Hi All,

This post is related to the powerstroke 6.0, but I had incorrectly posted it to the larger 1999 - 2016 powerstroke, but am now moving it to the intended group. I am new to FTE. Sorry for the error.

I have recently purchased a 2004 F350 DRW, with low mileage, and have been reviewing the Forum with great interest and have found it to be very informative and useful. Sorry, I have not yet been able to set up my profile, signature, etc and expect that will come as I become more familiar with the Forum's operations.

It is apparent the 6.0 L engine is capable, but requires diligent monitoring and understanding to effectively get the best out of it. I will be stepping through basic maintenace processes over the next while as I become familiar with the truck and engine. I also anticipate purchasing the Edge SC3 monitoring device very shortly and setting that up.

I have also note that while it is beneficial to have the various guages functioning while the engine is running, one must understand and pay attention to certain key functions of the engine prior to starting or running the engine - i.e., battery charge status, FICM voltage level (48V), fuel pressure, HPOP ?, etc. Unfortunately, it appears that the various scanners and electonic devices seem to typically have a delay in reporting and one may not realize that critical information is not known or acted on in time to avoid engine damage.

I am interested in know what specific guages/monitors you would recommend have information from early at the time of engine startup. I also assume that most of these will have to be set up "manually" rather than via an electronic device interface.

I will look forward to your advice. Much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Edge is fine, but you really need something like Forscan or Torque Pro on a cell. Those are better code readers and can be easier to work with (for me). I also have the Edge as a general monitor. The next two will have to be added as there are no sensors, but IMO, fuel pressure, and coolant pressure. Hopefully, the coolant pressure will be forever a wasted gauge install.

With an '04, any issue discussion will require knowing if your ICP sensor is mounted on the passenger valve cover or hidden behind the turbo. That tells a lot when troubleshooting. Good, well-maintained batteries are more important than alternator size, but having a 140a or above alternator is a good base if or when you need to fix an alternator. There is no need to spend $600-800 on alternator and cabling. Voltage drop at startup is a good indicator of the batteries at startup. I still recommend getting something simple as a plug-in voltmeter that goes into the power port to monitor occasionally, especially during the winter. Although getting the batteries checked for capacity at 12 months and 6-month intervals after that is good to do.

There is a lot of good info in the tech articles above; they are just not well organized in this forum as in others.

 

It has been quite a few months since my initial email last summer. Due to time constraints I did not get to use the truck much last summer and it has been parked inside for the winter; I am located in Alberta. Hopefully, I will now be able to begin prepare the truck for use.

Thanks "TooManyToys" for your comments and advice. My truck has the "late" 2004 engine with the ICP located on the passenger valve cover. I had installed a new set of batteries right after purchasing the truck last summer. I also installed Forscan to obtain initial operational engine metrics; thankfully, all seemed within the recommended ranges and without any error codes. I also now have my Edge CTS3 on hand and ready to set up. Oil was changed to Rottella T-6, along with an OEM oil filter. I have a volt meter inserted into the 12V receptical in the cab that I use to validate the battery status prior to starting the truck. My next step will be to change the fuel filter (with an OEM filter, which were not avalble in Alberta for many month).

The variation between the ECT and the EOT while pulling my 13,000 lb fifth wheel was about 8 to 9 degrees; however the towing was not in a mountainous area, nor was it a hot day. Overall, the truck has 84,000 original Km (52,000) on it and appears to fully original with the exception of head studs. It was used to carry a holiday camper, stored inside, and not used during duing the winter.

I have spent extensive time on the FTE website and appreciate the level of information that I was able to find and now want to take on selected projects. I also appreciate the focus on ensuring that close monitoring proper maintenance is in place and that engine operation is well monitored. Currently, I would like advice on the following (more questions will also be posted as I look to address specific items).

1. Installing additional supplemental guages.

• Currently the truck has EGT and Boost guages (auto meter) installed on the windshield post. The seem to be working fine, but I still need to confirm the exact location of the sensors.
• I wish to add fuel pressure, coolant pressure, engine oil presssure, and transmission temperature
• I could use Edge's EAS accessories to add the guage's above, but that would reduce the number of other items I will be ble to monitor on the CTS3 - FICM, HPOP, ICP, IPR, rad fan, etc (and some will need more than one PID). I may also want to move the EGT to the CTS3 at some point and monitor both sides. Does anyone know how many items the Edge CTS3 can monitor at one time (ford pids and add-on sensors) ?. The CTS3 has a screen wtith 16 "guages", but one can also flip between multiple screens and so possibly increase the items that might be monitored depending on the capability of CTS to do, but the CTS3 may max out at 16 items overall.​​​​​ ??? Does anyone know what the total number of items a CTS3 might monitor. I did call Edge to find out, but received an unconvincing "yes" it should be able to. I am skeptical, however.

