Truck has issues only towing in cruise control?

dpantazis

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do you have an in-bed trailer light hookup?

i may be wrong, but i thought there was a ground wire problem with those in the 6.0's.

if you don;t mind, can you summarize the testing procedure and what you determined form it?
 

2 Stroker

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I'm reading with great interest because I am now having the same problem with my 05 F250. It only happens one time then after pulling over and restarting it goes away for a couple of hundred miles, I notice mine more as I am going uphill and it is down shifting then the RPM's drop, wrench light comes on and giving it more pedal does not help. I pull a 13000lb 5th wheel camper.
The reason it is slowing down it is defueling to save itself, do you have any gauges to check EOT-ECT the max spread is 15* more than that your oil cooler is plugged form the silicate drop out from the Ford Gold cxxp coolant, i think if you are close to 10* you are in trouble. You need a coolant filter to remove the casting sand and the other junk in the coolant. Here is some good reading hope it helps with luck this is not your problem:dunno

This is very important information check link at bottom
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gwar
Does the lack of silicate have any adverse affects??? Not to ask a dumb question but why would ford continue to use a coolant that causes serious issues with its engines???

Does the 6.0L come from the factory with the ford gold or something from international???

(QUOTE) Posted by PGreenSVT at Powerstroke.org

Can't explain away Ford's logic. International uses Fleetrite ELC. Think about it. Whats is another silicate? Sand immediately come to mind. What is sand? It's an abrasive. Besides that it turns to a gell from the heat as it goes through the egr cooler trying to carry off the heat from high egt's resulting in the sludge that clogs the oil cooler. There is a substanial body of evidence supporting this.

Not having silicates is a positive thing. It has no adverse affects. ELC coolant is good for 300k miles without any additives and extendable to 600k with an additive pack at 300k. The new Delo ELC is good for 750k miles or 8 years extendable to 1 million miles.

I think it pretty much speaks for itself.
__________________
I'm on a campaign man. That Gold cxxp is killing our trucks and people need to know. It is the cause of the biggest problems we have with the 6.0 and the bad reputation the 6.0 has. And it is pretty cheap and easy to eliminate. People should know this. So yeah, I'm beating that drum. The other drum is the need to monitor ECT and EOT before you blow your egr cooler and head gaskets.

I just did a flush with Fleetrite Restore, VC9, lots of flushing, installed a coolant filter, and switched to ELC. Im curious to see what my coolant filter will look like after the first 500 miles, I know there is still most likely some cxxp in there still as I still have the stock EGR and oil cooler at 34k miles but I doubt there will be anywhere the abount that we see out of most of the posts with opened up coolant filters.

I recently installed the DieselSite.com coolant filter kit on my 2006 6.0. The kit came complete with everything you need and also came with the new billet aluminum filter head, looks really sharp.

PGreenSVT, dude you need to change your screen name to "ELC FOR LIFE!"

But I agree I just switched to ELC also, either way it cant be any worse than the gold, for those of you that have doubts just scrape the bottom of your degas bottle, thats the same cxxp thats clogging your oil cooler. When I did my flush I pulled my degas bottle and scrubbed it with a bottle brush, that cxxp is like glue.
also read this
(QUOTE) Posted by PGreenSVT Powerstroke.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the deal with the 6.0. Any good tuner (person writing your tunes) is not going to give you a tune that is going to tear up your truck. There are trucks all over the place running 400-420 rwhp with 750-800 rwtq all day long without problems.

Yes the 6.0 is known to blow head gaskets. This is why it happens. The Ford Gold coolant contains silicates. The silicates are not able to handle high EGT's generated by a good load or relatively high boost when run through the EGR cooler. They break down into a jell like sludge and fall out of suspension. This crud gets caught up in the tiny coolant passageways of the oil cooler. As the cooler clogs up it restricts coolant flow to the egr cooler. Now the egr cooler doesn't have enough coolant to carry off the heat generated by high EGT's. The limited amount of coolant in the egr cooler flash boils causing high pressure in the cooling system and the truck pukes coolant from the degas bottle due to the pressure. (it has to go somewhere)
Your uninformed Powerstroke owner is not monitoring his coolant temps and oil temps so he doesn't know whats going on and he keeps driving it this way. The problem get worse, the pressure causes the egr cooler to rupture. Now the egr cooler is leaking coolant into the intake manifold which then runs into the cylinders. Again the high combustion temps cause the coolant to vaporize. This causes unacceptably high cylinder pressure, the TTY head bolts stretch due to the additional pressure and there go your head gaskets.

