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Fixing the 6.0L before it happens?

2K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Tuscany 
#1 ·
I have a 2004 F-250 with around 142,000 miles on it. I purchased the truck at around 110,000. I have already put a new EGR cooler, and Oil cooler. That happened when I was moving across the country for the Army with the family and was stuck in St George Utah for 3 days. Oh man I was pissed cause of course my extended warrant didnt cover it. Recently I had a check engine light come on and it got me researching the 6.0L problems like crazy. So far so good on keeping the the engine light off. I pulled the EGR valve cleaned it reset the engine light and it came back on. I then pulled the EBP tube and sensor cleaned then reinstalled it and so far so good. After reading everything I read I want to be proactive instead of reactive. I was thinking doing the XDP powerstroke solution kit XDP Powerstroke Solution (XDP EGR Delete Kit, Ford Factory Head Gaskets, Oil Cooler and ARP Head Studs & more)
or something similar. Should I wait till I see symptoms to do this? Also adding the SCT tuner and 4" exhaust. My mileage right now is crap around 12.5 in town. I run 35" tires and have a 6" suspension lift.
Also I have been trying to talk myself into pulling the turbocharger and doing the service bulletin of cleaning out the rust to prevent the sticking veins.
Any help would be greatly appriciated.
 
#2 ·
That mileage on 35"s is in the normal range, I would wait for symptoms, do anEGR delete and coolant filter, or bpd EGR cooler, and enjoy the truck, monitor the delta and FICM voltage. I have been waiting for the last 70k miles since my EGR cooler, oil cooler, and gead gaskets done @ 44k miles on warranty with stock bolts, still perfect delta. I recently saw my FICM voltage start to fall, so in went a BPD FICM. My buddy in PHX had the usual oil coolers and EGR coolers under warranty on his 06, now at 380,000 miles, (280,000 miles out of warranty) he is still running the oem bolts,egr/oilcooler replaced under warranty. He did just replace the FICM with another ford unit, and all this was often towing a gooseneck up mountain grades in AZ. Do not borrow trouble, the biggest problem with used 6.0s is that the previous owners may have already blwon them up running hot tunes, poor maintainence, and no sense. The bolts may have been stretched, the oil cooler/egr cooler clogged and leaking, and the FICM voltage low. A well maintained 6.0 with no underlying problems is a hell of a truck, I am on my 2nd 04.
 
#5 ·
I agree with what he said as far as waiting in a sense. If it ain't broke don't fix it right?? Well the problem with that theory on these trucks is that if you don't do that you may get lucky and not have a problem with oil coolers and egr coolers and popping the head gaskets.

That said if and when it does happen who knows where you will be at in life. You can do the bulletproofing as preventative maintenance so to speak and as long as the job is done right then you shouldn't have any problems.

First off I would get a monitor on that truck to monitor engine vitals at all times. There are a few different options here. I prefer the Dashboss setup as it is only $169.95 with free shipping if you use "welikeyou" in the coupon code when you order. That $170 gets you their setup that will monitor all vitals minus fuel pressure and EGT's. You will have to get an EGT probe and EGT Amplifier and a Fuel pressure sensor which will run you a little under $300 total for all of it. It will monitor everything that the ECM does and it uses your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad as your monitor screen and the entire setup only cost's $300 to monitor everything the Edge Insight CS/CTS will and it can data log all the information.

The Edge CTS will run around $700 for a complete monitoring setup. This includes the price of their EAS that you have to have to add a fuel pressure sensor and EGT probe. Edge just recently released an update to allow you to data log but from what I have heard it's buggy and won't work as of now.

There is also Scangauge II which I think is around $160-$250 not real sure on the price. They are a good simply monitor however it is not expandable meaning you can't add external sensors such as fuel pressure and EGT probe to the setup. What you see is what you get. Other than that it is a good monitor for those on a budget or who doesn't want anything special.

There is also a Torque app for droid devices, I am unaware of how much it will run or how it works as well as what all it is capable as I have an iPhone and I use Dashboss.

Second I would do a flush of the cooling system and if your delta's are good then I would avoid a chemical flush and just flush thoroughly with distilled water about 24 gallons should do you fine. Then install IPR's Full Flow coolant filter kit and refill with a good CAT EC-1 rated ELC coolant. Just make sure that its fully formulated and not 50/50 premix. That is very important on a flush with these trucks as even when you drain the entire cooling system the block still retains about 3.5-4 gallons of water so you only want to add full strength coolant to the degas bottle instead of 50/50 premix. (after the cooling system has been flushed and refilled with full strength coolant then you can use 50/50 premix to top it off down the road if it ever becomes low.

Next I would start saving my pennies to bulletproof your truck, as well as learn as much as you can about doing the work yourself as doing the work yourself will save you THOUSANDS in labor. It's not to bad it just takes time and looks intimidating but it's not hard to do. There are many people on here that have never done anything mechanically and were able to complete all the repairs/bulletproofing to their 6.0l. You can too just take your time and don't get in a hurry. Take good notes, plenty of pictures, and stay organized and you will be fine.

Also your question of Delta's and FICM, delta's are the temperature spread between your oil and coolant temps. And your FICM stands for Fuel Injector Control Module, it's the computer that runs your fuel injectors.
 
#7 · (Edited)
No you don't have to pull the cab. You can do it in your driveway. Your most important tools for head studs and gaskets is a 3/8" torque wrench and a 1/2" torque wrench.

Read these for the head studs and gaskets.

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/general-6-0l-discussion/243743-started-big-bulletproofing-endeavor.html

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/general-6-0l-discussion/165105-catalina-wine-mixer-how-below-average-diesel-mechanic-poser-can-successfully-p.html

For the cooling system flush watch these. Just don't use chemicals only use distilled water to do the flush unless you plan on doing an oil cooler swap right after doing it. Just use the flush technique, minus draining the coolant onto the ground and DO NOT REFILL WITH FORD GOLD COOLANT.



 
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