I thought I'd start a thread about our new-to-us F350, 4x4, Shortbox, 2005 6.0 diesel. We shopped around for some time until we found one that we like a lot. Now that we have it and are driving it, inspecting it in, out, and under, I know I'm going to have a bunch of questions...

Here's the rig:


It has 95,000 miles (154,000 km) on it with 2500 hours on the engine. The Ford dealer did a Ford parts brake job on it and changed the rear pinion seal and threw in a bunch of fuel and oil filters for us as part of the purchase price that was very fair. It's super mint/clean inside and looks better underneath than from the curb. The engine purrs and runs as nicely as the nicest 6.0 we've been in. The vehicle is tight, handles beautifully and has good rubber.

We don't know if it ran with a tuner, but the OBDII port is missing the cover boot. It has a new alternator and egr and a Ford friend ran the VIN for me for warranty work. The egr is in place. I want to put in an egr cooling by-pass tube. The CarProff was clear.

(1) Here's the 1st snag... What the heck are these wires for? Anyone know?? I have already wrapped the red. It was folded back from the other 3 wires... They are all wrapped up tight now, for the time being.



(2) The next question is how to manage the computers. I need to get a code reader and a tuner to do the egr delete. I think a SCT X3 Power Flash Handheld Programmer/Tuner like this one: SCT Flash Tuner Programmer 6.0L Ford Powerstroke Diesel SCT X3 With Custom Tunes | eBay
is a "full meal deal". Right? I'm building a buggy with a Ford Explorer 5.0 OBDII V8 so I think I can use it for that, too. Can these remove the PATS anti-theft from the Explorer computer I wonder?

Thanks everyone. We are really happy with our purchase and want to stay away from the low voltage troubles from the FICM to the injectors, plugged EBP tubes and egr valves, plugged cooling channels in the oil coolers, low fuel pressure problems and, well, the usual issues. It seems some of these problems can cascade from one to the other if maintenance is poor or from shear dumb bad luck. I'd like to be on top of things from the start. The first thing is to do an oil change using Mobil1 5W-40 Synthetic "For Tubo Diesels" using a Ford oil filter and to change out the 2 fuel filters first thing tomorrow.

So, what the heck are these wires to and can I get everything I need from the SCT X3? Thanks.

 

Those are wires that allow you to power accessories out side the cab without punching/drilling holes in the firewall. If you look under the dash between the parking brake and service brake pedal you should see a matched set of wires sticking out of a loom. The wires shouldn't have any power/electricity on them in stock form. This is assuming the PO (previous owner) didn't wire something up to them.

Can't help with the SCT tuner/scanner; I run with an AE and it does everything I need.

 

Those wires are for the up-lifter switches on your dash, they run there for you to easily wire anything aftermarket to them.

As far as tuning SCT is defiantly the best IMO as well as many others.
Get custom tuning for your truck its worth the extra money.
I have custom SCT tunes from: Gearhead Automotive Performance Which are the best for a 6.0 IMO

 

Those wires do not go to the upfitter switches....they are, as was said before, pass through wires to gain access from the engine compartment into the cab. The pass through wires come out under the fuse block on the drivers side of the dash and the upfitter wires come out of the loom above and behind the same fuse block.

The upfitter wire colors are as follows:

Aux-1 Circuit No 1936 wire color: Orange/Lt. Green [30amp]
Aux-2 Circuit No 1933 wire color: Orange [30amp]
Aux-3 Circuit No 1934 wire color: Orange/Yellow [10amp]
Aux-4 Circuit No 1935 wire color: Orange/Lt. Blue [10amp]


https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...bb_pdf/160.pdf

 

zhilton, lakewood, thanks. I'm glad to still have a clean and stock unmessed with truck. Those wires had me worried. So now I can get back to the garage jobs.

 

you don't need a tuner. You don't want a tuner yet, even if you do want one later.

You do need a monitor, and you want that first before you do anythng else.

the four pass-thru wires are on all trucks, but only some have upfitter switches.

 

I've been through the truck top to bottom front to back and blacked out (flat black Rustoleum) the diffs and frame.

I changed the fuel filers and did an oil change and filter using Mobil 1 5W40Synthetic for Turbo Diesels and checked the air filter- It was ok and the Filter Minder reads fine.

I'm wondering what I should do next... I'm thinking an egr delete and while I'm at it with lots of the top off, I can change out the tensioners pulley and any idler pulleys.

I usually do this when buying a used vehicle and have never had a break down. I think it is good preventative maintenance.

Is there a mean life to the 6.0 egr coolers? My truck has 95,000 miles? Thanks for your opinions, guys.

 

BTW- our truck had Napa filters in it and they sure are different from the Ford Motocraft OEMs. The napa fuel filter on the frame didn't even have the inside o-ring section. Very cheap.

