Hello, Just finished taking everything off the engine to get to the EGR Cooler. To weld some freeze plugs into it to hopefully fix some of my problems. Wanted opinions on my situation.

So here is the story of the truck. Picked it up with 250,000km, Ran fine. However during august I noticed it smoked when i would start it. But go away once it warmed up. I drove it, I then took it to ford to do a oil change, and I asked to get a diagnostic done to see what was going on.

Here is where the fun starts. I come to pick my truck up, They say it needs another day. So i call back in the morning, they say it needs a glow plug module and a EGR Valve, As well as a coolant flush as it doesn't have fords gold coolant in it. The tech says he can clean the EGR valve as a temporary fix. For a hour of labor. I settle on them replacing the glow plug module, Overall cost me $990, for the oil change, Diagnostics and installation of the glow plug module. I pick the truck up they warn me that it could leave me stranded. I am confused as I have been driving the truck for about 5 months and have not feared of this. I look over the report it says cylinders 2 & 4 non contributing under load.

So driving away, the truck seems to have a miss, It had a slight miss before if i was stopped or if i was going up a incline and had around 8 psi @ 80 kmh. But other then that it was solid. The truck is constantly missing, i attempt to merge into traffic and i completely loose all power, 5 seconds go by as i coast. Then the truck picks back up leaves a cloud of grey smoke. So i took the EGR valve off, It wasn't really dirty, i suspect a normal amount of carbon build up. But clean it up anyways. It appeared that it was wet in the egr cooler, so i figured i had a leaking egr cooler, Even though the dealership said it was fine.

Then it happened again but didn't recover, It stalled out. I had to restart the truck, put it in park and give it gas then I drove the truck home, parked it and decided i was going to fix it myself.

So i start the tare down with the intention of welding the Egr cooler, Cleaning the turbo, replacing the oil cooler. But after taking everything off and looking at the egr cooler, It was dry. I was stumped as i swear i saw something wet in there. Then i proceeded to split the turbo and clean the veins. But the turbo was clean. But I clean it anyways.

So Now i guess im back to the EGR valve being faulty. Even thought it seemed fine. I still don't understand why the truck runs so bad after taking it in. But I hope welding the egr cooler, cleaning the turbo and ensuring all of the harness is properly seated will solve the problems.

I am also thinking of punching out the cat.

Anyone had a similar situation to this?

 

What year and motor do you have? How do you plan to address those two cylinders that are not producing any power?

 

The truck is a 2005, 6.0 psd. Can't believe I forgot that haha
Right now I'm leaning to a loose FICM plug, as it was not this rough before work was done. However it could be a faulty injector, hope not as it looks fairly difficult to change.

 

I am also going to try to load test the batteries then check the FICM to see if it is delivering the required voltage. If it is not i will try to repair it.

To load test the batteries would it be sufficient to simply monitor the load during engine cranking? Should i do only one battery at a time. I have searched around however most of the guides are for cars or suggest simply taking it to a auto parts store.

 

Some times you get crooked dealers. Where are you at? My moms trailblazer ss went in for some draws on the batter and the service writer told my dad the compressor was on its way out, few days later compressor quits working. Mom drove it like that for a bit until my dad had time to crawl under the truck, turns out the compressor was unplugged, and the connection was not one that can just wiggle lose. That guy now works at the local ford dealer, sounds like something he would do.

 

I had symptoms just like yours, it was low fuel pressure leading to failing injectors. It went from a miss, to loss of power, to stalling and finally nothing, in the space of 50 miles. Check your fuel pressure before you do anything, you might not have the upgraded fuel pressure spring installed. You should have around 60 psi key on engine off, lower means the upgraded spring has not been installed or there is some other problem.

Brian

 

When the dealership ran the diagnostics, they recorded a fuel pressure of 45 psi, using a "flow tester, diesel fuel tool". I will pick up a blue spring when i stop by the dealership for a new intake gasket kit to make sure anyways. Hopefully the pump isn't dying.

Im up in Canada, Calgary to be specific. It makes you question their intentions because the dealer was set on having me come back and adamant about the truck leaving me stranded, even though it had never done so.

Also if i was to buy a OBD2 to USB cable and find some software for a laptop, would it pull all of the codes or would it return a dumbed down version?

 

I'm in Airdrie, that service guy works at cam clark here now. You can get some good scanning equipment that can monitor a bunch of parameters, the scan gauge 2 seems to be the favorite around this place.

 

So i headed to the dealership, however the parts department is closed until Monday. But after the weekend it is supposed to get cold, like -15. So the truck needs to be mostly back together before then. So i got the head gasket and a 35mm freeze plug from napa. I have called around part source, jack carter, even Mazda as the 93 miata with 1.8L engine uses them, but no dice. They suggested cetus automotive, but they are closed on weekends.

So I am thinking of just welding in a washer or cutting some sheet metal and just making a solid gasket for the intake side of the egr cooler, any opinions on either?. For the blue spring mod i will just have to wait, but thats fine as removing the fuel pressure regulator is easy.

I might also smash out the cat today if i get around to it, i hear it lowers egt and makes the turbo whistle without making the truck louder, which appeals to me, Especially the turbo whistle haha.


Is there a benefit of using a scan tool vs a laptop? Looking at scan gauge it seems like it could be a easy way to monitor vitals instead of 5+ gauges. Not sure why ford put none in, IMO people like knowing more and having moving things to look at.

 

Download FORScan

For an OBD2 to USB adapter, you'll probably have to order it. I just picked up an ELM327 and downloaded Forscan software. Its free bit works pretty nice for under $30.

 

Here is a quick picture of the Forscan software.

 

In the middle of removing the scoop in the up pipe, Is there a easy way to do this or just grind the SOB?

 

did you get the ELM327 that was wired or bluetooth? wondering if one works better than the other. I am totally getting this FORScan.

 

Finished putting the truck together, after cycling the key a few times she started right up. Quickly checking around we discovered a coolant leak, Chased it back to the slip on rubber connector for the EGR cooler. After a few choice words, it appeared to be the same but tried it anyways, Stopped leaking. Topped off the coolant with Filtered water & prestone.

During the test drive it appeared to be running better. Still a slight miss, not 100% sure however as it was really only apparent at highway speeds. Gave it gas to test if all the intercooler boots were tight, Sure enough Reached 20 Psi, POP the Turbo outlet boot burst off. Limped it to a parking lot, with inspection it appeared it was on backwards.... Tightened it up.

Going to head out for another test drive to see if the boots hold and if the miss is gone. Overall what was completed was

EGR Weld Both Sides
Up Pipe Scoop remvoed
Cat Punched out.

However even after the cat was modified the turbo seems to be pretty much the same. But having parked the truck a week ago my memory could lie to me. Also going to pick up a scanner of some sorts to try to dig a little deeper into the truck.