Hey hows it going. I'm working on a 2005 F550, 6.0. Cab and Chassis truck with dump bed. Truck has 194K I believe. I've been dancing with this thing for 5 or 6 months, but in the last 8 weeks we've really been jiving. Im from Nashville, my girlfriend has family out in California. Came out here to build some handrails and gates, dump truck bed for a 7.3 IDI truck, and fab up a few other things. All that stuff has pretty much wrapped up. My girlfriends brother owns a business and has probably 10 vehicles in his fleet. Mostly vans, but 2 diesel dump trucks. Older f350, and the newer F550. When I arrived in Cali last fall, i noticed the truck sitting out in the field. Looks like a nice truck, not beat all the hell, has a good sized dump bed on it. Since im the tinkering kind, and an idiot, I asked about it. Her brother bought the truck, didnt seem to have much power, but it was still able to haul things. Was told it was recently studded, new head gaskets, and all the good stuff you want to hear when you buy a truck. Couple weeks later he's hauling maybe 1000lbs worth of dirt, and the truck really loses power. Hardly any throttle response, could barely get going and would only manage 5mph or so. They bring it home, and go through what I would say is your standard once over when something breaks down. Couldnt find anything obvious by looking, scanner they were using wasnt pulling any codes, and no check engine light. Owners father owned a mechanic shop for 30 years, but had no real diesel experience other than working on his Duramax. Long story short, he gave up, couldnt figure anything out.
I decided to do some research, see if I could find anything out. Spent a lot of time on this forum, other forums, and youtube going through the symptoms. First we checked the EGR, looked like brand new. It had been replaced or cleaned very well. Next I checked voltage on the FICM, which tested out well within all the tolerances. Can't remember exact numbers, as it was some months ago. I tested it probably 3 or 4 more times over the next few weeks, just to be sure. Still could be an issue from what I understand. Since that tested good, I replaced upper and lower fuel filters with MotorCraft filters. Still no dice. No one was sure when the oil was changed last, so i put in a fresh Motorcraft oil filter, and changed the oil with 15w40 Rotella and replaced the air filter. Still no change. Checked the boots and pipes for turbo and intercooler, and couldnt find anything obviously wrong with them. I was just tinkering with this thing during the evenings, and maybe one day during the weekend for a few hours, nothing too serious. My thought process here was that if he takes it to a shop, they're going to want to do all this basic stuff first, and I could do it for free. Save him some money, keep myself occupied, everybody wins.
Fast forward a couple months. He decides he's ready to take it to a shop to have it diagnosed and hopefully repaired. I follow him, and we head down towards the local Ford Truck dealer. It managed to get up to and maintain highway speed. Took it much longer than it should have, but it was headed down the road. I noticed a little bit of white smoke about 15 miles into the trip. Each mile it seemed to smoke a little more. Then the truck lost power and we pulled off the next exit and pulled to the side of the road. He said the temp gauge started to climb on him pretty quickly, and as soon as it was safe he shut if off and we coasted to our resting point. Radiator hose was so stiff i could have broken a bottle on it. The Degas bottle cap was whistling Dixie in an extremely high note. It continued to do so for the better part of 20 minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, we were able to remove the cap and add water. So im thinking head gaskets, and when i tell him a ballpark figure of what the dealer is gonna want to charge, we tuck our tail and limp it back home on a backroad. I say limp, but honestly it had about the same power as before, which was minimal.
So I decide to tear it apart, and see what I can do. I've got about 3 or 4 years experience turning wrenches in shops, and about 18 years of hot rodding and shade tree experience. I'm not a master tech, but Im pretty comfortable around an engine. My family has a few mechanics and a service writer in the tree, so growing up I graduated from flash light holder to tool fetcher, and once I was old enough, the beer store runner. I dont want to sound like im the Charlie Daniels of the torque wrench, im just trying to convey that I know enough to get myself into trouble, which Ive done a really good job of on this truck.
