Newbie Diesel Owner('s Friend) '06 F250 6.0
 

Hello. My best friend just bought a 2006 F250 (SD?) 6.0l with the six-speed (L + 1-5) transmission. Truck has ~180,000 miles and I think around 6785 hours on the engine. I got elected to be his truck's "maintainer" because he works 12-hour shifts an hour and a half from his house and because for the last few years, he's brought his vehicles to me for minor work and I haven't broken one yet (lol?).

The only thing he got with the truck besides the title was the generic owner's manual. I did some searching on the Internet last night, think I read something about there being a "diesel supplement" to the manual which had helpful & important information like, well, pretty much anything at all diesel-related (as the owner's manual doesn't appear to admit that they even exist). Is this supplement to the manual available anywhere for download? I'm sure he'll purchase a hard-copy if available but he's out of town and left the truck with me to do a few things to it before he gets home. I'd really like to get them done today - as would he - since he only got to drive the vehicle 12 miles after purchasing before he had to drive back to work.

It's funny, he never owned a diesel before. Last week, his Dodge V6 1500 packed it up on the Interstate (engine seized), leaving him in a bind. Didn't want a diesel, cost too much and he knows nothing at all about them. I found an ad for the 2006 F250, he went thinking it was a different one which was gasoline. Guy took him on a test drive, he bought it the next day, lol. $6400 for an extended cab (body is kind of "used," it's missing the tailgate, and some things don't work) long bed - I wonder if he got a deal?

Have to change the oil, oil filter, and both fuel filters today. Oil ought to drain real well at 18°F :rolleyes: . Went out 30 minutes ago and plugged in the engine heater. Looks like it's drawing 842 watts. I hope that's okay.

Will let it run for about another hour and go run it up and down the Interstate a bit to warm it up. Bought 36mm socket, oil (10w30 diesel oil, he'll put synthetic 5w40 in it next time, ran out of cash), filter w. o-ring, fuel filter kit.

I hope I can find my 6mm allen wrench to open the water separator. In case I cannot find it, can I change the lower fuel filter without draining the separator? Also, I remember reading a thread last night about that and some guys said a small quantity of fuel drained but two or three said it just kept on draining - one person stated his drained out 2.5 gallons of fuel before he figured out it was not going to stop. Kind of concerned about that with a truck of unknown condition.

Small (so far) list of things that don't work/aren't there:
Tailgate - MIA
Right License Plate Light - probably just bulb
Reverse Lights - Neither work, even when gear shift moved all around
3rd Brake Light & Bed Utility Lights - All dark, worried might be wiring, could be bulbs I guess
Glass - front side windows covered in vertical scratches. He might look into replacements in future (not nitpicking, they're bad)
Center Dome Light & DS Reading Light - Finally got the dome light cover off and saw the bulbs were smoked. Do I have to unhook the whole unit to replace the reading light bulb? The only one that had room to pull was the (center) dome light. Can someone tell me what bulb #s I need to buy at the parts store? Like to get this one done today.
Parking/emergency brake - won't even hold the truck on my driveway and its so flat a marble requires encouragement to move.
Probably lots more but I'm slow.
Oh yeah, how in the world do you get lots of dried mud out from inside the headlight housings, lol?

Any way to tell for sure what the rear differential ratio is on the truck? Also, along those lines, he hasn't a clue when to shift up/down for power/economy. I told him that if he's over 3600RPM he better be pulling an ambulance full of wounded out of a forest fire and be unable to upshift because he has a stretcher across the seats. Figure actual useful shifts take place far lower, though.

Actually, any way to tell anything else about the truck? VIN is there but he doesn't even know what month it was built because the sticker on the door jamb is long gone. So is every other sticker that might have had useful information on it (like the one under the hood that was probably there once).

Anything he should check / replace / do immediately? He's got a three-year loan and I told him the truck ought to outlive the loan, but I'm guessing there are the usual caveats to that. Also, any known things to be... concerned about with this engine/transmission setup?

Will be reading in the forums over the next week - and undoubtedly from time to time for the next several years - but kind of in a bind for time this weekend. So... Can you spare a (Ford) brother a little spoon-feeding, lol? (If not, well, I used to moderate a couple of forums and our search engine was probably the least-used feature - followed closely by the stickied threads - so I understand if you don't want to spend time answering the same questions that have been asked/answered 1,000 times before, and won't hold it against y'all.)

Thanks (MUCH!) in advance and sorry for the length of this post.

PS: Gauges. Only has the stock dash ones. First time I ever saw a boost gauge that started at 0psi, BtW. Anyway, what gauges would you recommend? Real boost gauge, EGT, I guess. Others? I have an Auto-Meter boost gauge, ended up with it when I owned my Buick Grand National, I assume it still works (never installed, got when I traded for a TA49 turbo) but it only goes up to 30psi. Will that be enough for this truck? Truck is probably all stock except the exhaust is cut off directly behind what's either the funkiest looking cat I ever saw or some kind of short fat resonator, and someone put a "performance box" under the hood up by the corner and hung a dial switch (two wire I think) from the dash, I think they're connected. PO told him it's a "six position performance chip" but he seems to have only owned the truck a month and IDK what it is. Will try to get a picture later today. Thanks again!

