also newby to diesel engines

[Daxman]

Hello everyone, well i just bought a 2006 f250 from my dad. The truck has about 69,000 miles on it and runs really good now. At about 60,000 miles the engine went nuts. Lots of white smoke, egr problems and god knows what else. Took it to the ford dealership and they had it for 2 or so weeks. Im not sure what they did but they told us it was fixed. My friend told me to be careful with the 6.0 because of all the problems. He mentioned doing a egr delete kit. Can someone please tell me what i can do to keep this truck running strong. I am using a Superchip flashpaq programmer now, actually bought it from the ford dealer. I have it set on tow mode now, it seems to give me the best fuel mileage which still sucks. any advice would be great...

[colo_dually]

Howdy, and welcome to the ORG.

First thing I would do, is get rid of that Superchips programmer, which may require you get the truck reflashed before useing another tuner. (Don't quote me on that, but I know you have to with the Bully Dog units). A dealership that has the truck for 2 weeks, and doesn't tell you what they did with it is odd at best. I'll be tracking down exactly what they did. If they did install headstuds, how where they installed? If they put stock bolts back in there, that's gonna only delay the gaskets being done again.

For taking care of all the 6.0L issues, I'd recommend reading:
Write Up: Bullet-Proofing the 6.0L PSD.

For mileage, I'll tell ya what works for me:
-Keep up on all the maintenance.
-Keep the air pressure up on the tires.
-Drive it like you intend to save on fuel (nothing higher than 2k RPMs and 10 lbs of boost, with the exception of a once a week WOT workout to keep the intake, EGR valve, and turbo working right.)
-Mods: Exhaust, and tuner and call it. I recommend a 4" turbo back system, and an SCT tuner with any of the tuners mentioned on this site. Custom tuning ensures you are getting the most out of your truck. I run my highest HP tune (IDP's - Extreme Race) and I saw a 15% gain in mileage with it. I see about 10% with my street tune.

[Fox'sFord]

Gauges or a monitor are an absolute must, as well as a coolant filter.

[Daxman]

Colo_dually and Fox's Ford, thank you guys for the advice. I have no way to actually track the work Ford did because they are no longer in buisness. Which makes me believe if they knew they were going to close shop, they probably took the easy and cheap way out. I guess theres no way to find out, even if i give the vin to another ford dealer. OH well, im going over to check out the bullet proofing website right now. Thanks again

[Lilpooh]

Originally Posted by Daxman

Colo_dually and Fox's Ford, thank you guys for the advice. I have no way to actually track the work Ford did because they are no longer in buisness. Which makes me believe if they knew they were going to close shop, they probably took the easy and cheap way out. I guess theres no way to find out, even if i give the vin to another ford dealer. OH well, im going over to check out the bullet proofing website right now. Thanks again

If the work was done under warranty, then yes you can find out. You need to take your VIN down to a ford dealer so they can run a Oasis report. Any work done under warranty will show up on that report.

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

Keep the oil changed, use only Motorcraft oem filters. Use 10w30 or 5W40 oil and NO MORE than 5K miles on an oil change EVER . Get the Gold anti-freeze out of the truck as soon as you can. Learn about all the common issues you can such as EGR, FICM, oil cooler, Head gasket, STC fitting and the VGT Turbo. After you have search these issues and you have an idea of other member solutions you can make an informed choice as to how you want to proceed. As for my truck I plan on doing about 2K worth of prevention and then driving it for the next 10 years. WELCOME TO THE .ORG !!!!

[Daxman]

Great advice guys, thank you.. Im going to really take care of this truck. I guess the first thing i need to do is find a good diesel mechanic. What about the egr delete or egr cooler. IM not going to lie, i dont know the first thing about diesel maintaince. Im really glad i joined this site, lots and lots of good info.

[FordWake]

Welcome to the org.

Read the following
Things to consider about owning a 6.0L