So I am in South Dakota and Saturday was cold cold it was -33 in the wind, I went out to start the truck it cranked really slow and did not start so I figure maybe the battery was weak jumped it; fired right up then went to town drove around for 4 hrs no problems ran great. Sunday went out truck fired up lil slow on cranking so I figured I would go get new batteries, let her warm up for about 15 mins jumped in took off everything felt fine then as I went up the hill out of the drive I lost throttle and she died no restart. Had my buddy come hook up to it pull me back to the camper ran to town got some 911 thinking the fuel was gelled up. Got back poured it in let it sit all night. Went out this morning fired it up let it idle for about 20 mins while Idling it died again. What do yall think it is could it still be the battery, or did I fry the FICM.

 

It could be that your alternator isn't charging your batteries. I'd get the whole charging system tested and proceed from there before getting new batteries.

 

It's cold out man! what kind of oil you using? Can you plug it in? at that temp fuel could be gelling. even with the additive. Your turbo could be full of carbon, the erg valve could be full of carbon also, and your intake could be too. and yes you are working the **** out of the stater and stuff. move to texas.

 

Well took the batteries and alt. to the part store had them check all of them the alt. tested between 8 to 11 volts one battery tested good the other bad. So my question is do yall think this is my problem or could it be more, and I know how set yall are on changing both batteries but money is tight just got done with about 5000 dollars worth on her do you think I can get away with just changing the one till after christmas.

 

Trust me if I could find work in texas I would cause its cold cold up here I am ready to go back to Oklahoma.

 

It depends on where you move to in Texas. This time last year it was 11 degrees in Plano. Also, contrary to popular opinion, there are places in Texas that do see snow regularly(Plano being one of them, we get one good snow year it seems, doesn't last long, but it's there).

Even Kingsville got snow, I think it was back in 2004 though.

OP: If you are seeing -33° then that isn't going to be good for any vehicle's eletrical system. Doesn't matter if it has a 6.0 in the engine bay or not.

If you can pull codes, see if you are pulling a FICM performance code, but I would also make sure that you check your alternator etc as well.

EDIT: OP you must have been posting your reply about the batter testing while I was typing my response. I would change out both. Doing things halfway could end up costing you more then what you were trying to save in the first place, but that's just me. Seeing those temps and only trying to do things with one battery or with one good batter and one bad one, that is just setting it up for another "I have just about had it with this truck" thread.

 

Keep the bad one disconnected because it will suck juice from the good one. Might not start to great in the cold with only one battery, but if it's just for a few weeks you'd probabaly be ok.

 

When I worked up in the Cassiar country near the Yukon border a long time ago, my diesel trucks had electric battery blankets, recirculating block heater, standard block heater, oil pan heater, 24 volt start sytem, manual glow plug control. -30 starts were not a problem when plugged in. When the red in the thermometer disappeared around -50 the truck idled all night - had a manual throttle on the dash and set it to 1400 rpm. Left the truck in 4x4 otherwise the grease in the front wheel bearings froze. In the morning you still had one shot with the clutch (hyrdaulic unit) if you push the clutch twice before the engine bay warmed up more the frozen seals broke and then no clutch.

 

replace both batteries. having a good and and a battery on its way out will drastically reduce the good batterys life. it will also stress the altenator, starter and ficm. if it were me i would go to autozone or the likes and get a 1000cca battery. money may be tight but half arsed can lead to repeat failures and more frustration. you said the alternator is only putting out 11v? replace that as well unless it is putting out the right amount

 

Good evening tex! To tell you the truth, I've never been to texas, I just want to live there. maybe one day. It just is one place I could think of that seemed warm. but I guess I need to come visit. Hey thanks for all your good advice. You're one of the guys on here I respect alot, even If we disagree on a few things, (the temp of texas, and erg cooler deletes) thanks again.

 

Yeah thanks for the replys, I just ordered my Alt. off ebay cause oddly enough the part store hear in town said they could not get one so I said forget it got to have one this week cause just found out tonight we are heading to southern Illinois. thank goodness. I have just been in the cold for far to long its been 4 yrs since I have seen 100 in the summer. So yes I will do some checking on batts tomorrow and see what I can come up with then will check my FICM god I hope I didn't fry it I just Got it back @ months ago from having it overworked!!!

 

I wish there was an autoparts store here but only advance auto. And I know it gets cold everywhere but -33 is too cold they say tomorrow should be warm at a high of 12 this sucks. Its been like this for about 2 wks ready too hook up to the camper and get out of here.

 

advance should have a 1000cca batteries. and if i recall correctly the altenator is the same as the f150 or the mustang you will just neeed to change out a connector if your in a pinch. had to do that with my 04 when i had a bad altenator and the shop couldnt rebuild it

 

1 trickle charger
2 battery blankets
1 transmision pan pad heater
2 block heaters
2 Platnum Sears Dihard Gell batteries
1 electric interior heater
lots of fuel treatment
1 wabasto heater.................

and a partridge in a friggin pear tree

 

I'm sure you know, but I just have to add this .....

Alternator and battery maintenance is CRUCIAL to the 6.0L - especially in cold weather. Investigating no-start conditions should always begin w/ an elctrical system check (especially before getting ticked off at the truck)! Your FICM is way too sensitive to play around w/ trying to start it and then find out the batteries were bad.

BTW - 911 Treatment has alcohol in it and Ford recommends NOT to use fuel additives that contain alcohol.