Holy crap, glad he got it cheap. Electrical problems can be a real pain. There is a Power stroke manual that you should be able to get over the internet fairly easy. Have him buy a Scangauge2 to monitor the motor.

Just drained the oil - no grit that I noticed, doesn't look like there's any water in it. Removed oil filter first so lines/etc. would drain (was tight, used breaker bar - :-huh ). Overflowed the top of my catch basin (:-arrgh). Must have drained a full 15 quarts, because it's a 15-qt. basin and she's full, fellas.

Will put new o-ring on filter cap, install filter, lube o-ring, reinstall cap so that next time I won't have to use my breaker bar just to change the oil. Guess PO forgot to lube o-ring? Too bloody cold out for me and uncle Arthur that came to visit about ten years ago and never left my joints, had to come in and thaw out my fingers.

Note to self: Next time, get open-top catch basin - and stop halfway, reinsert plug, pour some oil out of basin before resuming.

Can't find my 6mm allen wrench! Can I change lower fuel filter without doing the water separator drain? Will I regret trying, lol?

Yeah they take 15 qts. Make sure you use nothing but OEM filters. Oil filter # fl-2016 and fuel filters are fd-4616. You should be fine not draining the water seperator right now, just try to do it sometime soon.

Found heated garage. Much easier when fingers don't go numb.

I was able to find the allen wrench, so I drained the separator. And then I grabbed socket & ratchet and proceeded to loosen the lower fuel filter cap...

...only it wouldn't cooperate. Okay, swapped the ratchet for the breaker bar...

...and it wouldn't budge. Both arms on the breaker bar, still wouldn't budge. Hmm. Got my buddy (about 6'5", 285#, maybe ten ounces of it being fat) to put his foot against it. Saw him slide backwards. Moved truck so he was jammed against the wall, tried again. Turned the ~8° that you can turn a 36mm socket on the end of a ½" ratchet on the lower fuel filter on a 4wd F250 before hitting the driveshaft (and lucky for us it was a 6-point socket). Pulled socket, turned ¼-turn so it would allow for another small arc, put back on breaker bar, and...

...I still couldn't turn the thing with both hands. So he ended up using his foot while I stayed under trying to hold the socket tight against the cap (trying not to go crooked and round it off - or get hit in the forehead with socket + breaker bar + large boot), then I'd adjust the socket on the breaker bar, he'd use his foot, rinse lather repeat (lol). IDK how long we did that before he said, "You might be able to turn it now." Nope, repeat some more. Whole time it's screeching (dry o-ring?). Finally, I was able to turn the breaker bar with both hands. A while after that, I was able to turn it with the ratchet. I bet there are small-town bank vaults that are easier to get into.

Removed o-ring from cap, removed old filter (had to pull kind of hard) from housing, dipped new o-ring into oil and installed onto cap (rolled it even so it didn't twist or stretch (IDK if that's important but seemed like a good idea), snapped new one into the cap (<snap>), screwed on, snugged to about 10.3 ft. lbs. Replaced water drain plug, replaced fuel filler cap, cycled fuel pump 3x, started truck to idle. Chokingly remembered that I hadn't raised the garage door first ( :rolleyes: ). Remedied that, allowed truck to idle for about three minutes, shut down...

Looked like fuel was seeping from cap. <argh!>. Tightened tiny amount more, cleaned everything again, started/idled again, checked. Looked like fuel was seeping from cap. Tightened tiny amount more, cleaned, blah blah...

Looked like fuel was seeping from cap. At this point, I'm thinking that it's already tighter than spec and I really don't want to tighten it any more.

Not real happy with my performance on this. Not best pleased with the truck either, Ford is cordially invited to go perform carnal acts upon itself for the design/location, and if I ever found my hands around the throat of the guy that put that cap on before my buddy bought the truck no undertaker would ever have to worry about having to tend to his sorry remains because we've got a few old-school pig farmers in the area.

He drove it from garage to parts store, I put in new cargo/bed lights there, he drove it to show his brother the truck, then to a pizza shop (diesel-flavored pizza, yum), and to a convenience store. At the last stop he was parked on dry concrete. I looked on the concrete under the filter cap when he got ready to take off and there might have been a small drop of diesel. At that point, I didn't much care (lol - sort of).

I'll crawl under it and look at the cap next time I see the truck and a dry bit of concrete at the same time. I hope it doesn't look like a little fuel might be seeping.

Other than that:

</argh!></snap>

• <snap><argh!> Parking/emergency brake not functioning (rear brakes are, they locked up on me on an easy low-speed stop the last foot or so before the stop sign)</argh!></snap>
• <snap><argh!> ABS light on dash always on</argh!></snap>
• <snap><argh!> Reverse lights not functioning (checked one bulb, filament okay)</argh!></snap>

<snap><argh!>
Those three things he said were priorities. Are there threads for troubleshooting/repairing these issues, please?

