit

Or you can buy the filter mount individually and the hoses and fittings from nearby stores.

Trans-Dapt Performance Products 1028 - Trans-Dapt Performance Remote Oil Filter Brackets - Overview - SummitRacing.com

List of filters.
Dieselsite Coolant Filters



Keep the oil changes under 6,000 miles.


Buy an EGR delete kit for $300+. Or you can unplug the egr valve to stop the exhaust flow back into the intake, and/or remove the cooler, block the up-pipe hole that feeds the egr cooler.

[2 stroker]

I would like to know where i stand as far as temps go so with a $1000 to spend i would get gauges first to see if the coolers are OK like the Edge CS Edge Products| Product then a coolent filter to remove casting sand http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=324 then a fuel pressure gauge because under 45lbs kills injectors use ONLY Ford filters and do a coolent flush to remove the Ford Gold cxxp coolent and install ELC coolent then use Syn oil and install a oil by-pass filter because these injectors run in oil and they like it clean, dang i'm out of money.
2 stroker

[obsidian]

In my personal opinion, and being a mechanic, your K&N filter will be fine for now so you can save that bit of money and do other things.

You absolutely most positively MUST NOT do ANYTHING ELSE until you get the crap ford gold coolant out. This is the number 1 killer of these engines.

1. Buy some good quality diesel Extended Life Coolant (ELC for short) and buy a ton of distilled water. Also buy some silicate cleaner. There are TONS of threads on this but this is VERY important. Not doing this can lead to BIG MONEY down the road.

2. After the flush and fill, THEN add the coolant filter.

3. I've shown and have seen NUMEROUS oil analysis reports that will allow you to run a good distance on oil, and the best oils for these engines are 10w and 5w oils. I personally use 10w-30 and have been advised I can run up to 10k miles, though I will probably never go more than 7,500.

After you kill the coolant issues, pick and choose what you want to do. But PLEASE get that coolant out. It cost me about $50 to change out my coolant and a few hours of work. Really worth it considering one headgasket change on these trucks can run over 3,000 dollars and take days on end.

[mmandley]

Obsidian,

I have my new to me 06 6.0 and it now has 57K

When i bough it at 46K i did nothing for that summer as the dealer said they did the oil change in it and it was thoroughly checked out.

I have an extended 4/48k warrenty on the truck.

At 50K i changed my trans fluid and both filters <inside and at the cooler> cant recall what type of fluid but i think it was just the recommended
Changed the oil and filter <reg diesel oil that it recommended>
Changed the front and rear diff fluids <full synthetic>
I bought the 2 fuel filters but havn't figured out how to change the fuel rail so i didnt do the engine compartment one yet.

My questions are

Im about to change the oil again as its at 7K now what would you recommend?
How often should i be changing my trans fluid <it has a drain plug in the pan>
How would i know if i got the original Ford Coolant you guys are talking about?

[nylyon]

Get the gauges. Flushing the coolant is a great idea as well, but you need gauges, can't stress that enough.