I mentioned earlier that the owner purchased the truck from a gentleman who told him that most of the common problems on this truck had been addressed, and properly fixed. He said head studs were installed, new egr cooler, oil cooler, and whatever else goes along with the job. Fair enough, sometimes **** happens. Maybe he paid for all this work to be completed properly, and unknowingly didnt get what he paid for. Thats neither here nor there. So i've been doing a lot more research at this point, trying to get somewhat familiar with what im diving into. Watch hours and hours of teardown videos, read all the horror stories, and try to get a game plan together with all this new info. So now that im a little more familiar with the engine and what im looking at, immediately I realize im looking at head bolts, not studs. The bolts all had white marks on them, like from a paint marker. Not sure why, but they were all marked. As i'm tearing down the engine, I notice a few oddities. A missing bolt here and there, seemed to be minor stuff anyone could forget. But it seemed like every single part I took off, at least one bolt was loose. Found 4 stripped bolts total, all going into aluminum. Couple valve cover holes, the oil line running from the turbo to the oil cooler, and another one somewhere in there. Luckily they were all fixable. So I'm able to get the top end off the motor. Engine hoist the heads out, and get them out to a machine shop. 4 or 5 cylinders looked like they had been steam cleaned. others were your standard carbon black. I remove the oil cooler assembly, and find a Dorman oil cooler. My research shows this to be a less than desirable choice. I'm not judging, we all have to make decisions that we dont want to now and then, sacrifice somewhere cause we all gotta eat. But this is going to be a truck used 3-5 days a week, worked hard in the central california heat during the summer. Oil cooler itself looks relatively new, but the orings looked pretty bad. Didnt look like any other the other o rings in the assembly were changed when the cooler was replaced, they were in rough shape as well. EGR cooler looked to be new as well. Standard pressed together type, had a part number, but couldnt figure out exactly where it came from. Looked similar to some I had found on ebay. Same as with the oil cooler. Truck has to pass emissions out here in Cali, so EGR has to stay. We decided on a Sinister Diesel tig welded cooler, as well as the coolant filtration kit. After more reading, here is what i ordered from Autonation Ford up in Minnesota I believe. Head gaskets w/new stove pipes, water pump, 8 O Ring injector kits, t stat, oil cooler rebuild kit, and exhaust manifold gaskets. The Sinister Diesel EGR cooler was ordered with their install kit, which included the rest of the gaskets and o rings I needed. Also ordered the coolant filatration kit, and ARP head studs from them. New radiator was purchased from Oriellys, as the old one was leaking where someone had repaired it before.
Heads checked out at the machine shop. Local Ford dealership said this was the place they sent their heads to, so thats where i went. Leak tested, magnafluxed, and a new valve job. I get the heads back, and all my parts together, and start reassembly. I spend about 3 days getting everything back together. I'm really taking it slow, double checking each part and sequence, reading about where others made mistakes to try to prevent myself from making them, etc... I want to be thorough, because I know im at a disadvantage due to my lack of diesel experience. Something that has really helped me with the mechanic side of engines, was a couple years I worked at a machine shop, and the year of schooling they put me through. It didnt give me any actual wrenching knowledge, but it really helped me look at how things go together and work together. Anyways, I really took my time to ensure that I didnt make any monumental mistakes. I know how much these engines cost to replace, and how much money the owner has put into it. I forgot to mention, while waiting for the heads to be finished at the machine shop, I popped the turbo in half. Unison ring was seized to the center surface that it rides on, but nothing extreme. Wasnt too difficult to get it broke free. I soaked the veins in carb cleaner to get the soot off, and used a whiz wheel and scotch bright pads to clean and smooth out the surface of the unison ring. So this was the first area I was unsure of, and it appears the whole internet is as well. I read that I needed to use this kind of lube, or steal some from a Nasa rocket, or dont use any at all, etc... Any kind of grease attracts debris, and will grab it. I think I read an international service bulletin about using no lubrication. So I went somewhere in the middle. I soaked the unison ring and veins in penetrating oil for a few hours, wiped off the access, and put it all together. Operated freely and smooth. Put the turbo back together, ensuring it was exactly as it was before i took it apart, and slapped it on.
