Hello Everyone,

I am new to the forum and new to owning a diesel. I have picked up a 2006 F350 Lariat with the 6.0L PS. I love the truck and everything about it. I am interested in obviously making the engine bulletproof and gaining some power.

I have tried to research as best as I can through powerstrokehelp.com and also the forums. All of the things that are explained on powerstrokehelp.com do make sense but most reviews on other sites call the guy a fraud.

From what I understand, I should definitely do the EGR delete kit. I know there are tons of different manufacturers out there so I will try to choose one wisely. I also understand the head bolt upgrade kit is something I should be doing to bulletproof the 6.0 problems.

As far as power is concerned, I am not looking to go down the drag strip but just gain a little more power and boost fuel economy. I was thinking mild programming and a 4" exhaust.

I have some questions about the tuning and programming as well as the exhaust:

1. In Pennsylvania where I live I am not required to get any emissions done. I am legally allowed to remove the catalytic converter as well as the muffler. My question being should I keep a muffler on and lose the cats or take it all off and run straight pipe all the way back? Also, will I need to upgrade the intake in conjunction with the exhaust?

2. As far as programming goes..... All I have looked at so far was Banks. They sell a kit that contains mild programming to boost HP and Torque which includes the intake, intercooler, ram air system, exhaust and the 5" display showing EGT's etc... It seems to be ridiculously explensive.......is there a cheaper option or are all of the systems going to be around the $4000 price range??

Again, I am not trying to blow tires off of this thing just rather get better fuel economy, a little more power for pulling and most importantly gaining reliability for the 6.0 engine.

I hope that I get some responses I can decide off of because there is so much information on the internet regarding this but I would rather hear it from people who have been there and done that. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you in advance.

Rob

 

Just to clarify, even though your state does not do emissions testing does not mean that it is legal to remove the catalytic converter. It is actually illegal under federal law, as I understand it. That said, without state testing, the chance of getting caught is probably slim to none. As for what is best regarding the exhaust and performance, economy, etc., you can take off as much as you want, and the stock intake can keep up with it unless you are doing some serious tuning/upgrades in other areas.

For programming, most recommend against Banks. SCT seems to be the one that consistently gives good results.

EGR delete is not really a necessity. The problems with the EGR cooler typically develop after you have an oil cooler that is plugged up, so by the time you need to replace the EGR cooler, you already have serious issues. The key is to monitor your oil temp vs. coolant temp (should be less than 15 degrees difference at normal operating temp, highway speeds, relatively level road, and unloaded). You can do that with an OBDII gauge (such as Scangauge II) or regular gauges. A coolant filter setup is also recommended to avoid your oil cooler plugging up, as casting sand from when the block was cast along with other junk circulating in the coolant is what causes it.

 

Sounds like you are sort of on the right track. Delete the EGR cooler, stud the heads, and while you are that deep, rebuild the oil cooler.

1. I personally like the sound of an aftermarket muffler. A good turbo-back MBRP exhaust with the cat deleted would be real nice. Leave the stock intake alone. Flows plenty of air.

2. Don't buy Banks programming. It won't be able to cut the Check Engine Light off that your going to get when you do the EGR delete. Get you an SCT X3 with some good custom tunes from Innovative diesel. Can't go wrong with that.

Hope this helps.

 

For a stock truck or mild tune, these are not really necessary in my opinion unless you already have issues with one of them. If you keep an eye on the temps and use the coolant filter, you should be able to avoid them. If they do happen to pop up down the line, then you can always do them at that time. They will, of course, go a long way to making it bulletproof, but that's a lot of time and money invested for something that can be avoided in many cases.

 

Some valid points made, but this is a USED 6.0L. Who knows how the original owner treated it. It could have had 17k behind it 5 days a week.

 

Agreed. Looking at the temps will give a good idea of the condition of many of those items, however.

Somewhat along the same line of questions, if a truck did develop a head gasket issue, would the repair be any more expensive than doing the studs beforehand? Would one normally pull the heads and do the gaskets when doing studs preventatively? If not, then that's certainly a case for doing them even on a stock or mildly tuned motor.

