Howdy everyone. Im a newbee to the site but have looked around on it for a while. Great source for info and you guys/gals really seem to know your stuff. I am not really familiar with the diesels, but i do know my way around injected and carbed engines. First off. here in California we now have to smog our diesels. did mine the first time last year. i have a 2004 f350 quad cab 4x4 with the 6.0. Before that i had a 2001 f250 with the 7.3. kinda wish i kept it and just put a heavy duty tranny in it, but it is what it is.

Anyway, if i put on the egr delete kit am i gonna be screwed when it comes to the smog inspection? and will the computer throw a code that will rat me out to the inspector?

will one of those 4 inch turbo back exhaust kits fail me for the inspection?

Even though my rig only has 58K on it, it already had the egr go out and the turbo housing go out and the boost mod go out and a wiring harness go bad. Boost mod i changed. didnt look too bad, a lttle build up but i think it was heat that did it. i want this rig to last forever, i tow my boat and camper with it as well as all the yard/work materials i use.

i dont let it idle forever, i change the oil every 5K, and the fuel filters every 10K.

i want to improve the gas mileage, seems like my buddies with the dodges are kicking my butt in mileage. If i put one of those programmers on it without the exhaust will that cause me issues. i dont want a race truck, just one that has a little better mileage and more innitial pickup.

This is the first truck with a tranny brake that i have owned. Are they kind of temperamental? sometimes it seems it ingages as soon as i hit the brake, other times i have to hit the brake a couple of times to get it to work.

I found out about the booster modulator issue while on a recent trip. Whenever i had the truck going up a long steep hill and i had to lug it a little i started hearing a huge clanging noise that sounded like it was coming from the right front wheel well. Camper was on the truck and usually occurred at higher altitudes. The truck would act like a gas engine with bad spark plug wires, kinda missing, until i let the rpm's go down then hammer it a tad and it would usually act normal again. it finally threw the engine symbol light on the dash. A code checker said it was the booster mod, so i changed it. have not had a chance to check if it still acts out under load going up hill. It has never occurred unless i had the camper or the boat on it. Still would go 80 plus on the flats with no issue. Does this sound like it could have been the booster mod. i had read that the trucks will sometimes act out if the turbo vanes get groves in them from not being fully seperated enough. i had always tried to ease the truck under load and i was thinking that maybe i had not varied the RPM range enough.

i have read several postings that say to put the egr delete on, get the oil cooler and the coolant filter as well as a tuner and exhaust to make these things more reliable. I dont want to tear into the manifold and heads until I have too.

I appreciate any feedback offered and hope i supplied enough info to allow any educated opinions.

JR

 

I have no clue what a booster modulator is. VGT controller maybe?

Most of your problems probably stem from the truck sitting a lot. I'm just guessing it sits a lot or makes a lot of small trips, being it's an 04 with only 58k miles on it...

The worst thing for the turbos on these trucks are sitting for long periods of time, or idling and driving like an old lady. They like to be worked.

Being in Kommifornia, I'd go with the bulletproof EGR cooler myself, it shouldn't fail at all and will still pass smog.

These trucks do not have have a trans brake of any sort. They use the variable vanes in the turbo to act like an exhaust brake of sorts, however. If you're using the tow/haul and stomping on the brake, I'm sure you notice it downshift and slow down a bit, this is a culmination of the turbo and the trans working together. The transmission just holds shifts (both up and down) longer when in tow/haul, and keeps the converter locked up more to make sure it's braking harder. As for it being tempermental, it seems to depend more on what you're towing. If you've got a heavy load it seems to work much better.

As for emissions testing, I can only guess since I haven't had to do one. If you do go with a 4" turbo back, I'm assuming they're going to look for your cat to be there. You can always buy the cat and muffler deletes for your stock system, then just swap them back on when you have to go in for inspection? Or do they do roadside checks there? One of the guys from your neck of the woods will have to chime in here.

A coolant filter would be a good idea, as well as some gauges to see what is going on with your rig (or a monitor). Especially if you tow primarily with it.

What oil and oil filter do you use? What fuel filters? A good custom towing tune using an SCT would do you wonders, you'd love it. I don't tow without it now. Though sometimes I'm just lazy and leave the race tune on towing the camper. The tow tune will make that braking action much stronger and much better acceleration. As for the oil cooler, only way to know if it needs one is measuring the difference in temp between oil and coolant.

Welcome to DB! Any more questions just ask, I know I only hit some of your points here for you...

 

Cali does have the smog laws but some counties are exempt from smogging. I never had to smog my old gasser truck when I lived up north ( Mendocino County) so i checked the DMV site for smog regulations. Most bigger cities all have smog every 2 years for cars/trucks over 7 years old. But alot of rural counties and towns do not have you smog. So I registered my truck up at my parents address so I dont have to smog anymore.. So here comes the egr delete and straight pipe!!!!!! Check what your local and or county smog laws are at www.dmv.ca.gov.