So now i've got everything back together, batteries are charged up, new cap for the degas bottle, fresh Zerex G05 coolant, and we're ready to go. I go 10 seconds on, 30 seconds off when cranking. Do this long enough to kill the batteries with no luck. What the hell. I climb back into the engine compartment, and realize I didnt tighten the two bolts on top of the turbo holding the oil line down. Get that taken care of, clean up the oil, charge the batteries, and im ready to try again. Bingo! After about 10 seconds of cranking she kicks over and seems to be idling pretty good. I'm like a hawk running around this thing, looking for any leaks or odd sounds. After it gets up to temp, i notice a small water leak. Narrow it down to the t stat connection for upper radiator house. Get that fixed, everything back together, fire it back up, and let it idle. Now each time i start the truck, its taking almost 10 seconds of cranking to get the truck to start. More than what i have experienced with any diesel i've driven. Im thinking HPOP has air it needs to work out, maybe the fuel lines needed to get full, etc... Sometimes it takes a bit for everything to jive together. So after about 45 minutes of idling after fixing the water leak, I decide to pull it out of the little covered shop area im working in. My girlfriends dad backs it out as i guide him to clear the roof of the carport. He decides we might as well take it for a test drive. Immediately I can tell we still have a lack of power. Turbo just doesnt want to give the boost up. So of course, now my brain is like the LA Freeway, ive got a million things going at once and its all jammed to hell. Truck is extremely slow to accelerate. No shaking or shuddering, just no real power. After about 30 seconds the truck begins to pick up a little, getting to around 30 mph, but its just barely lugging its own *** around. "The loop" is about 4 miles total, we made it about 3 before she stalled. Temp gauge never budged, no funny noises or vibrations, it just shuts off. Pop the hood and jump out, and i smell burning oil. Small amount of smoke coming from around the turbo, looks like oil has dripped from the vgt or down from the top around it. So gf's dad leaves and returns in his Duramax to tow the truck back home. I'm at a loss, and my stomach is in knots.
We get it back home, and I start looking around. Looks like the oil line again on top of the turbo. Take the gasket off, and replace it with a new one, re torque. No check engine light on in the truck. I turn the key over and try to start it. After only about 3 seconds of cranking it kicks over, and idles at about 750rpm, nice and steady. What the hell. So i start checking some things i've read about here on the forum. Map sensor hose. Looks a little questionable, so i replace it. No obstruction in the manifold nipple. No change, Pull the ebps tube off the drivers side manifold. Zero buildup, tube looks suprisingly shiny to be connected to an exhaust manifold. Put it back together, same thing. Extremely slow throttle response, doesnt seem to even change rpm until pedal is halfway depressed. Been working on the truck most of the day, and decide to take a break from it. Come out the next day, it wont start. Tries to kick over but immediately dies. To hell with this truck. I contemplate a spin kick to the grill emblem, then realize i probably cant spin while airborne, or coordinate a kick while in the act. Threaten the truck with a lot of big talk, and walk away. Next day, im looking at harnesses, remove VGT to check o rings again, just whatever i can check. Read about delamination in the tanks on these cab and chassis trucks, so i pull sending unit and pickup tube out, to see a nice clean tank with clear diesel fluid. Figure I'll try to start this ragged thing for ****s and giggles, and after about 2 seconds of cranking it fires right up, and idles at 750 rpm just like it had been. I honestly dont know wether to tell you if the idle is rough or smooth. I havent paid that close of attention to how any of the diesels ive driven really idle. I know they dont purr like a car. This idle seems to be in the acceptable range, but it almost has a chop to it. Like when im listening from the air intake behind the grill it sounds like its loping like a gas engine with a small cam would sound. But standing to the side it sounds just like any other diesel i've heard. I would assume it could be slightly smoother, but it doesnt feel like a dead cylinder idle. When revving up it seems to be smooth throughout the limited rpm's i can seem to get out of it.
So why the hell am I posting all this without any data?!?! I know that for me to actually make progress on this vehicle, im gonna need hard numbers. I've gathered that the EBPS, MAP, and Baro all work together with the turbo to make the appropriate amount of boost. So I ordered a Scantools OBDLink LX Bluetooth, and downloaded the Torque App. OBDLink should be here wednesday, and as soon as it does, I will get some readings and post what im finding on here.
