6.0 Problems
 

Hey guys, My brother in law has an 05 6.0, he has been having issues with it, today it wouldn't start so he called me up since I am the Diesel Mechanic in the family, anyways I scaned it and no codes came up but the water in fuel light was on so I changed the fuel filters and got it to start, then when it does fire it poors out black smoke, and as soon as you hit the throttle it dies, so we let it warm up for a bit, then it will run without dieing but its still runs bad, it almost wants to shut off as soon as you hit the throttle and poors out black smoke then it will pick up and go fine.. It has 52k miles on it and 4 inch exhaust and an AFE stage 2 intake and thats it otherwise its all stock...He thinks it the intake because it started running crappy a couple days after I put it on but I dont think so, 6.0 stump me I dont know where to start, what would make it smoke black? Either its fueling to hard or not getting any air flow, could it be a turbo problem? its still making normal boost just running really crappy... there was no codes but I dont know if my scanner even connects to the computer it said it did..Any help would be grate or even shooting me in the right direction would help too.. Thanks in advance:tu:

How much boost are you seeing? Definitely sounds like a turbo issue. Inspect the intercooler boots really well too. No tuner on the truck? It's tough to get any smoke out of these without a tuner if the turbo is working properly. Usually if you're getting a lot of black smoke on a stock truck is intercooler boots or a sticking turbo.

How many miles on the truck, and what does it get used for? Does it sit a lot?

No tuner just intake and exhaust, it has 52k on it, it just gets driven to work and back which is like 1/2 mile , then sits for 8hrs then gets driven home and sits, it gets that turbo "fart" sound too when you get on it a little then let out of it not sure if thats normal on a powerstroke or not..Boost I didn't see but he said it was acting normal, it kind of misses and cuts out to.. could the vanes on the turbo be sticking? that was my first guess.. or maybe an egr issue? there is also alot of oil that is on one of the boots on the turbo outlet, i didnt really get a close look at it...

Turbo fart on a 6.0 is normal, it's just the air going back out the intake since there is no BOV or wastegate. It sounds like this truck just does not get worked hard enough at all. EGR is probably clogged right up and I'm sure the turbo is probably sticking. Both inexpensive fixes, but time consuming. Here's a good write up on turbo reconditioning... Diesel Technician Society

I'd start with an EGR cleaning or a delete kit. Cleaning is just a temp fix, delete is preferred but with warranty is not always possible.

The intercooler boots and the compressor side of the turbo will have oil on them because the crank case vents right into the intake in front of the turbo.

cool, thanks a lot:tu: I will do both of these. he has had the truck for 5yrs and has put like maybe a little more than 15k on it, I just hate working on small diesels but I hope I will save him money. or maybe find out it something else??? I will keep you all posted if it works thanks again..

Ok keep us posted. Tell him he needs to hotrod the truck once in a while. The worst thing for a 6.0 that never tows is a driver who pussyfoots around. It really needs to be DRIVEN to keep the turbo cleaned out.

Just a thought if he changed out the intake could the air meter on the intake pipe be unplugged damaged or leaking?

Only the 03/04 trucks have a MAF, and you don't have to touch it to put the intake on, it's under the intake elbow right on top of the motor coming from the intercooler.

I guess he decided to take it to ford to have them hook a computer up to it, even though I didn't find any codes, He called another shop and they told him it was fuel system related, like injectors or the fuel relay system.. then he called ford and they told him the same thing.. whatever I guess its his truck, if it were me I would rule out the cheapest most common problem, before I took it to a dealership. Yeah pulling the turbo and egr valve may take time but if he wants to dump money into it, and have me throw parts at it and have somebody else troubleshoot it oh well, I guess I will gain more expierence.. who knows maybe they r right and we r wrong... but most likely not...

going threw EGR problems right now on my truck the turbo takes long time to spool and looks like you got Looney tunes on it cuz it smokes like a frieght train but its bone stock right now took long time to throw codes finally did p0404 and p1335 both EGR related so im guessing EGR problems too :td: love my 6.0 to death HATE the problems but even if it never ran again i still wouldnt trade it for a duramax or cummins ha ha ive ait to many of them up with my powerstrokes ha ha