2. Assuming that I will need to add external guages (rather than through the CTS3), the most prevelant are isspro, auto meter, glowshift, and perhaps Auberins. I would also like to have the guage provide an alert when values are beyond a pre-set set range. I have noted that not all guages appear to be "equally reliable." It would seem that the ranking order from high to low may be Isspro, Auto meter, and glowShift. Auberins sounds interesting, but it may have challenges related to mounting them. What has been the recent experience of others ??

3. Blue Spring. Quite a number of kits that one can purchase include a "billet" cover, and suggest that the original spring cover frequently leaks. If there is a problem with leakage that is dealth with by using a billet over, then I am fine with doing that. However, if leaks are infrequent, I would prefer to not purchase a billit cover that effectively is only a show piece.

4. Engine oil pressure - where is the best place to install the pressure sensor. I have seen a few suggestions, but am interested to know what work best.

have other specific questions that I will post later. Thanks for your advice.

 

I think the CTS3 should pull Trans temp through the data port - my attitude monitor does. Glowshift gauges are cheap, but I've run them on several trucks and haven't found any issues with them. Lots of other members too. I'm using their Pyro/Boost/Pressure 3-in1 gauge on my pillar next to my edge display.

 

First, thank you for taking your time to research before posting. Saves us a lot of time repeating ourselves or just linking to the tech folder.

I run the Edge CTS3 on my truck so I can speak to that. I don't believe there is a limit to the number of EAS modules you can add. In the installation manual they show 6 of them stacked up. Have not found anywhere in their documentation the actual limit but for your truck I think you should be fine.

I purchased a kit which includes the EGT probe and a 2-input modules with pressure & temp sensors. I'm using the pressure sensor for fuel and ended up buying a 2nd pressure sensor for coolant. Might not have been the most efficient way to purchase by hindsight is always 20-20. They really stick it to you on the EAS accessories. I'm sure if you could figure out the mfg of the pressure sensor you could easily buy the generic and solder in the correct plug for the Edge system.

I run the 16-channel screen. I have most of the parameters set up with a 'warning' and 'alarm' level so I don't have to constantly be watching the screen. Especially with 16 PID's it's just not practical especially when towing.

Trans temp is already in the PCM so you just need to add it to the CTS3.

Here is my thread of when I purchased the CTS3:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ine-light.html

On the Blue Spring, I haven't heard of any issues with the factory cover. Sounds like someone is trying to sell billet covers. Never had a leak on mine. The OEM kit usually includes a new cover anyways.

For low-side engine oil pressure that's something I've looked into. The simplest location is the factory oil pressure switch. To keep the factory dummy gauge working you would need to adapt to a tee that would allow both the pressure sensor & factory switch to both be connected. I've thought about it, but never actually did anything with it as these motors don't seem to have a lot of LPOP issues. With the cost of the pressure sensors I decided coolant pressure was more important than oil pressure.

 

Thanks for your comments. I will check on the transmission temp monitoring before I make arrangements to purchase an external guage of some type. I will also give glowshift gauges further consideration. It seems that Isspro does not have any re-sellers in Canada.

 

Thanks FiveOJester for you advice and comments on setting up your CTS monitoring; I will post my results of trying to monitor more than 16 guages.

I may hold off on the engine oil pressure guage for the time being as it does seem somewhat more complicated to wet up. I do agree that monitoring coolant pressure is more likely to reveal a potential problem, assuming that the engine low oil pressure may not be a frequent scenario (and I still can look into adding it at some point later). From what location are you monitoring the engine coolant pressure - splice into a hose, or the more elegant solution of installing the sensor into the Degus (sp) container. (So far I do not see any evidence of coolant overflowing).

Thanks very much

 

For coolant pressure you can go either into a hose or the degas. I honestly haven't gotten around to installing mine, but I was going to drill/trap the degas bottle at I think that will be cleaner. Also that ensures the sensor is in the air/vapor space and not liquid which could give false high readings.

