Question She just dies??

[VinceJE]

I've got what I think is a tough one for the 6.0 guys. I did some searching, but I didn't find anything that fit my issue...

This happened for the first time yesterday while cruising at hwy speed. The engine just died and then fired back up about 3 seconds later before I could even react. It did it twice again today... just cruising and the engine cut off and then started running again by itself. It happens so fast without warning and it's back running again so quick that I hardly have time to notice any symptoms. It's running smooth before & after. No stumble. No nothing.

Everything else (radio, heater, etc.) is still on when the engine is dead. The only thing that I *think* I noticed was the water-in-fuel light came on right after it died, but then went off. Could it be water in the fuel? I thought that light would come on if it detected water accumulation in the filter BEFORE it becomes a problem. I'll check the filters tomorrow, I'm afraid I may have something else going on.

Any ideas?

 

[DaveBen]

Drain your fuel conditioner by removing the plug for several seconds. Catch what comes out and look for a water bubble. The FICM (the thing you want to look at) is on the frame under the drivers butt.

Dave

 

[6.0PSD777]

sounds similar to to what happened to a buddy of mine's 04 - turned out to be FICM

 

[VinceJE]

Update... The problem seems to have gotten worse. Dying out several times each time I drive it and it's happening under every situation EXCEPT idling. She idles fine. So...

I drained the filter (HFCM). It had less than 1/2 teaspoon of water in it, but there was some trash. So, I went ahead and changed the fuel filters. They didn't look too bad. They only had about 40k on them. Purged the air from the lines and it was running nice and smooth in the driveway for a good 10 minutes. Took off for a test drive and didn't get more than 2 miles before it died. It somehow fires back up by itself as I'm coasting on the shoulder.

Any other ideas for what I should look at? The stealer ship wants $205 just to look at it and I haven't found any other PSD techs/mechs in my area.

 

[VinceJE]

Another question... Does the 6.0 have a cam position sensor (CPS)? I've been doing alot of reading and the 7.3 guys have the same symptoms due to CPS failure, but I don;t know if the 6.0 has the same deal. If it does, then where can I find info on replacement?

 

[DaveBen]

I have never heard of a CPS going on the 6.0 engine. Not a problem. Ford has a new design on the CPS, but that is for the 7.3.

Dave

 

[atk]

CPS is located behind p.s pump....is it throwing any codes????

 

[VinceJE]

So... I've had it in the shop now. It almost left me stuck in a bad part of town. Started cutting out after driving about 200 miles on the highway since the last time it acted up. It cut out a time or two and then the problem got increasingly worse. I barely made it off the highway and then it died out completely. Cranked it a few time and it wouldn't start. A few more times and then it wouldn't even turn over. Batteries were still strong -- didn't crank enough to drain them. Got under the hood, wiggled wiring harnesses, thought I heard a click or something, and then she fired right up and drove another 40 miles to get home.

Drove it to the stealership (10 miles, no problem). They said they found a FICM code & want to replace it at my cost (110,000 miles). I have a hard time believing it's the FICM since wiggling harnesses gets it running again. I've got it going more than once by doing this. So... Took it to another shop that claims to have a couple good PSD guys. They said they can't find any wiring harness issues and want to change the FICM.

I guess my biggest issue is that I don;t feel I have a stealership that I can trust and I don't know anything about this other shop. I have a hard time agreeing to spend big bucks replacing something that I don't think is the problem. I've done alot of research and found that chaffed harnesses are a common problem as well as bad FICM.

Maybe the biggest help this forum could offer would be a referral to a Houston area shop (preferably on the North side) to get another opinion. I'm having a hard time finding any besides the one.

 

[VinceJE]

Well... My problem just got worse -- not with the harness/FICM issue, but while chasing an oil leak. The shop (not dealer) is double checking harnesses & the FICM to see if they can nail that down better. On the oil leak...



I have been chasing oil leaks for a while on this thing. Everything under warranty until now. It's a long story, but the short of it is that this oil leak is going to cost me a small fortune and once again I'm feeling like I'm fighting a loosing battle. Here's the deal...



Both the stealership & the new shop point to the leak being the oil cooler with 90% certainty. (100% will come after they pull the turbo out of the way to see the cooler better. That's bad enough, but the shop says they found that my turbo "is spitting a small amount of oil" when they took the intercooler tube off. So, they say I need to replace the turbo because they say if the oil leak gets bad enough, the i/c can fill up with oil, oil will be feeding back into the motor causing major damage (new motor kind of damage). Making matters even worse (more expensive) they say they need to de-carbon the intake and do an "injector service" as a normal part of changing the oil cooler. Does this sound right?



My total estimate now if the dignosis is all correct (new FICM, turbo, oil cooler gaskets, labor, etc.) is $4600!!!!! I am beside myself on this. Any feedback as to whether this should all be done or not would be helpful.

 

[DaveBen]

I am not sure about your turbo. The Inter Cooler (IC) gets oil from the crankcase every day. Not much but a misting of oil. So you, or the dealer, will find oil in the air passages that are fed by the turbocharger. I would be very careful in having the turbo rebuilt on this basis alone. If there is no end play in the shaft, leave it alone. I have 115,000 miles on my turbo and it works just fine. If you have a lot more miles than I have, you may need a rebuild. Only you can tell.

Dave