I'm beginning to believe the best repair for the 6.0 is to trade it in. I thought my bone stock, regularly serviced '05 with 75k miles was repaired after the FICM was reflashed. It smoked like a freight train after I picked it up from the reflash at which point I took it back to the dealer (dealer is a four letter word). The mechanic told me it smoked when I brought it in....absolute lie. I live 60 miles from that dealer and the smoke cleared about 15 miles up the road. I attributed it to them cranking while checking voltage and perhaps the fuel was loading up. Next day I drove it to work again and there was no smoke. Starting it today on a short trip and the smoke was back. I'll see if it clears up on the way home tonight. I'm gonna park with the nose down hill and pull the EGR to check for fluid. I'm moving to AZ and don't think I can get by with an EGR delete and make it through emissions. Contemplating trading to a 7.3. I've had my Excursion for 7 years now and have had less problems with it than with this 6.0 already. Probably not....but I'm pretty frustrated right now.

 

Could you explain that a little more please?

 

Mechanicaly the 6.0L & 7.3L are so close it would scare ya

maybe little diffrent parts but principle of operation same

 

I'm sure once this issue gets figured out I will fall back in love with the truck. Once the truck gets on my maintenance schedule & fliud choices; I'm sure it will love me back. It's not like I paid a new price for it and it did have regular service perfomed....maybe not as regular or high quality as I do. I've driven my 7.3 90k miles (145k total on it) with no issues except the cam position sensor which Ford covered under a recall. The transmission is getting tired in her but that's to be expected with some of the loads I've towed. I'm hoping to get a JW transmission after we move back to civilization. Sorry for the hi-jacked post. I was hoping someone subscribed could provide insight as to why the FICM reflash would cause a smoking issue. I plugged it in last night and had no smoke this morning. The dealer told me they checked glow plugs and they were good. They are running a check on the injectors today. A power balance check...

 

I didn't get a chance to pull the EGR but did talk to two different 6.0 "gurus" who both laid doubt on the EGR being at fault. I'm not losing coolant and the smoke clears after a few miles. It's raw fuel and not coolant. One suggested an injector is sticking open; possibly intermittantly and allowing fuel to drain into the cylinder(s). The extra fuel will burn off and clear the smoking issue. It still doesn't explain why it would happen after the FICM was reflashed though.

 

I'm Having this same problem.... I didn't reflash mine I just got a new one lol. And after doin the complete solution I'm still having the smoke. I think it's a dead/weak/ sticking injector. How do I determine which one if any are the problem?

 

I found some good reading on the injection system here: 6.0L Powerstroke Injectors

 

A cylinder contribution/balance test is a good way to see a cylinder that is weaker or stronger than the rest.
I agree it could be one or more injectors. To try and verify, you could also pull the fuel pump fuse and the fuel filter (top one) and watch for bubbles in the fuel at the bottom of the filter housing as the engine is turned over. If a injector is leaking, air from the cylinder will go backward throught the line and make bubbles. There is also a balloon test that will tell you which side is the problem. Lots more info in the Tech folder here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/30...ch-folder.html

 

In Addition to this^^^ if you have a DVM you can test the Coils to
2 coils per inject
1 on coil
1 off Coil
4 ohms or less and open to each other

BUT The Bubble test will probably yeild the best results in this Case

 

Turns out I was losing coolant and the EGR cooler went out. This wasn't very good timing because I've got movers coming on Monday. On a positive note; I suppose it's better it went out now than somewhere in the middle of Yukon Territory on my way to Arizona on the 20th. I wasn't prepared for the sticker shock of the repair though.

 

WOW those Round Coolers dont Fail Often

You Must Replace the OIL Cooler to


Id be Curious to the ECT & EOT Deltas you have Iv seen folks with the round EGR Cooler that had a 50* Temp Spread and still going down the road

 

Yeah. I have them doing the EGR delete, new oil cooler and told them to just do the head studs too. I've been busy trying to get my '53 F100 ready for the trailer ride to AZ. It's really odd that I had ABSOLUTELY no smoke before going to the Ford dealer (CW) in Anchorage and had a bug fogger when I came out. There's no way I was letting them do the rest of the work on it because the truck was fine when I brought it there. Coincidental......maybe but I'm suspicious. Suspicious because it's a 75k mile truck with all service records, one owner, never chipped, no aftermarket intake or exhaust, older couple. I didn't hotrod it and even plugged it in after one cold start incident.

 

Very Interesting things would change that Fast

Now I really would want to know the Deltas if I was you

Im not saying a EGR Cant Fail on its Own but Unlikely

 

Benny,

Wouldn't a plugged oil cooler cause the EGR cooler to go out? They're going to start on it on Tuesday. If I get a chance to break away from the movers, I'm going to try to make a trip to Anchorage and look at the damage. This shop has a really good reputation up here. They only work on Powerstrokes....nothing else.

 

What he is saying is that your EGR cooler is a different design than the later ones. Yours is a welded tube design like the ones BPD supply. They have a low failure rate. Yes, a clogged oil cooler puts stress on the oil cooler, but the early EGR coolers are much more capable of handling this stress than the leater designs.

Personally, I would want to be given back all of the old parts in a repair such as this.