I've been dealing with a cold starting issue on my 2006 F350SD 6.0. Per advice given here, I have switched to Rotella T6 5W-40 Synthetic. I have also installed two new 850CCA batteries as of today as my other two were going dead in 15-20 seconds of cranking if the old girl didn't catch on the first go. Temps have been hovering around 30 deg. F at night. I will be installing a cord to the block heater tomorrow as it currently doesn't have one.

But I was wondering. Ford lists the passenger side battery as Primary and the driver's side as Secondary. If the two batteries are not being loaded equally, wouldn't it make sense to switch them every year and keep the wear more equal? If I was to do that, would a memory saver be required if I only disconnected one battery at a time? I've seen conflicting info on this last point.

Truck will be pulling an RV, so alternator will need to charge three batteries part of the time.

Let me know if you guys need any additional info.

 

I think you have other issues. Back when I had an '05 it never had a problem starting under 0*F without being plugged in and even with 15w40. If you are cranking for 20 seconds there is air in the fuel or some other major problem. Glow plugs could also be failing if it is taking that long.

Don't think the battery thing will make any difference.

 

We'll see what happens the next couple days. I haven't tried a cold start after installing the new batteries. The 15-20 seconds that I quoted referred to 2-3 starting attempts total. A lot of the problem seemed to be that the combination of heavier oil and weak batteries was preventing the engine from spinning fast enough to start sufficiently to keep running. Noticed a huge difference in the turnover speed this evening with the new batteries. Will be going to warmer climate for next three months eff 1/1/12 so just need to keep things going until then as she starts fine in warmer weather. Will look at glow plugs and other issues upon return.

My real curiosity now is my original question on whether or not to swap the batteries on a maintenance basis.

Thanks for your input though.

 

I seconding the motion that I think the problem is not your batteries.

I have an 03 6.0 and it's my daily driver. When I bought the truck back a couple of years ago, it still had the factory originals in it. The truck had 34K miles on it when I bought it...today it has 148K on it. Last winter I perceived that the truck was cranking a little slower so I figured I'd better be safe and replace the batts. I went to Sam's and had them install a pair of new batts. I had an old dead batt that I put in the back of the truck thinking that I would keep the better of the two old ones for use around the place.

The tech checked both batts that were replaced and said both were still in great shape...so I really didn't need to replace them yet...even though that made the originals about 7 years old.

Your originals were newer than mine are. Your weather is colder than mine is...but your batts should hold us just fine. Really the only difference is that I do plug mine in when the temps drop below 40...mostly so that the heater warms up the cab quicker.

Have you had somebody (that you trust) check your batteries? That would be my first suggestion.

Your batts should be in better shape than what you indicate...unless you only fire her up monthly.

Let us know how it goes.

Joe

 

I just purchased my truck in March 2011. It has 85K on it now. I did not view the actual CARFAX on it, but the dealer said it was 'clean'. We needed a very specific truck layout to haul the new 5th wheel camper we purchased at the same time (12,000#) and I was having trouble finding something suitable in my price and mileage range. This one fit the bill and the exterior looked excellent. In the 5000 miles I have driven it, I have had no problems except the cold starting issue.

I do believe this truck was used for commercial purposes based on several things:
1. The hours are high for the mileage indicating a lot of idling
2. The roof of the cab has a small dent in it indicating that tools or equipment were
dropped there or something was hauled using the roof as support.
3. Minor damage to the plastic on the frame rails from dragging things in and out.
4. Holes drilled in the frame rails indicate toolboxes had been installed at one time
5. Upfitter switches have been activated - one of which activates idle control.
6. Headlight reflectors have approx. 1 1/2" holes drilled in them where strobe lights
were once installed.

I have no problem with any of this as the truck meets my needs in my price range. BUT, I recognize that some maintenance issues will undoubtedly arise as a result. One of the batteries I removed was not OEM. I have no way of knowing who put it in or if it was even new when put in. I didn't even look at the CCA rating. In any event, almost everybody will tell you that you are asking for trouble if you don't put in a matched set of batteries at the same time.

So, based on my unknown history and my need for reliability on the road with family and a large 5th wheel; I have replaced both batteries so that I have a known entity. Was there still life in the old batteries? Maybe. I don't know.

I will be in warmer climates for the next three months which will alleviate the cold starting problems for me. By the end of that 3 months, I will be ready for my 90,000 mile service at which time I will have a Ford Service Center do a complete diagnostic on the vehicle to see what other issues I might have.

I have located the block heater connection and verified that I do not have a cord attached. Apparently, if the vehicle was sold in warmer climates, Ford didn't put one on. I haven't checked yet, but I believe this vehicle originally came from Georgia. I will be picking up a block heater cord today at a local International truck dealership and will install tomorrow. Given where I park it, it's not difficult for me to plug the truck in when the weather is below 40. Just makes starting so much easier.

Temps were about 35 and wet last night. I'll post today's starting results with the new batteries by this evening.

