6.0L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 6.0L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 2003-Up Super Duties and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 6.0L Power Stroke engine.
Data:
2004 (Build date 10-23-03) Ford F350 2 Wheel Drive, Crew Cab, Short Bed, 5 speed + OD Auto tranny – 60K+ miles and ~ one year past 5 year Ford warranty, stone stock with addition of Edge Insight with EGT telemetry. Original owner – special ordered truck with, among other options, trailer towing, camper upgrade and snow plow options – I know, I know, why the hell did I order a snow plow option on a two wheel drive truck. Answer – seemed like a good idea at the time.
Problem: Engine Oil temp > Engine Coolant temp + 14, degas bottle “burping”, loss of power once warmed up and working hard pulling 8,000 pound trailer. Engine oil temp noted as high as 235+ degrees or ~55 degrees above ECT – not good.
Problem Analysis:
High oil temps caused by restricted coolant paths through stock Ford oil cooler. Oil cooler failure causes random but progressive damage to EGR cooler.
See first attached graphic.
Potential remedies: Replace with OEM Ford parts and add coolant filter and hope for the best. Or use bulletproofdiesel mod.
Choice: Bulletproofdiesel mod – expensive but eliminates oil cooler issue and upgrades EGR cooler to more robust design. Chose to partially offset high initial cost by performing install myself – with the help of a few great friends. And a wife who didn’t complain when we got greasy finger prints on her washer and dryer.
Special tools needed: Fan clutch removal tool (universal type rented from local parts store) and I went ahead and sprung for a set of “pry bars” to remove those damned plastic rivet thingies Ford uses for light body stuff. Still broke some of them.
One of my friends had a pair of these nice “spring clamp” pliers – it was nice to have them and made removing and replacing the clamps faster.
Important – also rented shop repair manual online access. It let me print out sections I needed relating to the job. Read and reread all of these instructions until you’re comfortable with the steps. Also make sure to buy some genuine silicone spray lubricant for use while installing O-ring type seals around the turbo drain tube and such - it's very important not to damage the O-rings when installing.
Basic procedure was to follow along with the factory manual steps to remove the pieces required to get to the oil cooler – the major hurdle is removing the turbo. The directions were straight forward and as mentioned above, the only special tool needed was the fan clutch wrench.
And on the subject of the fan clutch – you’ll note in the Ford manual something called the fan “stator.” To this day I’m not quite sure what that means but in reality you have to remove the fan with all of this shrouding around it before you can remove the shroud itself. It greatly complicates using the fan clutch removal tool to get to the large nut that holds the fan onto the water pump shaft. Just take your time and you’ll eventually see how to snake the wrench onto the nut and then have a buddy hold the other spanner so as to hold the fan from turning while you break the fan nut loose. Once you have broken the fan nut loose you just spin it in the normal direction to remove the fan and then you can remove the four bolts that hold the shrouding in place.
Once I had the various parts removed it was time to start preparing for installation of the new parts.
And I’m pleased to report that, since International chose to use O-ring type gaskets between most of the parts, there was little cleanup work to do to prepare the gasket surfaces for the new parts.
The kit comes with all of the genuine Ford replacement gaskets etc but I ran into a snag with my kit – there is the infamous Ford “blue hose” that connects the OEM oil cooler to the EGR cooler. The new, what Neal Technologies calls the “oil transfer block”, comes with a nice piece of silicone heater hose and required spring clamps to make the new connection. Problem was the hose was about 1” too short. Here is where I found out that, without exception, this type of expensive heater hose is not carried by ANY of my usual parts sources – not even the NAPA brands.
A big hats off to my local Ryder Truck Rental repair facility because I was struggling trying to find a 12” piece of hose that typically trucks use exclusively and I was not having any luck. When I told them my predicament they gave me, on a Saturday afternoon of Christmas weekend, a piece of this hose material.
Thanks guys.
I also made a call to Neal Technologies to let them know about the problem but since I’m here in Northern California and they’re in Arizona all they could offer to do was to overnight me a longer hose. Of course they also said they’d make damned sure all future kits shipped with a hose at least 1” longer.
Another big hurdle was removing and replacing the turbo – it’s large and heavy and you have to not only sneak it by the large exhaust manifold fittings but also try to lower it down on top of the delicate drain tube. Turned out it wasn’t as fragile as it looked and took my lowering of the turbo well. It also helped to have all of the radiator stuff out of the way so I could stand in the engine bay to lower it in place.