There's a lot of meat up there and I haven't heard of anyone having issues with it breaking off, etc. You do have to make sure you drill it between the internal stiffeners. We discuss this in my thread from last year (man I've been procrastinating!):
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-location.html

 

Hi All.

My 6.0 guage project is progresing, albeit slowly. The CTS3 has been installed and is working fine; I do have some adjustments on Pid choices to make and have not yet set up Alerts. I wil begin the Alerts soon. So far the guages do not show any major concerns. I can also report that the CTS3 is not limited to 16 guages, and I am pleased about that.

I am now wanting to finalize my choice with respect to the best way to moniter fuel presure. Here are the options and issues from my point of view and would appreciate advice on:

1. Use CTS3. The EAS option would do the job well, and would have the advantage of being able to incorporate fuel pressure data with other items I am monitoring via the CTS3. Possibly this may be useful at some point, but perhaps not a major item for practical purposes. The The EAS accssesories are quite expensive, but should not be difficult to install. The Alerts are a key advantage. The main item I am struggling with is that it takes a while for the CTS3 to startup delay and the fuel pressure is not shown right at the beggining. One would not see the fuel pressure during the simple "key on" stage (or am I mistaken) prior to trying to start the engine and having the guages start up. While this may be a disadvantage, is the delay a critical problem ?
2. Glowsoft. Probably the most inexpensive option (which is good). Seems to have a somewhat mix reliability history, but likely is a decent option and plausible option. I assume tha the glowsoft guage will not have a start up delay like the CTS guages (correct me if I am wrong), which would be an advantage. A key disadvantage is that the glowsoft guage will not provide an Alert like the CTS3 option, and one may not notice the pressure drop while driving (I am concerned about this). What have current glowsoft fuel pressure guage users experience ?
3. ISSPRO. Not an inexpensive option, but seems to have reasonable reputation. I expect the ISPRO fuel pressure guage should start up quite quickly, without the "CTS delay." Fortunately, ISSPRO EV2 product line does provide an Alert, but only visualy rather than audibly as well like the CTS3 can do. Does anyone have the ISSPRO EV2 guage and how has that worked.

My thinking right now is the the ISSPRO EV2 may be the BEST option, unles my concerns about the "CTS delay" or softglow's inability to provide an Alert are incorrect.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Regarding your question on the CTS3 fuel pressure not showing at initial startup, not really a concern as most of your fuel pressure issues will typically start showing themselves at heavier loads, not the light load at startup. You can wakeup the CTS3 prior to starting the engine by touching the screen or unplugging/plugging it in. I do this after a fuel filter change and cycle the key (engine off) until I see good, steady pressure at the fuel pressure sensor (typically 3-4 cycles of the key).

I've been running the CTS3 fuel pressure for about a year an no concerns. Cost is definitely high, I need to figure out whom makes their sensors so I can just buy those vs the Edge branded ones. No mfg's stickers on them unfortunately

 

Thanks Dave for the additional explanation with respect to up-front fuel pressure monitoring methods with the Edge products. I will proceed with the Edge products. While it is espensive, it does provide Alerts (which I consider as critical) and avoids having to find space to add more external gauges. (My truck came with autometer for EGT and Boost on the A piller; I may want to add a second EGT sometime in the future).

A coupe of pactical questions. Did you use a "remote connection" for locating the fuel pressure sensor away from the engine ? If so, would it have been the product from Glowsoft, or the product from Strictly Diesel with the Schrader fuel bleeder ? The fuel bleeder sounds useful, but may not be required as the 6.0 seems to take care of air purging OK during the engine cycling routine when changing filters. I am wondering if any finds the Schrader valve to be helpful ?

Thanks very much,
Llew

 

I did get a remote mount for the fuel pressure sensor. I ended up mounting the sensor next to the driver-side battery with a hose going under the air filter and up to the fuel bowl. Got it from Driven Diesel. Turned out pretty nice. I got with the schrader valve. It's nice for bleeding the air out at initial startup and I'll bleed some fuel out periodically just to keep it fresh. I've been doing it every fuel filter change.

I ended up zip tying the sensor to the negative cable from the driver-side battery.

https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/...PAKIT-60l-ford

Picks of the setup in this thread (near the bottom)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ine-light.html