 

I will start off by saying that I don't have a 6.0L...but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night . On a serious note I attended a Ford Diesel Engine event about 3 months back and an hour talk on the 6.0L. The talk was led by a diesel engine engineer from Navistar. He beat into our heads that one of the most common no-start/slow start issues on the 6.0L is from low oil pressure to the injectors. The most frequent cause is the oil reservoir in the top of the engine, that also acts as the filter housing for the cartridge filter, drains all of its oil out when the vehicle is shutoff. There is a small valve in the bottom of the housing that keeps oil in the housing. The filter itself, when properly installed, presses a button that keeps this valve closed locking oil into the reservoir when the vehicle is off. If the filter is broken, crushed, or not to manufacturer specs it does not press this button fully, or at all, and the oil drains out when the vehicle is parked. Since the injectors are oil fired this can cause slow or no start conditions.

He also said that the Wix filter is famous for this problem as it is not quite long enough. It is rebranded by Napa and many other auto parts stores. Not necessarily your problem and this may already be widely known on the forum but I thought I would share what I learned. Best of luck.

---Aaron

 

Aaron

This is a great post. I was already aware of what you have posted from earlier research. In fact, I returned a WIX filter and bought a Motorcraft as a result of that research. This is also the reason that Ford tells you to replace the filter BEFORE you drain the old oil. This way, the dirty oil trapped in the filter housing has a chance to drain into the sump and be removed with the rest of the dirty oil.

At the suggestion of another member here, I just changed the filter and went with Rotella T6 5W-40 Synthetic to try to get better oil flow to the injectors upon startup. I really think that much of my problem was due to weak batteries not being able to adequately heat the glow plugs, turn the engine over fast enough, and provide sufficient oil pressure to the injectors. We'll see if I'm right or wrong when I try to start it up later today.

Your post is great information for others.

Interesting that I don't have any responses on my original question though.

 

Pointless to swap without indications of a problem...just because

Get a Scangauge or voltmeter and just periodically monitor your battery voltage. I have both. You should be running a Scangauge II anyways. It'll tell you the status of your motor.

 

The reason I was asking was because I had seem some info (correct or not, I don't know) on the Internet that indicated the passenger side battery took a heavier load because it was closer to the starter. If that was true, it would just seem like overall battery life could be improved by periodic swapping back and forth within the same vehicle.

Just askin . . .

I'll look into a Scanguage.

 

So which is best - Scangauge E or Scangauge II?

 

Tap,

One followup since you have stated you had a wix in there previously. There is a gasket/washer at the bottom of the filter on the Wix filter that frequently falls of and stays behind in the housing. The engineer stated he had personally inspected engines that have a few of these stacked up in the bottom of the housing. If you did not look down in the housing when you swapped the Wix for the Motorocraft it is possible that there is one or more of these stuck down there. This can also cause even the OEM filter to not properly press down on the valve button and cause draining.

Best of luck with your issue!

 

Electrically that does not make a ton of sense. If both batteries are wired in parallel with no isolator or anything else between them, which I assume to be the case, then the load drawn from each of them, even when starting, should be the about the same. There will always be a very slight difference in load because of the difference in impedance (or in this case resistance since we are talking about DC loads but same difference). If the conductors interconnecting the batteries are sized properly for the expected loads then the difference in draw between them should be negligible and not a major factor in battery life.


---Aaron

 

Thanks for the additional info. Fortunately, I never did install the WIX. This was my first oil change on the - new to me - truck and I had been researching the forum on any special issues involved. The issue of non-Motorcraft filters came up and I decided to exchange it immediately rather than take any chances. Given the cost of the filter and the oil involved, the price differential between the WIX and the Motorcraft was insignificant.

But now that you have brought it up, I think I will pull the new filter and inspect the housing as I can't say what previous people have done. Should be able to do that with little or no oil loss given the housing and valve design. But I think I will wait until I'm in sunny Florida.

Did start the truck a few minutes ago and it was like night and day. Started in 3-5 seconds and smoothed out in about 20-30. Almost zero white smoke. Right now it's wet and 40. We'll see if I have the same results when it gets colder.

 

In 40°F weather, it should run smooth immediately. You shouldn't have to plug in until around 0°F, although there are many who would plug in whenever it is below freezing. I would recommend you spend plenty of time down in the 6.0 diesel forum to learn about all the possible issues, and how to avoid them.

As for the dual batteries, it won't make any difference which position a battery is in, unless you have marginal cable connections. In which case it would be prudent to fix the connections and forget swapping the batteries.

 

Interesting oil filter issues. I was wondering why there was no oil in the filter when I removed it, normally you fill up a filter before installing it. So the valve must go up as you unscrew the Cap with the tower spring pushing up on it.
The more I read, the more I see how important it is to have the proper filter. I replaced mine with the Fram, which was exactly the same as the motorcraft, photos to prove it.
Now for batteries, one bad battery will bring the other down. Sometimes, batteries do not wear equally. What I do once in a while is that I recharge them individually at low amp, fill up with distilled water if needed and reconnect.