Also, does anyone have a cheap source for decent quality headlights (entire units), a tailgate, and a grill?

After that, it's probably just a bunch of little things that he doesn't seem to worried about at present. Still seems reasonably happy that he bought the truck.

One thing I noticed when I ran it on the Interstate the other day to warm the oil prior to changing it was that at a steady 70mph on flat ground in 5th (err... not counting low as a gear, I guess), the boost on the factory gauge looked awfully high. But my main turbo experience was with a 1986 Buick Grand National (if I was under high boost, I was stuck to the seat like I was welded on), so I might be worrying about nothing. Looked like almost 20psi to me. He had to drive it ~20 miles on the Interstate to take it home last night and I told him to pay attention and try to estimate the reading at 70mph level ground high-gear cruise and let me know. He texted that he thought around 17-18psi. That's unloaded, no tailgate (probably less wind resistance than stock). Seem high to y'all? If so, what should we do?

Thanks, folks.


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Get the fumoto valve for the oil drain plug, makes it mess free changing the oil.

Be sure to ONLY use FORD OEM (made by Racor) Filters (Air, Oil, Fuel).

Be careful, if the prior owner used an aftermarket Oil Filter (they often have their own cap too). Then if you put in a Ford Filter it won't lock in properly, and you'll end up with UN-filtered oil and a big problem…

Dieselfiltersonline.com is a great source for Racor (Ford OEM) filters.

Only mess was due to using cheap parts store drain basin that has solid top with small drain to inside with one of those "can loosen but not remove" plugs and overflowing the top. Other than that (calling that one operator error because I should have told him to get one with the great big open hole with plastic grid across it), probably wouldn't have gotten a drop of oil on the ground. Plug is fine, threads aren't stretched. Might be a good part for people who have this engine in something that sits an inch off the ground or who insist on doing oil changes in a tuxedo with extremely shaky hands, maybe.

Is there a valve like that for the water separator port? Saw the brass thing that is mentioned here and elsewhere, IDK how easy it is to use with gloves whilst laying in inches of snow under the truck, lol, and would have to assume that an actual "turn handle, wait two seconds, turn handle back, drive off" valve would be much better. Especially if it included either a drain hose or threads to install your own. Not much room between it and the driveshaft, though, so IDK.

Did oil changes and minor mechanicals at a detail shop for six years, sometimes a few when owner wanted me in the back trying to keep people from burning off paint or otherwise costing him money, but too many other times doing 20-30 oc/day up front (especially after some idiot did something like drain the automatic transmission in a Honda thinking it was the oil plug and wondered afterwards why the oil was so high on the dipstick... or destroyed the engine on the one Lamborgini to have ever graced the shop with its presence, forgot to replace oil plug in (too many to mention), put oil in it, drove out leaving line of oil...). And as far as I'm concerned, if each and every one of the vehicles that I did oil changes on there was a 6.0l F250 with stock oil plug, I'd have been far happier. I think using a valve like that for an oil plug in this engine/vehicle is literally a solution without a problem.

Is Motorcraft the same thing as Ford (for filter purposes)?

Does Racor make a reusable cone (K&N type) air filter? Or would that sort of thing not be wise on this engine?

Is there an agreed-upon source for the best (delivered) price for Racor oil/fuel/air filters?

Cap looks like the ones in all the pictures that I see. Now you've got me worried, he's my best friend and IDK how to check for unfiltered oil. Truck idles quieter when it's below 20°F out, but that might just be the 10w30 diesel oil instead of whatever was in it (15w40, maybe). Be changing it again when Winter decides to hide for the year, perhaps he'll go to 5w40.

Oops, guess you answered that. They the cheapest or do they just sponsor forums? Think my buddy would rather donate and get cheaper filters, lol, then to pay say 20% more for the filters and have the company spend 5% of that for forum support (guessing, but I could ask him).

He's wanting to get the best fuel mileage he can out of it, long term. He's also hoping it might last him up to ten years. I'm going to try to talk him into going synthetic for oil, both differentials, transfer case, and (manual) transmission. Probably help a little?

That fuel filter cap shouldn't be that tight. Possible crack in it seeping fuel? Like I mentioned before, buy a device to monitor the vitals. This is more important then a grill or tailgate at the moment. He might have a problem that can be fixed cheap, unless he let's it go and it causes bigger problems.

I missed (forgot) about you mentioning the Scangauge2. I just did a Google search and it looks like there's different ones?

When I figure out what exactly it is (model #?), I'll see if I can find one cheapish and suggest it to him.

Oh, does it have a datalogging function? He can just about check his email (on his phone), IDK how much use it'll be unless he can have me check a log from time to time. He's still griping because trucks no longer have manual chokes, lol.

Thanks.

It does not have data logging. Auto zone sells them for $160. Sometimes you can get online pricing for $110-$130.
There are also smartphone apps like Dash boss for iPhone and Torque for Android.
All you need is the Bluetooth adapter and buy the app.