At least is was nice the first time I had to remove and replace the turbo!
Bonehead confession time – while I was tightening all of the many intake manifold bolts down I neglected to tighten the EGR cooler to intake manifold bolts. My thought at the time was I wanted them loose so I could make sure of the fit between the EGR cooler and the exhaust plumbing. Well I promptly forgot to tighten them and when I fired up the truck it made what sounded like a failed turbo – a high pitch “squeal” when the revs would come up. Long story short was that I ended up removing the turbo again, inspected the turbo and found no problem and had to replace it one more time and still couldn’t find the problem. Thought I was screwed for sure until my diesel tech buddy spent some time and while he was examining things happened to press on the wiring harness and saw the bolt head move. We tightened up the final two bolts and strange noise was gone.
Truck oil temps are nice and low now so I’m looking forward to hooking up my trailer and seeing what temps I get when towing.
I’ll post some of the data later.
Last edited by mlwest; 01-23-2010 at 11:50 AM.
Reason: Add pix
Just an FYI, there is no need to remove the cooling fan or stator (the back half of the shroud) to remove and replace the oil cooler.
That is exactly right - turns out the factory instructions are very conservative when it came to how much to remove - however it does make it much simpler to replace the fan belt
Well - I just went out for a first tow and guess what - it died!!!
Turns out that when you pull the original oil cooler that you must be very concerned about not only keeping the whole oil galley clean but how you clean it too.
I was meticulous about cleaning the oil galley under the old oil cooler but I was unaware of how the lint from my cleaning rags and any other microscopic debris while cleaning ends up heading right into a $300 sensor that is essential for proper HPO system functionality.
There is no salvaging the sensor once the debris causes it to malfunction - it causes a screen on the sensor input to collapse and destroys the internals.
I was thrilled to not have to tow my truck and trailer off of the freeway.
Is there any interest in pictures surrounding the replacement of the oil cooler with the bulletproof diesel mod?
Whether you replace it with a bullet or make your own, be ready to spend at least two full days doing this mod. You must remove the turbo, intake, egr cooler, oil cooler, alternator, hoses, degas bottle, wiring, and then reinstall all the new goodies and put it all back. Be sure to have an entire bag of floor dry on hand and several drain pans to catch the fluids, plus a case of beer (or coke) some snacks and a good radio! cause your gonna be there a while. go to www.acetroncorp.com/psd.htm for my version of the fix. Got 2600 miles on the mod now with no problems.
__________________
2003 250 PSD CC Lariat Bone Stock, Homemade oil cooler, Invisible Brand EGR cooler upgrade, 177K
1987 Pontiac GTA 59K Cherry Red on Black all orig. dig. dash, T-tops, still sweet, had her since 6K (divorce gift to myself in 95).
1971 2DR Cutlass S 350 rocket, needs restored into 442 imposter, one owner, 139K.
1968 GTO convertable, built her from 3 cars, 400, tripower, his and hers dual gate, hideaway lamps, power top/hard glass, HO heads milled under, ram air 4 cam, bored .030 over, 10.5:1 comp., headers, 2-1/2" duals, thrush turbos, fenton mags, 440HP, 4:11 posi rear, faaaasstttt! Gone but will always love her!
Is there any interest in pictures surrounding the replacement of the oil cooler with the bulletproof diesel mod?
Hey Nice job on the install mlwest! The bullet kit looks great and I am sure it is a very good product. I guess I got lucky on the dibri in the hpop res thing I used the old scratchy type paper towel to clean everything so there was really no lint and I blew the area out with air about ten time through out the whole process I was really worried about that same thing but I never even considered that lint might wreck anything. Cant wait to see your data.
__________________
2003 250 PSD CC Lariat Bone Stock, Homemade oil cooler, Invisible Brand EGR cooler upgrade, 177K
1987 Pontiac GTA 59K Cherry Red on Black all orig. dig. dash, T-tops, still sweet, had her since 6K (divorce gift to myself in 95).
1971 2DR Cutlass S 350 rocket, needs restored into 442 imposter, one owner, 139K.