On top of the 3 sensors i mentioned earlier, i believe i need to be watching the MAF reading to ensure that i dont have an exhaust obstruction? It seems like whoever had this truck before was chasing this same problem, which led to them selling it. I feel like everytime I go to the next thing on the list, im finding bread crumbs where someone else was on the same mission i am now. I flew out here, and shipped my tools, with the intention of purchasing a vehicle to use as my work vehicle for my business. I caught the hot rod bug again while i was out here and ended up building an HHR panel rat rod with a sbc and ford 9". The vehicle is 99% finished and ready for my journey home, which goes through Arizona. Got a couple small jobs there before i head back to Nashville. I'm supposed to leave Friday, but its looking like that date might get pushed back a couple days. I really want to get this truck in working order before I head out, but if that isnt possible, i might be asking for recommendations of diesel shops in the Central California area. I really appreciate all the knowledge ive been able to absorb so far. Diesels are something that really interest me for their simplicity and reliability. Eventually i'd like to own one myself, and this has all been a valuable learning experience this far. I'm not expecting a miracle on this truck, its gonna be what its gonna be. But I wanna go home knowing I did everything I could to get this vehicle in proper working order. Thanks again.
I decided to do some research, see if I could find anything out. Spent a lot of time on this forum, other forums, and youtube going through the symptoms. First we checked the EGR, looked like brand new. It had been replaced or cleaned very well. Next I checked voltage on the FICM, which tested out well within all the tolerances. Can't remember exact numbers, as it was some months ago. I tested it probably 3 or 4 more times over the next few weeks, just to be sure. Still could be an issue from what I understand. Since that tested good, I replaced upper and lower fuel filters with MotorCraft filters. Still no dice. No one was sure when the oil was changed last, so i put in a fresh Motorcraft oil filter, and changed the oil with 15w40 Rotella and replaced the air filter. Still no change. Checked the boots and pipes for turbo and intercooler, and couldnt find anything obviously wrong with them. I was just tinkering with this thing during the evenings, and maybe one day during the weekend for a few hours, nothing too serious. My thought process here was that if he takes it to a shop, they're going to want to do all this basic stuff first, and I could do it for free. Save him some money, keep myself occupied, everybody wins.
Fast forward a couple months. He decides he's ready to take it to a shop to have it diagnosed and hopefully repaired. I follow him, and we head down towards the local Ford Truck dealer. It managed to get up to and maintain highway speed. Took it much longer than it should have, but it was headed down the road. I noticed a little bit of white smoke about 15 miles into the trip. Each mile it seemed to smoke a little more. Then the truck lost power and we pulled off the next exit and pulled to the side of the road. He said the temp gauge started to climb on him pretty quickly, and as soon as it was safe he shut if off and we coasted to our resting point. Radiator hose was so stiff i could have broken a bottle on it. The Degas bottle cap was whistling Dixie in an extremely high note. It continued to do so for the better part of 20 minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, we were able to remove the cap and add water. So im thinking head gaskets, and when i tell him a ballpark figure of what the dealer is gonna want to charge, we tuck our tail and limp it back home on a backroad. I say limp, but honestly it had about the same power as before, which was minimal.
So I decide to tear it apart, and see what I can do. I've got about 3 or 4 years experience turning wrenches in shops, and about 18 years of hot rodding and shade tree experience. I'm not a master tech, but Im pretty comfortable around an engine. My family has a few mechanics and a service writer in the tree, so growing up I graduated from flash light holder to tool fetcher, and once I was old enough, the beer store runner. I dont want to sound like im the Charlie Daniels of the torque wrench, im just trying to convey that I know enough to get myself into trouble, which Ive done a really good job of on this truck.
