2003 - 6.0 running rough - Diesel Forum

DupuyDog · 10-22-2009, 01:39 PM

This will be long and drawn out, my apologies, but I want to provide as much detail as I can. I have a 2003 F-350 with the 6.0 engine in it. I have the superchips tuner. The truck has 112,500 miles on it. I typically pull a 31 ft Jayco fifth wheel weighing in at about 13,500 lbs.

We had just returned from a 1000 mile round trip vacation pulling the camper, a couple of days later on the way to work the truck was running very rough, almost seemed like it was going to die on the spot. I read the codes; it was throwing P0261 Cylinder I Injector Circuit Low and subsequently one code for each cylinder. I re-chipped it back to ecomomy mode from tow safe mode. This seemed to help some.

I had to pull the camper 2 days later back to dealer, so I re-chipped it back into Tow Safe mode and we dropped the camper off, the truck ran fine, I decided to re-chip it back to economy mode. Once that was completed, the next time I started the engine, the battery light came on and stayed on.

I made the 75 mile trip home, but the next morning the truck would not start, I charged up the batteries (which are 1 year old) and took the truck (barely would run at all) to my mechanic where upon he replaced the alternator (2nd one in 6 months).

Now it is running better, but when you first crank and run it; it smokes and runs very rough. It feels as though it is not breathing properly, or not firing right, like water in a gas engine. I have not had an opportunity to make a longer trip in it to see if once it warms up it runs any better. Currently it is not throwing any codes.

Any ideas as to what to check before I take it to my dealer for help?

Thanks,

DupuyDog

**teamroper60** · 10-22-2009, 04:35 PM

First off, you're making it kinda hard to diagnose the problem, simply because you kept changing the settings on the tuner (tow to economy, back to tow, then back to economy). Everytime you do that, you are rewriting the programming and essentially clearing whatever diagnostic codes might be stored in the PCM.

Secondly, any time there is a problem with a truck that is running a tuner (chip), the first thing that needs done is to see if the problem persists without out it. So take your tuner out of it and see how it acts. If the issue is still there, you know it isn't in the tuner. If the problem is still there, then you can either leave it stock or pick a tune and leave it alone for a while. Give it a week or so, then scan it for codes and let us know what you have.

DupuyDog · 10-23-2009, 02:16 PM

Since we last spoke, I left the truck in stock mode. It was running great last night. I thought everything was back to normal...but this morning it was rough idling for the first mile or so, but seemed to straighten out.

I went out for lunch, cranked the truck and it made it 200 yards or so before dying. It turns over, but doesn't start, it puffs white smoke when you crank on it. I checked simple things like oil level, fuel levels, etc. All normal....

Sadly,

I have called a wrecker and it is going back to the dealer......