Questions About my 2007 F-250 6.0

[205mx]

Hey everyone, I have a few questions about my powerstroke. figured i'd come to the best spot!

Here is a little info:
2007 F250.
149,000 Miles.
stock, work has been done at dealer, I have service records from past owner.
Truck had a new oil and Egr Cooler last september (2011)

I found a slip of orange paper saying "super chips do not add to towing capabilities. I dont know if its chipped or tuned, thought about having it re-flashed...

1) Truck start time: on cold morning, the truck starts a little slow. I was feeling like it was 6 seconds or so... I decided to put it to the stop watch. Cold in the mornings after nights getting as low as 28* out. my cold starts after sitting out all night are always between 3.2-3.6 seconds. It is most regularly at 3.4 seconds. Fires right up when warm in under 2 seconds. (1.3 usually) when its sat for a few hours in under 45* temps, it usually takes right around 2.3 seconds. IS THIS NORMAL?

2) My tires...uhg... the guy who owned it before put tires for a 1/2 ton on. Basically passenger tires. The max pressure on them is 44psi... truck calls for 75psi(loaded) How big of a problem is this?

3) When Cold from over night below 50* there is usually some smoke. its a black puff, followed by a flow of white which lasts sometimes for only 5 seconds, sometimes a minute or so depending on ambient temps. It has gotten worse only as the temps have gone down... when it was 60* over night or even 52*, there is not much white smoke if any... FICM?

4) Had the symptoms of injector stiction, tried out some ARchoil 9100 only used 8oz (ordered the wrong bottle). cleared it up :-) Then two nights ago it got down to 24* and I noticed a little romp when it first started, but was gone as soon as it came... this morning low of 26*- no romp at all. (3.4 sec start) No question here, just saying ARchoil was awesome.

5) Truck shakes... at 68-82 my truck sorta shudders... its not bad really, but definitely noticeable. It wont spill your drink or anything, it was enough to make my wife ask if my tires needed balanced though. could this be related to the tire issue stated above? going to try running it that speed with out overdrive, see if that makes any difference. Also going to have them balanced.

6) EGR Valve. I pulled it to clean it, wasnt dirty, just a black colored. wasnt clogged or caked. I put it back in. Didnt instal new o rings or gaskets or anything. could this cause shaking or start up smoke? or when I REALLY punch it especially at high speeds i get a little black smoke but not much...

7) truck has power. runs great. i had a mechanic at a diesel shop tell me that if the upper, fat radiator hose is hard, then head gaskets are 90% going to blow. he said sometimes its just a thermostat... I can squeeze it in a tad but not much... ONLY when HOT, when its warm its pretty soft and when cold i can squeeze it all the way...

8)Fan is on behind radiator... even in cold cold weather. even at first start up

9) Water separator: the plug is stuck in there. not stripped, it wont tighten or loosen. was worried about air getting in there, so i am going to pick up a new kit ($158) and put it on tomorrow.

10) was reading on here about coolants... I took my coolant to a local shop and had it "tested" with a strip. the color is green and tested fine according to him. he said last september when the oil and egr coolers were done, that the coolant would have been flushed, and as it was done at ford, they probably put their own coolant in, my ford dealer is known to have a few good diesel techs. ( FYI i am in franklin, tennessee) im wondering if maybe they put better coolant in it than the GOLD, as it is a bright green color. Truck doesnt lose any coolant or anything.

I was worried about:
FICM with the 3 second starts,
smoke on starts
smoke when 'gettin on er'
egr valve o rings
shake at highway speeds vs tires
Fan being on all the time
water separator letting air in causing problems.
Coolant


i run rotella t6 with Archoil
Deisel kleen with d-2 diesel.



PS does the evans coolant relieve stress on heads being that it is a no pressure? thanks yall!!!

[kcoyner]

2) My tires...uhg... the guy who owned it before put tires for a 1/2 ton on. Basically passenger tires. The max pressure on them is 44psi... truck calls for 75psi(loaded) How big of a problem is this?

I also bought my truck used. When I got it home I looked at the tires and thought hm, they look a little low. Started checking and called Michelin about them. The guy on the phone said "whatever you do, don't put a load on that truck. The tires are almost overloaded with just the truck." I called the dealer and told them that I had bought a truck to work, i.e. haul and what the Michelin man had said. There was a long pause on the other end of the line followed by 'What time can you have that truck back down here?" Long story short, I got 6 brand new tires post sale at no cost to me.

I would get a good monitoring device and switch the coolant to Rotella ELC or Final Charge. If you aren't doing so, start using a fully synthetic oil right away.

k

[californiadreamin]

Buy a monitor system, either scangauge ($150 autozone) or the edge monitor. That will tell you answers to most of your questions. I'd recommend scangauge, it's cheap and essential for these 6.0s

[twoicebergs]

1. Starts less than 5 seconds good. Shorter is better. OEM filters...
2. Tires are under-rated. Ok if you do nothing with the vehicle for now. Shake, rattle and roll may be related to balance, condition, ball-joints. It can also be the steering stabilizer. You need new tires soonest. I would recommend a new stabilizer as well; check out eBay for $30.
3. Smoke may be normal. I wouldn't sweat it for now. It might be related to stiction.
5.See 2.
6. Sounds normal.
7. Totally misleading. 18 PSI cap is the only safety mechanism. Yes, the upper hose will be soft to hard, even at 5 or 6 psi. Pressure over 15psi, depending on conditions is indicative of a over-pressure problem (HG or EGR cooler).
8. Normal. May also free-wheel at times.
9. Big hex key. It could be corroded in place. It can take a lot of force the first time. replace with updated thumb screw type. Save your money, unless you break it.
10. They put in the wrong coolant. Change it out for ELC (red) or Ford Gold.

AA - get a monitor.
BB - If you get good mileage, don't factory reflash. Tunes can be used for all sorts of things, including towing. SCT is by far the best. Depending on the model, you will get a monitor as well.

[205mx]

How important is it to change out my coolant? Should I do that or Scangauge first?

Also, I fixed the water seperator problem. There was a ton of red sediment in the bottom of it :-/ I cleaned it out.

[6.0f250firstcar]

Well, the whole coolant thing is important because eventually it could lead to your HG going. Read the stickies and you will learn alot about all that.

If I were you, I would get an EDGE CS or CTS for a monitor. I'd check out my deltas. If they were good, I'd do a coolant flush then slap a coolant filter on there. If you do that and use synthetic lubricants and are meticulous about maintainance, your 6.0 will treat you like gold

[205mx]

So, are my Coolers already clogged??? Am I screwed?

[twoicebergs]

No worries yet. The surest way to check the health of the oil cooler and the cascade of potential failures from that is to monitor the EOT and ECT delta. Don't sweat the wrong fluid. You should change it out sooner than later, but the most important issues are the tires and vibrations.

The red sediment was rust and dirt in your fuel system. That is why it is so important to drain off the water (or check) and replace the filters with the appropriate water separator filter on a regular basis.

[205mx]

I put new tires on yesterday. Vibration is still there at 70-80

Ball joints?

U-joints?

[Lilpooh]

Originally Posted by 205mx

I put new tires on yesterday. Vibration is still there at 70-80

Ball joints?

U-joints?

Could be either or both, you'll need to check them out. Don't forget about the u-joints on the driveshaft also. Another cause of vibration can be the carrier bearing on the driveshaft.


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