I mentioned earlier that the owner purchased the truck from a gentleman who told him that most of the common problems on this truck had been addressed, and properly fixed. He said head studs were installed, new egr cooler, oil cooler, and whatever else goes along with the job. Fair enough, sometimes **** happens. Maybe he paid for all this work to be completed properly, and unknowingly didnt get what he paid for. Thats neither here nor there. So i've been doing a lot more research at this point, trying to get somewhat familiar with what im diving into. Watch hours and hours of teardown videos, read all the horror stories, and try to get a game plan together with all this new info. So now that im a little more familiar with the engine and what im looking at, immediately I realize im looking at head bolts, not studs. The bolts all had white marks on them, like from a paint marker. Not sure why, but they were all marked. As i'm tearing down the engine, I notice a few oddities. A missing bolt here and there, seemed to be minor stuff anyone could forget. But it seemed like every single part I took off, at least one bolt was loose. Found 4 stripped bolts total, all going into aluminum. Couple valve cover holes, the oil line running from the turbo to the oil cooler, and another one somewhere in there. Luckily they were all fixable. So I'm able to get the top end off the motor. Engine hoist the heads out, and get them out to a machine shop. 4 or 5 cylinders looked like they had been steam cleaned. others were your standard carbon black. I remove the oil cooler assembly, and find a Dorman oil cooler. My research shows this to be a less than desirable choice. I'm not judging, we all have to make decisions that we dont want to now and then, sacrifice somewhere cause we all gotta eat. But this is going to be a truck used 3-5 days a week, worked hard in the central california heat during the summer. Oil cooler itself looks relatively new, but the orings looked pretty bad. Didnt look like any other the other o rings in the assembly were changed when the cooler was replaced, they were in rough shape as well. EGR cooler looked to be new as well. Standard pressed together type, had a part number, but couldnt figure out exactly where it came from. Looked similar to some I had found on ebay. Same as with the oil cooler. Truck has to pass emissions out here in Cali, so EGR has to stay. We decided on a Sinister Diesel tig welded cooler, as well as the coolant filtration kit. After more reading, here is what i ordered from Autonation Ford up in Minnesota I believe. Head gaskets w/new stove pipes, water pump, 8 O Ring injector kits, t stat, oil cooler rebuild kit, and exhaust manifold gaskets. The Sinister Diesel EGR cooler was ordered with their install kit, which included the rest of the gaskets and o rings I needed. Also ordered the coolant filatration kit, and ARP head studs from them. New radiator was purchased from Oriellys, as the old one was leaking where someone had repaired it before.
Heads checked out at the machine shop. Local Ford dealership said this was the place they sent their heads to, so thats where i went. Leak tested, magnafluxed, and a new valve job. I get the heads back, and all my parts together, and start reassembly. I spend about 3 days getting everything back together. I'm really taking it slow, double checking each part and sequence, reading about where others made mistakes to try to prevent myself from making them, etc... I want to be thorough, because I know im at a disadvantage due to my lack of diesel experience. Something that has really helped me with the mechanic side of engines, was a couple years I worked at a machine shop, and the year of schooling they put me through. It didnt give me any actual wrenching knowledge, but it really helped me look at how things go together and work together. Anyways, I really took my time to ensure that I didnt make any monumental mistakes. I know how much these engines cost to replace, and how much money the owner has put into it. I forgot to mention, while waiting for the heads to be finished at the machine shop, I popped the turbo in half. Unison ring was seized to the center surface that it rides on, but nothing extreme. Wasnt too difficult to get it broke free. I soaked the veins in carb cleaner to get the soot off, and used a whiz wheel and scotch bright pads to clean and smooth out the surface of the unison ring. So this was the first area I was unsure of, and it appears the whole internet is as well. I read that I needed to use this kind of lube, or steal some from a Nasa rocket, or dont use any at all, etc... Any kind of grease attracts debris, and will grab it. I think I read an international service bulletin about using no lubrication. So I went somewhere in the middle. I soaked the unison ring and veins in penetrating oil for a few hours, wiped off the access, and put it all together. Operated freely and smooth. Put the turbo back together, ensuring it was exactly as it was before i took it apart, and slapped it on.
So now i've got everything back together, batteries are charged up, new cap for the degas bottle, fresh Zerex G05 coolant, and we're ready to go. I go 10 seconds on, 30 seconds off when cranking. Do this long enough to kill the batteries with no luck. What the hell. I climb back into the engine compartment, and realize I didnt tighten the two bolts on top of the turbo holding the oil line down. Get that taken care of, clean up the oil, charge the batteries, and im ready to try again. Bingo! After about 10 seconds of cranking she kicks over and seems to be idling pretty good. I'm like a hawk running around this thing, looking for any leaks or odd sounds. After it gets up to temp, i notice a small water leak. Narrow it down to the t stat connection for upper radiator house. Get that fixed, everything back together, fire it back up, and let it idle. Now each time i start the truck, its taking almost 10 seconds of cranking to get the truck to start. More than what i have experienced with any diesel i've driven. Im thinking HPOP has air it needs to work out, maybe the fuel lines needed to get full, etc... Sometimes it takes a bit for everything to jive together. So after about 45 minutes of idling after fixing the water leak, I decide to pull it out of the little covered shop area im working in. My girlfriends dad backs it out as i guide him to clear the roof of the carport. He decides we might as well take it for a test drive. Immediately I can tell we still have a lack of power. Turbo just doesnt want to give the boost up. So of course, now my brain is like the LA Freeway, ive got a million things going at once and its all jammed to hell. Truck is extremely slow to accelerate. No shaking or shuddering, just no real power. After about 30 seconds the truck begins to pick up a little, getting to around 30 mph, but its just barely lugging its own *** around. "The loop" is about 4 miles total, we made it about 3 before she stalled. Temp gauge never budged, no funny noises or vibrations, it just shuts off. Pop the hood and jump out, and i smell burning oil. Small amount of smoke coming from around the turbo, looks like oil has dripped from the vgt or down from the top around it. So gf's dad leaves and returns in his Duramax to tow the truck back home. I'm at a loss, and my stomach is in knots.