1968 GTO convertable, built her from 3 cars, 400, tripower, his and hers dual gate, hideaway lamps, power top/hard glass, HO heads milled under, ram air 4 cam, bored .030 over, 10.5:1 comp., headers, 2-1/2" duals, thrush turbos, fenton mags, 440HP, 4:11 posi rear, faaaasstttt! Gone but will always love her!
Turns out that when you pull the original oil cooler that you must be very concerned about not only keeping the whole oil galley clean but how you clean it too.
I was meticulous about cleaning the oil galley under the old oil cooler but I was unaware of how the lint from my cleaning rags and any other microscopic debris while cleaning ends up heading right into a $300 sensor that is essential for proper HPO system functionality.
Did you replace the screen that goes in the resevoir? Every screen I have removed has been torn, so I always replace them when doing an oil cooler. I also never clean the resevoir due to the possibility of contanimating the hp oil system.
I'm having the same issues with my 04 now. I just picked up an insight with the exhaust tc. Are you able to see the oil temps on the display of your insight? I don't see that parameter as an option on mine. I'm just learning how to use the insight. But I'm hoping that mine is the oil cooler as well(fingers crossed it's not the HG).
The OEM HPOP screen is discarded with the bulletproof kit - although looking back I suppose one could leave it in place. Even if it were to tear one would hope that it wouldn't shed too much downstream and cause problems. Probably better just to remove it.
I poked my finger through my HPOP screen when I removed it but otherwise it seemed OK. Looking back (and by previous post) I quite likely should have very carefully removed the OEM oil cooler, HPOP screen, cleaned just the O-ring gasket area and placed the new oil transfer block in place rather than pumping out the oil galley and wiping/vacuuming everything. The sand cast surface is just the thing to collect fiber from rags, etc.
As for the Insight - yes it does take some tinkering to figure out just what selections actually work on your particular Ford. Make sure to start with the latest firmware from Edge and then look first at the Ford specific points. I don't recall if it's called simply Engine Coolant Temp or ECT.
And yes gwhunter, it's a gamble when you go through the work of installing a new oil cooler (whatever version) and hope that you don't have HG problems. Mine seem great but only time will tell.
I just got the latest firmware update from Ford and I like the new starting and shifting points - good power and I'm making 28lbs of boost.
I'm hoping the next issue for me is what to do with my old F350 after half a million miles or so!
The OEM HPOP screen is discarded with the bulletproof kit - although looking back I suppose one could leave it in place. Even if it were to tear one would hope that it wouldn't shed too much downstream and cause problems. Probably better just to remove it.
I poked my finger through my HPOP screen when I removed it but otherwise it seemed OK. Looking back (and by previous post) I quite likely should have very carefully removed the OEM oil cooler, HPOP screen, cleaned just the O-ring gasket area and placed the new oil transfer block in place rather than pumping out the oil galley and wiping/vacuuming everything. The sand cast surface is just the thing to collect fiber from rags, etc.
As for the Insight - yes it does take some tinkering to figure out just what selections actually work on your particular Ford. Make sure to start with the latest firmware from Edge and then look first at the Ford specific points. I don't recall if it's called simply Engine Coolant Temp or ECT.
And yes gwhunter, it's a gamble when you go through the work of installing a new oil cooler (whatever version) and hope that you don't have HG problems. Mine seem great but only time will tell.
I just got the latest firmware update from Ford and I like the new starting and shifting points - good power and I'm making 28lbs of boost.
I'm hoping the next issue for me is what to do with my old F350 after half a million miles or so!
It's not the coolant temp I'm looking for(ECT) but the engine oil temp. I don't see it as an option on my insight. I'm going to contact edge today and see why I don't have it. Is the ford flash free or do they charge you shop time?
Are you going to test the truck by hooking up to a trailer or just watching for puking?
I tested the truck by hooking my 8000lb trailer up and pulling it - and that's when I found out about the $300 sensor!
I thought for sure, as I was dead along side the freeway that I was not only going to have to spend lots of $$$ to fix the truck but pay for some $1200 tow - very ugly.
I'm taking my good buddy the long-time Ford diesel tech out for dinner tonight - he drove an hour from his place on a Saturday along with his tools and diagnosed, pulled, purchased and installed the destroyed sensor in about 45 minutes after he arrived.
Saved my ass -it's good to have friends.
The engine oil temp is in there - I'll look it up tonight and tell you what it's called on my unit.
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