Ok now you know the problem. Here's the cure. Get a good engine monitoring solution like the Edge Insight so that you can monitor your ECT and EOT. If those temps get more than 15* apart at normal cruising when at normal operating temperature your oil cooler is clogging up. Rebuild it now to prevent all that down stream damage from occurring. Flush that Ford Gold coolant cxxp out of your engine with a couple bottles of Restore. This is made specifically to clean out that silicate residue. Now refill it with a silicate free Cat EC-1 rated ELC coolant. This removes the silicates that clog the oil cooler from the equation. If you live in an area where you don't have smog inspections delete the egr system. If you can't delete it replace the egr cooler with the cooler manufactured by Bulletproof Diesel. This is vastly superior to the Ford oem egr cooler and it will not fail on you. If you find that you need to replace head gaskets replace the TTY head bolts with ARP studs and use black onyx (Victor Reinz) head gaskets. If you have to replace the egr cooler always replace the oil cooler. That is the source of the problem.

Now that you have addressed the common problems that scare the hell out of people, get an SCT tuner (i like the X3) and install some custom tunes and drive the heck out of it. DO NOT baby it. The Powerstroke hates this and will rebel with turbo issues.

Turbo issues are also common repair points with the 6.0. People like to complain that it's because the VGT turbos are pieces of junk. This is not so. The VGT vanes in the turbo need to be exercised regularly. This means making them go through there full range of motion. So put your foot in it regularly and let is see some full boost runs. That will keep your VGT vanes from getting all sooted up and freezing up because of the soot. Again, that is what happens when you baby it. Put you foot in it and you will have less problems. Lay out of it and try to milk it for mileage like you would a gasser and you're going to have turbo issues. Don't let it sit either. That is also the kiss of death to the turbo. The unison ring rusts up and again you have turbo problems. So now that you know you need to give your turbo a regular work out to keep it happy, give it a proper cool down as well. Just whipping into your parking place and shutting it down will lead to coking the bearings and again major turbo issues. Running a good synthetic oil will help here immensely because it handles heat so much better and resists coking. But always let your turbo have time to cool down. This is one of the reasons you need a Pyrometer (EGT gauge), Let the EGT come down to 350* before shutting your truck off. This only takes a couple of minutes, especially if you take it easy on it for the last couple minutes of your trip. If this is too much hassle for you get a turbo timer that will automatically delay shutdown when you turn off the key to allow the turbo to cool down.

Injectors. Fords injection system HEUI fires the injectors with High Pressure Oil, to the tune of 4,000psi at Wide Open Throttle. Maintenance is critical here so you can not let your oil maintenance slide like you can on a gasser. It will kill your injectors. The injectors also are known to suffer from something that we call stiction. That is when the oil side spool valve of the injects hangs up or sticks when cold until the truck warms up. I believe this is caused by varnish buildup that is common to dino oils, especially those containing paraffin. Using a good synthetic oil will take care of that because it actually cleans the engine as it lubricates. If you do find yourself with some injector stiction add a couple of bottles of Rev-X to your oil. It has cleared up 99.9% of the trucks it has been used on. 2 bottles run around $70. A new injector is about $250-$290. Be anal about keeping your oil clean and fresh and changing your fuel filters regularly. The other thing that kills injectors is low fuel pressure. The fuel pressure needs to stay above 45psi at all times and is typically set around 52 psi from the factory. Well the Factory fuel pressure regulator spring is weak and looses it's tension over time and can't maintain adequate fuel pressure. There is an updated rebuild kit that uses a better, stronger spring. Installing this spring will bring your fuel pressure up to about 62 psi and solve that. Get a fuel pressure gauge. It's important.

So that covers the frequent complaints with the 6.0. They are all well known at this point as are the solutions. Does it suck we have to fix Ford's blunders? Heck yes it does. But again we know how and once done you will have a very reliable robust truck that is well worth the effort. So address the issues as you can and enjoy your truck. It is a dynamite vehicle. I love mine.

If you like pictures have a look here.

Replaced oil cooler still difference in temps - Page 21 - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum
Now if you have gauges and your spread is under 10* this may save your coolers but remember it may not :eek:
Flushing and cleaning the 6.0

Restore is for cleaning out any silicate goo. VC-9 is for cleaning out iron and scale. Restore Plus is the same as VC-9 and cheaper.

To flush drain the coolant by removing the lower radiator hose from the radiator, and removing the drain plug from the driver side of the block. There is a drain plug on the passenger side also but you have to remove the starter to get to it. I don't bother with that one.
I also highly recommend you pull the thermostat out on your first drain and put the housing back without the thermostat. It only takes about 10 minutes and will save you 2.5 hrs or so in doing this whole procedure.

