If you have determined you want to keep it, and never want to worry about the typical failures associated with the 6.0, and you don't mind dropping some serious coin to do it, check out
bulletproofdiesel dot com. The oil cooler system with the cold weather package. It is pircey, $2245.00, but it adds fluid capacity, better filtration, better cooling and removes the biggest problem from within the engine.
Next is the
EGR:
If you want to delete it or keep it is a decision you will have to make. If your state has emissions testing for diesels now, or will in the future, you will be better off keeping it intact. If you need to keep it, bulletproofdiesel dot com once again makes the BEST EGR cooler out there.
Click here to check that piece out compared to the stocker.
If you want to delete the EGR cooler, there are literally hundreds of choices. I chose a "cheap" kit, found on e-bay that was only $150 but it has everything needed to perform the delete. The up-pipe is stainless to boot.
Click here to check that out.
The most common
coolant filtration system seems to be the one from
Dieselsite dot com. It is a great kit from a great vendor at a great price.
You should have a full set of
gauges to monitor the vital signs of your rig. Engine oil temp, engine coolant temp, exhaust gas temp (mandatory if you tow), trans temp (also mandatory for towing), fuel pressure, oil pressure (not completely necessary), boost (for towing).
ECT: Normally runs 190*F, may go up depending on load on engine.
EOT: Without the BPD oil cooler system, this reading is vitally important. Compare this to the ECT reading. The delta between them should not reach 15*F for very long, if at all. Load dependent. It will raise going uphill pulling a load.
EGT: Will vary greatly depending on load on the engine. Keep it below 1300*F for extended periods of time. Going up to 1350 for short bursts will not hurt anything. Backing out of the throttle just a little will drop this quickly.
Trans Temp: Should run right around 165*F running around unloaded. The highest I have seen loaded is 185*F. Highest that I would be comfortable with is 195*
Fuel Pressure: MUST be above 45psi under all conditions. Below that and your replacing injectors. Ford has an updated fuel pressure regulator spring/plunger that safely raises this number close to 70 psi.
Click here to check it out. This should be done to every 6.0 out there as the stock spring is known to weaken to the point where the pressures could fall below the minimum of 45psi.
Oil pressure: My personal feeling is you do not need this. This only monitors the low pressure oil pressure. If there is a problem with the low pressure system, it would not supply sufficient oil to the high pressure system. If the High pressure system does not get enough oil, your truck isn't going anywhere. It will not run.
Boost: I view this as a more or less of a bling gauge than anything. If your running around without a tuner you do not need one. Put a tuner on your truck and its a different story.
If I may make a recommendation for where to go to get your gauges, Diesel Manor is hands down the best place to go. Call him, talk to him. If you have any question about gauges, he is THE man to go to. His website is
HERE, but I recommend calling him directly at (603) 497-2281. If he is not available, leave a message. He will call you right back.
Tuners/Headstuds: I recommend that if you do not have the ARP headstuds installed, don't tune your truck unless you can resist the temptation to push it. If you run MILD tunes it will likely be fine. For truly bulletproofing your truck, you should seriously consider having the ARP headstuds installed.
Click here for the best price I have seen for ARP's anywhere.
Air-dog seems to be the most popular aftermarket fuel pump. Unless you want to stud the truck, add a tuner, bigger injectors and a bigger turbo, I suggest sticking with the stock unit, unless the
Air-dog comes in close to the same cost. The link is not a recommendation on which air-dog suits your needs since you did not define what those are.
If you install the gauges and watch them, the bulletproofdiesel system is not a necessity. You should be able to see the oil cooler failure before it becomes a big problem. BUT, you will have to replace the oil cooler/EGR cooler (if present) as a set when (and not if) they fail. NEVER replace one without the other.
Next would be the
flushing of the cooling system. Mandatory. A must. I would recommend flushing it as soon as possible BUT, keep in mind that doing so will loosen all the crud that has built up in there. Plan on a plugged oil cooler and EGR cooler after doing it. Does it ALWAYS happen that you flush it and everything plugs up? Certainly not, but you should be aware that it has happened and it MIGHT happen to you too. Just so your not going into this blind.
Restore and Restore+ will likely give the best results. Those chemicals are available at the Cummins dealer. The flushing procedure has been covered plenty of times on this forum. A quick search would turn up the procedure you should follow.
While some of those write-ups say using tap water is OK for some of the flushes, I disagree. Never introduce tap-water to your cooling system. It contains many minerals and chemicals that do not "play nice" with the cooling system components. Distilled water costs a buck a gallon at the local Wally world or drug store and is what you should always use, it isn't worth saving 5 or 10 bucks, is it?
Maintenance: Since your truck is 8-9 years old, changing the oil in both differentials, the transfercase, changing trans filters should also be on your list. I flush my brake system every year (ok, sometimes its 2 years) to get the crap out of there too. Doing so will keep the crap out of the calipers minimizing the chances of them freezing up on you.
You probably already do this, or know of this, but you should run a full
synthetic oil in your truck. I run the T6 Rotella (full syn) in the winter. I am on the lookout for a full syn 15W40 for the summer, but I am considering the T5 (also full syn).
Every
fluid filter you use should be a Motorcraft (or Raycor) filter. Never anything else.
For the
air filter, KEEP IT STOCK. Don't but the BS marketing on the "cold air intake" systems. They WILL kill your turbo and your engine over time. The filtering required for your engine can never be achieved by a cone filter, period, end of story, NEVER.
The stock filter may look like a huge restriction to air intake, but it is deceptive in its design. The filtering media with the stocker IS more restrictive, BUT if you take into account the sheer size of the filtering surface area the restriction is lost.
To make this clearer, the cone filter is a straight through design that "filters" (barely) using oil soaked cotton and a thin filtering paper. Not much standing in the way of anything. It is designed to keep rocks and small animals out of the intake and not much more.
The stock unit: It is designed to flow as much air as the engine can effectively use (up to 500 horses or so). Take that cone filter. The effective filtering surface area is....say about 5 or 6 feet long by 10 inches wide. (72 inches times 10 = 720 inches)
Now, take a real close look at that stock filter. What you will see is that there are rows and rows of filtering media. By making them like this, you have effectively multiplied the surface area of the filter. I will hazard a guess that there are right around 60 rows or so within the filter. The rows are also pleated.
60 rows times about 16 inches long about 10 inches wide = 9600 inches. Close to 14 times the surface area!
Now take into consideration that the filtering media within the stocker IS more restrictive, but since you are moving the air across a considerably larger surface area, flow can be close to that of those cheap cone filters, but the result is superior filtering. Pure genius in its engineering.
As you can see, If you want it to last, I don't recommend adding much (if any) power to it. A stock engine, properly maintained, will outlast a modified "pumped up" engine.