 

Hello Idahoser. Thanks for the information. I'm in Creston, BC, just 7 miles north of the border. We're down in Coeur d'alene, Idaho and Spokane, Wash all the time buying steel, or parts at Spladings.

I don't need more HP. I'm 54 and my foot isn't as heavy any more. We'll just use this for occasional trips with a camper in back or run empty as a daily driver. I'm not even interested in more economy if the engine is told to run any leaner.

I must be able to read/clear codes and be able to do an egr delete, and make other alterations as I wish. I also want a single device, if cheaper than 2 separate ones, to display data such as FICM Voltage, eot and ect...

I've soldered from scratch and programmed an EFI system and engine harness for my Vette LT1 and know what damage can occur and how easy it is to screw up.

I've been in a buddy's 6.0 with an older Bullydog running the 100% tune (I've read that this tune has ruined many engines real fast). I can't afford that kind of engine damage... actually, it's my wife's daily driver... I can't afford her wrath if it breaks.

I'm going to be pulling the plug on something soon. So far I'm thinking about a ScangaugeII and an SCT.

 

I'm not in Idaho anymore, I'm in TN now. was stationed at Mtn Home for a few years.

Take it a step at a time and research before you do anything. Sounds like you got a good oil and that you swapped aftermarket filters for Motorcraft, which is good. Also you must have the Ford oil filter cap, some aftermarket filters come with a cap that will not work with proper filters, and the people that buy those have a tendency to throw out the real cap. Make sure you have a Ford cap.

These air filters do last forever and are superior to any aftermarket offering anywhere close to stock.

ScanGauge is a good monitor. As are the Edge Insight devices and a few others I've only read about. You do have to pick from a small group that speak 6.0L fluently. They aren't very good code readers. For that, there is nothing better than the AutoEnginuity connector and software with the Ford bundle that runs on your computer. Nearly as good as what the dealerships use. No sense wasting time and money on intermediate steps, to my way of thinking. It's less expensive than the Edges. Pick a monitor that you like (the ScanGauge isn't all that pretty, but is much cheaper than the Edges) and get the A/E for everything else, is what I did.
Except for having to have the laptop hooked up, the A/E does everything, including monitoring. That's the purpose of the additional monitoring device.

All of these are showing you the data from the truck's own computer. Some can show more parameters than others, but they all get the important ones.

There are at least a couple of things that are not present in the data from the truck, such as fuel pressure and EGT, that people seem to think are important.

These can be added only drilling holes and adding sensors, since the truck does not monitor them itself. They can be displayed either on discrete dial gauges in a pod, or you can buy add-on kits from Edge to display them on their CS and CTS devices (I think that's right anyway). With or without those added, the Edge devices look the best. But, when you've added all that up, it's a pretty penny.

I have no knowledge but have seen some interesting discussion of using an Android device to display the "Torque" app, using a bluetooth ELM327 (or something similar to that) adapter that plugs into the OBDII port. There seem to be cheap ones that may work, and more expensive ones that should work. To spend the money to get "should work", you're approaching the other devices in cost.

Anyway, a lot of the "stuff" you can plan to do under the hood should wait until you get good data from a monitor. You may not need to do anything yet but the coolant change and filter.

 

What was said about the napa filter is true . They come with a new cap and it does not work with a motor craft one . You need a stock ford cap . With the wrong cap and right filter ( MC ) your oil is not getting filtered and it can and will take out the IPR valve .

 

I wouldn't use a Bully Dog or Banks tuner on any 6.0L powered truck that has an automatic tranny. They've got a really nasty habit of causing all kinds of damage to the valve body.

 

Oh, did I read in another thread that you were looking at Great Falls to possibly retire to? Maybe it's too late on Sunday for my brain to work!

I was thinking that the Scangauge2 is easy to use and displays the data I want to read.

The SCT is a good programmer to do my egr delete and anything else that comes up. I did look at AutoEnginuity and it is very interesting. I'm not interested in drilling egtemp and I thought I'd just install a fuel pressure gauge under the hood when I needed to. There are so many choices... I'm doing a road trip a a couple of days so I still have some time to mull things over... Thanks for the info and ideas.

 

The fuel pressure gauge under the hood isn't all that helpful as that is something you need to monitor while you're driving, especially under hard acceleration.

 

well I don't have one yet so this is just from reading these forums, but I understand EGT is something you do want to monitor when towing.

Basically, I understand that generic 'diesel' knowledge is not especially useful with the 6.0L. That's a caution when you choose mechanics, I read a lot. They can do more harm than good if they aren't familiar with what's been learned after Ford gave up on the engine after all their legal troubles with International.

I would have to say that learning on these forums and choosing what you want from this info is a lot more important than 'typical' diesel stuff. If these guys say EGT is important, I'm gonna listen.

I have no plans to go back to Idaho, must have been somebody else.

I would not put off the monitor. In addition to FICM and HPOP health, the biggie is oil cooler efficiency. If that's borderline, you could find yourself facing a lot of expense.