 

Thanks guys for the quick replies. I am on a budget so I am trying to do all I can to save some $$ and not have to worry about my engine blowing. All in all I am still confused on whether or not to do the EGR delete and rebuild the oil cooler. I have not had any problems whatsoever as far as the truck running good. Do I just get the gauges and the cooler filter with some mild tuning and the exhaust? If so, what exactly is the cooler filter and where do I get one? If I do decide to just do the exhaust with a muffler and no cats, do I need to get an aftermarket air filter or is the stock one just fine? As far as gauges, do I go with the actual gauges that mount on the side pillar or get a screen type gauge such as the Banks IQ? I am going to stay away from Banks since they are really expensive but is there someone else that makes a screen with gauges or I am just better off with the old fashioned gauges? In addition, will I see a good increase in power with mild tuning and exhaust without doing the EGR delete? Thanks again, I am trying to get everything I want to do down to the smallest list possible so I can finally start adding some aftermarket parts..... Thanks guys!

 

http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=324

Here is a link for the coolant filter. This is the most common one. There are others out there.

 

Like others have said an SCT with custom tunes is the way to go.
I have tunes from Innovative diesel and they are good but I like the tunes from Matt at Gearhead for my daily driving, they are smoother on mt truck.
A coolant filter is a must along with getting rid of the gold coolant and get a Cat rated ELC.
Also run a good synthetic oil, and change it regularly. ( no more than 5K )

 

Thanks for the link..........not a bad deal for $130! Gold coolant? Are you referring to the ford coolant? As far as the SCT..........that is just the programmer and not a "chip" correct?

 

Don't do the egr delete. It's not needed, and there will be NO performance difference with or without it. What is recomended now, by lots of techs and members on here, is to leave the egr system alone. If you do, down the road, need to replace the egr cooler install a bullit proff diesel one. They have had very little to no failures.

As far as the intake goes. Stick with the oem one. It flows as much or more than any on the market, and filters way better. A lot of the a/m intakes are known to cause problems such as turbo dusting.

As far as tunning goes. You need to stick with a tuner that will do custom tunes. Those are the safest way to go. I recomend the SCT with tunes from either Eric at innovative diesel, or Matt at gearhead automotive. The only other tuner I would recomend is the Spartan Phanlx (spelling??), with there custom tunes it's a little pricy, but it's like they say you get what you pay for.

For gauges it's up to you. You can get the analog gauges (minnimum of EOT, ECT, EGT, and Fuel pressure). You can also get one of the OBDII style gauges (screen). The ones that are really recomended are the EDGE CTS, or the DashDaq. If you go with a OBDII one you will still need to add senders for FP, and EGT as the computer doesn't monitor those.

Another thing, not mentioned yet is, don't buy a tuner with the mind set of gaining MPG. The chances are you will not see any significate gain, if any. You will end up being dissapointed. They are after all a performance mod first.

As far as exhaust go with a 4" turbo back with a cat delete pipe.

Since we are talking about reliability. Make sure to only use OEM, international, or Racor filters for your truck. The other "will fit" filters are known to cause problems as well. Change your oil every 5k or less with syn 5W40, fule filters every 10K with oem ones. Also if you stay with the ford gold be sure to do a good flush every 50K. Transmission every 50K with either mercon SP, or Mercon LV only. I made the switch to ELC coolant myself.

 

Yes the Ford coolant is known to clog ERG and oil coolers.

 

Thanks guys..............I think this is the list I am going with let me know your thoughts and/or your blessing. The last thing I want to do is sacrifice reliability. Here is the list:

1. 4" Turbo back exhaust (with or without a muffler?)
2. Coolant Filtration System
3. SCT X3 Programmer from Eric at innovative diesel
4. Gauges - EOT/ECT/EGT/FP

Two questions......

1. Will I notice a difference in power?
2. Will I sacrifice any reliability at all?

Thanks.

 

So what is the recommended coolant these days? I just picked up 4 gallons of Zerex g-05 to dump into my truck this weekend after I put it all back together.

 

any time you play with factory tuning your going to have a trade off. that trade off will not ever change. More power/more torque = less reliability. sorry but thats just the facts.

the more you want in reliability the more money you will need to spend.