First, I tried to search the forum so if someone can direct me to previous threads, that'd be great. We have a 2006 6.0L F350 diesel (unfortunately). Bought it used from a private dealer with about 135K on it a couple of years ago. Very soon we noticed the water in fuel issue. We have kept it emptied on a regular basis. The truck only gets driven a couple times a month or to take on a trip pulling a trailer (1,200 lbs) several times a year. The next issue was you could not turn it off and turn it right back on. Wouldn't start. Had to let it sit for a while. Recently, grey/black smoke came out of the exhaust several times after starting. Now it is cutting out every few miles. We are not driving it anymore until we can get it serviced. From research it sounds like it could be EGR, oil cooler and/or head gasket issues. We only know the basics about cars/trucks and are pretty ignorant when it comes to a diesel. Can anyone help or steer us in the right direction. Sad thing is we owe more than what it is worth (tacked on the remainder of a Durango we owned) and now this. Feels like we are stuck. Thanks.

 

Sounds like maybe a couple problems going on. Do you still get the Water In Fuel light? How old are the fuel filters? Do you know what brand of filters are in it?

You are correct to consider EGR for black smoke issue. Other possibilities are turbo sticking, or excessive fuel (injector issue).

Are you having to add coolant to keep the coolant level up?

Dieing while it's going down the road could be related to the other things above but are often an issue in the High Pressure Oil System or electrical like a chaffed wire (or chewed on by critters) or sensors.

I would ask anyone you know who has a desel truck where they get their repairs done. It can get very expensive if you take it to the wrong place.

And welcome to FTE .

 

And your not too unfortuante, you have a powerful motor that just needs a little TLC

 

No coolant issues and it doesn't overheat. Some other info. When we drive it the cutting out gets worse the lower the fuel level is. If it shows 50-60 miles till empty, we'd better get fuel in it quickly. That and the not being able to restart it right away are the main issues. I will also add that for several months in the late winter/early spring you could turn it off and back on with no wait time. Then recently the black smoke issued two times after starting and would dissipate after being run for a bit. Now the cutting out is worse. I have found one diesel repair shop in this area. Hoping it is not major as we still have about 3 years left to pay on this. Thank you for responding and for the welcome.

 

This is a big fat guess but I suspect a leak in the high pressure oil system. This can easily be verified by a shop by putting an air hose on the engine and listening for air leaking out in suspected areas. Should not cost a lot to diagnose.

Given the slow progression of how it's getting worse, I would suspect two parts. Stand pipes and dummy plugs. There are one of each under each valve cover. The parts aren't terribly expensive but it is a bit of work to replace them. Labor costs will be higher than parts.

A word of caution, many shops who don't know this engine well are prone to suspecting/replacing the high pressure oil pump. While it can fail, the '05 and newer trucks have a redesigned pump that is quite reliable.

If you feel comfortable trying a couple things, I would buy a Motorcraft fuel filter set and replace those first. While the Motorcraft are more expensive, there is a mesh cloth on the lower filter that blocks water. Very important on these engines. There are instructions on how to change them in the tech folder or do a youtube search and watch a video. It's pretty straight forward.

Some have posted they had starting/ running issues with the wrong oil filter. I'll post a picture below. If you have the tall cap, it would be a good idea to install the correct oil filter and cap on there. The factory fits very precisely and presses a drain back and bypass valves inside the oil filter housing. The aftermarket filters often require adapters and spacers to work even close to right. If they get left out, or the correct filter is installed under the wrong cap it can cause performance issues and not filter at all.

If you want to go a little deeper, the next thing would be to pull the EGR valve and clean it. It's front and center (almost) on the engine, I electrical connector and two bolts. They can be a pain to get out if they are very dirty so a small pry bar could come in handy also.

It's good that you're not loosing coolant. It gets head gaskets, cracked heads and the EGR cooler off the radar for now. Head gaskets are one of the more expensive repairs common to these engines.

Hope I'm not overloading you but saying "fuel filters, oil filter, clean EGR, find a good shop for diagnosis (air test). Suspect dummy plugs/standpipes leaking." Isn't as much fun to type .

P.s forgot to mention a fuel pressure check would be a good idea.

 

I highly recommend getting some gages and learning a little about the engine before taking it to any shop other than SDS or similar.


If you have an Android phone or tablet, spend $25 on Torque Pro and a good (not the mini ones) OBDII Blue tooth reader. Otherwise spend about $135 and get a Scan Gauge II reader. Get some date and start a thread with that data. The FTE members can eliminate some things and point you in the right direction before taking it to any shop. Torque Pro is a better error code reader. You could have some error codes without the engine light being lit.


Some key data you will need to get started include,


1. ICP and ICPV
2. IPR and IPRV
3. FICM voltage (all four of them)
4. Boost
5. ECT
6. EOT
7. VGT
8. EBP

 

Not overloading me at all. We certainly appreciate the suggestions. And after viewing the filter pics my husband believes it is the wrong one that's installed. Great ideas of some things we can check out before getting too extensive. Will keep you guys updated.