Ok now put the lower hose back on and the drain plug back in the block if you removed it. This is the procedure you will use each time to drain the system, except you will not touch the thermostat again until you're finished the whole procedure. Make sure that you set your heater to high while doing this to flush out the heater core as well.

Fill the cooling system with distilled water, start the truck and let the water circulate for 5 minutes. (if you did not remove the thermostat you must run the truck until the thermostat opens + 5 minutes to circulate. This takes 15 to 20 minutes each cycle and is why you should just remove the thermostat) Stop the engine. Drain the system and repeat the flush.

Now add at least 1/2 gallon of Restore and fill with distilled water. I used cardboard in front of the radiator because you have to get to 185* 190* for these products to work. Drive truck or run on high idle for 60-90 minutes just before you get back from your drive remove the cardboard this will help in the cool down same on the Restore+ flush. Drain and flush 3 or 4 times. or tell clean

Add 2qts VC-9 or 1/2gal of Restore Plus, top with distilled water, and drive the truck or run on high idle for 60-90 minutes. Now drain and flush until flush water comes out clear and clean. When you get clean flush water, flush 3 more times using distilled water while draining the block.

After your final distilled water drain it is time to put the thermostat back in. I recommend you install a new thermostat at this point. They are only $20 or so and it is good maintenance procedure to do so. Fill with 3.5 or 4 gals of ELC concentrated coolant and top off with distilled water. Drive the truck or let run for a while topping off with distilled water. Check the truck over the next few days and top up as required while any air left in the system works its way out.

Keep some 50/50 ELC on hand to use to top off the cooling system from here out and you are good to go.

new t/stat from Ford it should all come together (housing-t/stat-o-ring) in a box. The part number is RT-1169

Here is the Restore Product from Cummins dealer
http://www.fleetguard.com/pdfs/produ...LI33024-GB.pdf
2 stroker
 

powerboatr

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"2006 F250 Crew Cab 4X4 Lariat, 2.5" leveling kit, 275/70/R18 tires"

your mileage isnt bad for your setup.

towing with cruise shouldn't be giving you a wrench unless like dave said there is a fault creeping up.
i towed our 14 fiver on cruise as much as possible until we hit mountains and it was trying to keep 65 on a long long incline like


for grins, what is your boost running and egt when the wrench light comes on...
 

2 Stroker

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He could have the flash that sets off the wrench if his temp spread reaches a 15* spread on EOT-ECT:dunno
2 stroker
 

jetallman

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Why the use of distilled water? That is alot of flushing and looks like it may take 30 or more gallons. Can regular water be used to do the flushing
 

DaveBen

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The idea behind using distilled water and coolant is to keep any minerals, from tap water, out of the cooling system. They can and will build up, over time, and cause cooling problems. The cooling system uses about 16 gallons.

Dave :)
 

BIG JOE

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Why the use of distilled water? That is alot of flushing and looks like it may take 30 or more gallons. Can regular water be used to do the flushing

Just an opinion (?), depending on the (mineral) quality of the municipal Tap water.. in your area.. Tap water can be used for a Flush. IMO the secret to a good radiator flush is: LOTs of it. Multiple Flushes, Drains.. until you feel good about the clarity.. then yer done and good to go.

Then use Distilled water for the "MIX", of coolant & water..

These (most all) mass produced engines have a LOT of casting sand left in'm, from the factory. Getting that out is the Key too.

And.. When yer guna do a good flush.. THEN, is the time to install a Cooling System Filtration set-up. They capture any future scale, rust and any other mineral buildups that may occur... Down The Road.

Even after a Real Good Flush.. a coolant filter will capture amounts of crap.. you won't believe. Usually takes 2-3+ filter changes.. to Really clean things up.. AFTER a good flush.. even a professionally done flush ?

Joe
 
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jetallman

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16 gallons and doing several flushes seems a bit over the top to use distilled water, I'm doing my flush tomorrow, and was thinking of several flushes with tap water then the one flush with restore, then more tap water flushes followed by a distilled water flush before adding the Fleetrite ELC and distilled water mix. As in the previous post it called for 4 gallons of ELC topped with distilled water, correct? that is less than a 50% mix though
 

2 Stroker

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Why the use of distilled water? That is alot of flushing and looks like it may take 30 or more gallons. Can regular water be used to do the flushing
Well i wanted a clean motor and a mineral free motor that is why i did not use tap water yes you can use tap when you do the Restore because that is removing the goo slim crap and maybe the first flush with the Restore+ because that is cutting the mineral but after that distilled water only and i did not use 30 gallons it was 48 gallons it took me 12.5hrs, when you start you can not stop then you go back with 3 1/2 gallons of ELC coolant because the system holds 7 gallons.
2 stroker
 

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