We get it back home, and I start looking around. Looks like the oil line again on top of the turbo. Take the gasket off, and replace it with a new one, re torque. No check engine light on in the truck. I turn the key over and try to start it. After only about 3 seconds of cranking it kicks over, and idles at about 750rpm, nice and steady. What the hell. So i start checking some things i've read about here on the forum. Map sensor hose. Looks a little questionable, so i replace it. No obstruction in the manifold nipple. No change, Pull the ebps tube off the drivers side manifold. Zero buildup, tube looks suprisingly shiny to be connected to an exhaust manifold. Put it back together, same thing. Extremely slow throttle response, doesnt seem to even change rpm until pedal is halfway depressed. Been working on the truck most of the day, and decide to take a break from it. Come out the next day, it wont start. Tries to kick over but immediately dies. To hell with this truck. I contemplate a spin kick to the grill emblem, then realize i probably cant spin while airborne, or coordinate a kick while in the act. Threaten the truck with a lot of big talk, and walk away. Next day, im looking at harnesses, remove VGT to check o rings again, just whatever i can check. Read about delamination in the tanks on these cab and chassis trucks, so i pull sending unit and pickup tube out, to see a nice clean tank with clear diesel fluid. Figure I'll try to start this ragged thing for ****s and giggles, and after about 2 seconds of cranking it fires right up, and idles at 750 rpm just like it had been. I honestly dont know wether to tell you if the idle is rough or smooth. I havent paid that close of attention to how any of the diesels ive driven really idle. I know they dont purr like a car. This idle seems to be in the acceptable range, but it almost has a chop to it. Like when im listening from the air intake behind the grill it sounds like its loping like a gas engine with a small cam would sound. But standing to the side it sounds just like any other diesel i've heard. I would assume it could be slightly smoother, but it doesnt feel like a dead cylinder idle. When revving up it seems to be smooth throughout the limited rpm's i can seem to get out of it.
So why the hell am I posting all this without any data?!?! I know that for me to actually make progress on this vehicle, im gonna need hard numbers. I've gathered that the EBPS, MAP, and Baro all work together with the turbo to make the appropriate amount of boost. So I ordered a Scantools OBDLink LX Bluetooth, and downloaded the Torque App. OBDLink should be here wednesday, and as soon as it does, I will get some readings and post what im finding on here.
On top of the 3 sensors i mentioned earlier, i believe i need to be watching the MAF reading to ensure that i dont have an exhaust obstruction? It seems like whoever had this truck before was chasing this same problem, which led to them selling it. I feel like everytime I go to the next thing on the list, im finding bread crumbs where someone else was on the same mission i am now. I flew out here, and shipped my tools, with the intention of purchasing a vehicle to use as my work vehicle for my business. I caught the hot rod bug again while i was out here and ended up building an HHR panel rat rod with a sbc and ford 9". The vehicle is 99% finished and ready for my journey home, which goes through Arizona. Got a couple small jobs there before i head back to Nashville. I'm supposed to leave Friday, but its looking like that date might get pushed back a couple days. I really want to get this truck in working order before I head out, but if that isnt possible, i might be asking for recommendations of diesel shops in the Central California area. I really appreciate all the knowledge ive been able to absorb so far. Diesels are something that really interest me for their simplicity and reliability. Eventually i'd like to own one myself, and this has all been a valuable learning experience this far. I'm not expecting a miracle on this truck, its gonna be what its gonna be. But I wanna go home knowing I did everything I could to get this vehicle in proper working order. Thanks again.
