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3693 Views 21 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  erwatt, 
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My first post -
Broke down on trip - HELP PLEASE
Drove on interstate around 250 miles. Refilled with 1/4 tank. Drove another 40 and started losing power. We are dead in the water. Truck will idle a little rough, but not bad. Blows blue white smoke when I push the accelerator. No power when I put in gear. Sometimes cuts off. Any suggestions. Oh yea, it's a 6.0 that has been bullet proofed. Engine and tranny temp are normal. Oil pressure is good.


Update -
Family came to the rescue and towed me home.
It was suggested to drain the fuel. I drained the fuel and it kinda had a gas smell to it. Not real sure though. I also replaced the fuel filters and added some PM22 and PM23 fuel treatment. Added 10 gal of fresh diesel. Truck started up, ran good, had normal power, but did smoke. I drove to the gas station - 1.5 miles, filled up the tank. Drove off - no power?? Drove real slow to get her home. Reset the computers by disconnecting and reconnecting batteries. No help.
What do I need to look at next? Could a bad fuel injector be causing this issue? How about the turbo charger? Any feedback would be appreciated!!
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A single bad injector would not cause this.

Its not throttling up, which would seem to indicate a fuel issue, because Diesels are fuel throttled (no fuel, no increase in RPM).

I would start by checking your fuel pressure. You need to see a minimum of 45psi at all times. If it makes 45psi then fuel pressure isn't your issue. If it doesn't then the issue could be a bad regulator spring, in which case its time for the blue spring kit. It could also be a bad pump. They don't fail often, but it does happen.

As far as a turbo issue, that could cause a fueling issue because the two systems are linked electronically. When you press the accelerator does boost rise? If not something's wrong in the turbo system.

Check those things and report back.
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When I talk about boost rise I mean does the needle on the boost gauge move? When you tip into the throttle boost should start to rise almost immediately. If it doesn't it could indicate a problem with the turbo.

Get that fuel out of it, drain the HFCM and replace the fuel filters. I'd suction out the filter housing on the engine too, and probably also crack the banjo bolts loose to drain the fuel from the rails in the heads. Hopefully no damage was done.
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If you are reading MAP that's boost. Under max load you might see 28psi, but if you're just reving it in neutral, or even accelerating in 1st or 2nd gear you aren't going to hit that number. Turbos build boost pressure by being loaded and there's too much mechanical advantage in the lower gears to load the engine enough to make peak boost.

What you should see if boost rise from 0-10-15psi almost instantly when you tip into the throttle. If its doing that then the turbo is likely working and doesn't have a leak in the system.

Have you checked FICM voltage? Check it KOEO, cranking, running cold and running hot and see if there's a difference. It should be 48V all the time.
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The FICM is on the LH valve cover. You should be able to access the cover very easily. I think you are looking at the PCM, that is sort of behind the LH battery.
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The cold vs. hot thing could indicate an HPO system issue or an electronic issue. So we know the caps in the FICM are good, but that's not a definitive test unfortunately. What can happen with the FICM is that the solder joints inside it crack and they can make contact cold, but not hot when stuff has expanded. There's no way to test this though other than to swap in a known good FICM and see if it runs right, or send it out to Ed at FICMRepair.com - FORD Powerstroke 6.0 FICM Repair, PHP Tuning and Truck Parts.

If the truck starts its making HPO system pressure, at least enough to start. You need a way to read the electronic side of that system. A pressure test is likely not going to be able to tell you anything, because HPO pressure starts at 500psi and can go as high as 3,800psi. But, if you can read what the ICP is reading pressure wise, and what the IPR is being commanded to do in response that could eliminate this issue being HPO system related.
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Is very unlikely to have bottom end damage in a 6.0. They are very stout in that regard, actually much stouter than the new 6.7s for example. The only time I've heard of a bottom end issue in a 6.0 was due to an injector failure like a lost tip where the heat in that cylinder ruined a piston and sometimes could also damage a cylinder wall. I've never heard of bearing or ring trouble. The bottom end is a legit 500k mile engine if its maintained.

Let us know if your buddy is able to find anything amiss. I've got a couple more avenues to explore, but I don't want to overload you, so I'm steering you down the most likely path first.
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I went back and reread this whole thread to reacquaint myself with your problem. IMO, a problem that simply went away on its own screams electrical. If this was a mechanical issue it would not just go away. The problem is electrically there are a lot of things that it could be. Here are two more semi shots in the dark:

1.) There is no direct connection between the accelerator pedal and the engine for the 6.0. Its what's known as "throttle by wire". Essentially there is a sensor on the accelerator pedal that tells the PCM how much throttle you are giving it, and it fuels accordingly. These sensors have been known to go bad, and cause symptoms exactly like what you were describing initially. In essence the sensor only puts out idle voltage all the way through its travel. No codes, because the PCM "thinks" you aren't asking it to accelerate. In other words it doesn't see anything wrong. The problem with this diagnosis is that it doesn't explain your smoking issue I don't think, but its still something to consider.

2.) I'm smacking my own hand for not asking you about the EGR system. If the EGR system is still in place this could also cause your issue. The system doesn't work on a cold engine, so you aren't having any problems when its cold. Once it warms up, if it tries to operate and gets stuck open you end up with an engine that doesn't want to rev because its breathing exhaust gas instead of fresh air. This could explain the smoking you were seeing, because the engine is trying to increase speed by adding fuel, but there's not enough oxygen to mix with it to keep it from smoking because the intake is full of oxygen poor, nonreactive exhaust gas.

One more thought, you said you cleared the PCM by disconnecting the batteries. I don't think that fully resets the PCM. Older systems worked like that because they had no KAM (Keep Alive Memory), so when the computer lost power it lost anything that wasn't there permanently. These newer systems use the KAM to prevent the loss of data when the batteries are disconnected. What I'm reading is that you need to disconnect the batteries and ground the positive cable for 10+ seconds to manually dump the KAM. It can also be done with a scanner or tuner. I'm wondering if in its time in purgatory somehow the KAM was cleared and with it went your issue (in other words that it was a programming/data issue not a hard electrical issue).

Just some thoughts. I'd try venturing out with it farther and farther with a plan as to how to get back if it leaves you stranded. Maybe, just maybe you got really lucky and now its fine.
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I had also considered that the ambient temperature might be a factor. I suppose we'll see in the spring/summer.

Can't comment on IE. I've been running Firefox since before I joined the forum.

Keep posting to let us know how its doing. So many of these threads end with no resolution, which meas either it was solved but we don't know how, or it was never solved, but either way there's no help there for other people searching the forum with similar issues.
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Two possible causes for the noise: boost leak or exhaust leak (uppipe to turbo at the merge collector is a common area to leak, or it could be the bellows have failed on the RH side).
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