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06 running rough after dying on highway

1518 Views 10 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  Brob1
I've had this 2006 F250 since 2010 and I've put 75K on it since purchase with very little issues. I'm a contractor and the truck has been used as a daily driver as well as a tow rig to move equipment to sites.

Recently the truck hasn't been used nearly as much. I've been doing some work out of town that hasn't required the truck and my family has been with me so we've taken the family vehicle. Long story short, the truck sat for a few months. I kept a trickle-charger hooked up so the batteries stayed fresh.
The other day, I needed to move my skid-steer and a tractor to a different site. I fired up the truck and everything seemed quite normal. I drove the truck without the trailer for about 15 miles, then hooked up to my 24' equipment trailer with a small Kubota tractor and mower, not a lot of weight for the tow rig. I had to haul the tractor to a site about 60 miles away, 50 of which was highway.

Everything seemed fine until I was about 5 miles from the site where I was headed. The truck seemed to shudder and I was losing power. I slowed down a bit and proceeded and it seemed to pretty much clear up by the time I arrived at my destination. I spent about 2 hours at the site before heading out with an empty trailer in tow. The truck was running fine. Once I was about 1/2 way back up the interstate I started to lose power and was barely maintaining 55 mph. I pulled off to the side and the engine kind of sputtered and died. I started thinking it was perhaps an issue with the fuel after sitting through a very rainy summer; I started off the day with 2/3 tank of fuel and I was now pushing 1/4 tank. I cycled through the ignition a few times in an attempt to push some fuel and it started back up when I cranked it. I managed to limp to the next exit where I topped off the tank in hopes of it being contamination in the bottom of the tank. Once I started back up after the refuel, it seemed to be running better, a little rough perhaps, but markedly better. As I proceeded back home it ran okay, not as strong as usual, for about 5 miles then started to lose power. I was only able to maintain 55 mph with the empty trailer still in tow. I stopped near home and picked up some fuel filters from the parts store; they were out of the Motorcraft filter, so I bought the duralast brand they had in stock...

When I got home I changed the filters and there was some minor gunk in the primary filter, the upper filter was dirty but the bowl was spotless. After cycling the key about 8 times, I started it up. It ran rough for a few minutes before sputtering and dying! I cranked again and it was firing here and there but would not restart. By this time it was late and I went to sleep. This morning first thing I went to another parts store and got a set of Motorcraft filters, replaced the obviously quite different Duralast filters. I cycled the key a few times again, cranked it and she started! I noticed it was idling a bit rough but I figured I was just cycling through some air bubbles so I let her sit and idle for 20 minutes or so.

I unhooked the trailer and took it out to the interstate and ran WOT up to 75ish mph. It had plenty of power and acceleration, but seemed to have a bit of a shakiness to the motor. It definitely was idling rough still. I have a Torque Pro program on my phone so I pulled the codes (I had cleared them after the filter change debacle). What I had was a P0275 (cylinder 5 contribution balance/fault) code. Torque Pro says this is a "gray code" that can only be cleared by the ECU after a certain number of cycles with no fault.

Does this mean I have a faulty #5 injector? Are there other potential causes that I should check? I added 16 oz of Diesel Kleen to the roughly 26 gallons of fuel in the tank. If it is an injector replacement I'm looking at, is this something I should attempt myself? I still have a skid-steer I need to move about 120 miles, and I need to move it soon...

Thank you in advance!
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By the way, I am in Tampa, FL and it's still pretty warm here so I'm certain this issue is not temperature related. We did just go through the wettest summer I've witnessed since 2001 and the truck was not being driven through the majority of the wet summer.
I've just replaced both fuel filters and done an oil and filter change. All MotorCraft filters and Rotella T6 5W40. I added Diesel Kleen to the fuel and I'm awaiting the Archoil 9100. It's starting with barely a bump of the key right now but still idling rough. I'm about to try to blow it out once more (not always easy to do in Tampa as there's nowhere you can drive on a Friday that isn't ridiculously congested with traffic). I'm really hoping the Archoil helps as I'm just not in a place where I'm ready to drop $1000 right now. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and keep all my diesel equipment running, which has meant a few rebuilds over the years. With keeping up with bills right now I'm working a lot so finding time to tear down the top end is difficult for sure.
I did some driving today started out towing my mostly empty 24' equipment trailer, then the remainder of the trip with no trailer. The truck is starting quickly, as good as it ever has. It still idles a bit rough but has decent power. What I did notice is that I'm getting a shudder while at highway speeds that will go away with either acceleration or deceleration but is quite prominent when I'm holding speed seemingly anywhere from 55-70 MPH.

I'm wondering if there may be a torque converter or transmission issue; or is this a symptom of the p0275 code? The Torque Pro OBD II monitor program has a PID for cylinder misfire count, and the only one showing a misfire is #5 ; the total count is 18 misfires.

The FICM voltage reads 48-49 consistently.

Anyone?
Sounds to me like an injector sticking. See what happens when you add the Archoil.

If you end up having to replace the injector it's not that difficult to do, you just have to remove a bunch of stuff to get to it.
If you end up having to replace the injector it's not that difficult to do, you just have to remove a bunch of stuff to get to it.
I'm hoping for the Archoil miracle! It's looking like I may have to roll up the sleeves though and dive into an injector replacement... I'm a little hesitant; but I've pushed through many things I was unsure of in the past.

Thank you.
It's really not that hard to do. I personally feel that you learn A LOT about your truck when you dive in and do it yourself.
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Yep. I tear into my equipment all the time as I own some older stuff. I've worked on all kinds of diesel equipment, but this engine is far and away more complex. I'm sure I can power through it. Thank you for the words of encouragement. I grew up on a small farm and we fixed all our own stuff. My grandfather taught me how to diagnose, take stuff apart and figure it out.
Sounds like you definitely have the ability. There is tons of info here, if you have trouble finding what you are looking for just ask.:beer:
I had to drive it again today in order to make some $$$ to purchase injectors...

It was a little cooler when I took off today (68*, I'm in FL). It was definitely running rougher than yesterday. I got a p0677 (#7 glow plug) but I also got another contribution/balance code on cyl 1 in addition to cyl 5. I cleared the codes and headed to my destination. I checked the codes again and there was no p0677 and the p0275 was gone! My misfire count was 0 on all cylinders; I still have the p0263 code for the #1 cylinder and it's definitely running rough.

I'm wondering what's going on. I don't want to start throwing expensive parts at this thing. Any thoughts?
By the way. The FICM voltage is 49; occasionally I see it drop to 48.5
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