Hello all,

I'm a posting newbie, so please be kind. I was driving my non-modded 2004 6.0 PSD Friday afternoon and it seemed to lose power. The gauges looked normal and aside from the slight loss of power, it felt and sounded fine. I gave it more fuel and the RPMs went up some, but power dwindled. This happened over the course of about 4 blocks. Just as soon as I was crossing traffic to pull into a gas station it died (it just kind of puttered out). Another F250 owner was nearby and pulled me out of traffic into the parking lot.

I suspected a fuel issue, so I called my wife and she took me to get new fuel filters, which I replaced in the parking lot. On my mobile phone I read on the FTE forums about the fuel filters while waiting for my wife. The old filters were dirty, but not filthy. These were changed with my last oil change approx. 5,000 miles ago. I tried to star the truck a few times, most of the time it just cranked, but would not "fire" and run by itself. Once it started and ran rough-ish, but when I put it in gear it wanted to die. Also, when I gradually gave it fuel it died. At this point I was hot and partially soaked in diesel (from the lower filter change) so I called the tow truck and had it towed home.

Caveat - I am new-ish to diesels. I have performed maintenance and repairs on all of my other vehicles, but am still learning the intricacies of the 6.0L.

Once home I read countless FTE posts with similar issues, but I'm limited in what I can do and/or test. The steps I took (not necessarily in order) are below:

1) Change both upper and lower fuel filters.
2) Drain water from HFCM.
3) Pulled EGR valve, cleaned, replaced O rings, reinstalled EGR valve. (pics to follow)
4) Pulled upper fuel filter and had wife turn key to KOEO position. Filter bowl filled with fuel fast, so I assume pump is working fine.
5) Borrowed scanner from O'Reilly Auto and hookked it up to the truck. The truck had no codes that the scanner would read.
6) Pulled FICM, resoldered 8 posts and reinstalled.
7) Unhooked batteries and recharged to 100% since I thought all of the cranking drained them some. (I only cranked for 5-10 seconds at a time and let it cool down before trying again). Pretty much when I try something new I first try starting it as if it will miraculously start this time.
8) While unhooking passenger batter I notice the positive clamp is questionable, so I install a new clamp and hook it up to the newly-recharged battery.

I didn't check the FICM with a multimeter prior to soldering since 1) I don't have a multimeter and don't know how to use one, and 2) I could have only tested it while not running since it won't start. I figured re-soldered terminals would be good for it even if this wasn't the cause of the no-start problem.

Aside from it not starting I wouldn't think there's anything wrong with it. No CEL or other lights on the panel and the gauges looked fine. After I tried to start it a couple times I went back and smelled the exhaust. It did not have a heavy diesel smell, so that led me to question the fuel pump prior to Step #4, which showed me the pump was working. If this were a gasser, it's acting like it isn't getting a spark.

So, now that I've burned up most of my Memorial Day weekend either under the hood or on the FTE forums researching the problem, I think I'm ready to take it to a diesel tech on Tuesday. What I'm wondering now is- Are there any other tests that you think I could do prior to sending it off? Does anyone want to take a guess as to what the problem is before the techs get ahold of it?

You guys have helped me many time over with the informative posts, so I'm curious to your ideas on this.

Thanks in advance!
Todd

 

Sorry it's so long, I just didn't want to leave anything out that may have been a detail that would be helpful in diagnosing this.

 

Thats Great^^^^Best thing to do^^

Unplug ICP sensor and try to start

 

Here are my EGR Pictures.

Each side, directly after pulling the EGR valve out.




The port, after pulling out the EGR valve. Note, most of the crud chunks fell out of the EGR's "upper chamber" when pulling it out.




EGR after cleaning it with carb cleaner and an old toothbrush. I also replaced the O rings.




I don't think there's much to use here to help diagnose my no-start problem, but it might be interesting for some of you to see just hot gunked-up the EGR was.

The truck has 270,000 miles and I bought it late last summer. Obviously this has not been cleaned in a long time (if ever), but I will be cleaning it on a routine basis.

 

do you have OEM OIL Filter Cap??? this one very important got to be shure


How about this^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Thanks Blade, I'll go unplug the ICP in a few minutes, I just have to find a post on where the ICP is.

 

And now just think your WHOLE Intake Manafold and ALL Sensors within are clogged with that Junk

Your Intake needs to be pulled and cleaned

It shouldnt keep it from starting though


If when you do get it running and it runs rough try this
With the Truck OFF and Keys out the Ignition unplug EGR Valve from wire harness then try it should be in closed position when this action taken but again should start regaurdless even if EGR was causing issues it would be running but running rough with bad EGR Valve

Its probably going to throw a Cel with EGR Unplugged

Scan truck for DTC/CEL

 

Its either under the turbo or passenger side valve cover

 

Yeah, I was wondering what all could be covered with that crud. Looks like I have a new project once it's running again.

 

If your going to do that Get a ScanGaugeII at a Minimum or (AE with Ford Bundle this best for trouble shooting purpose goes on your PC so dont want to leave in truck at all times thus SGII Good and Popular and cheap 160.00 for SGII) and check it over good mainly the Oil Cooler and egr coolers once you pull the intake manafold off it your going to be right at those parts and have easy access to change them might consider a EGR Deleate depending where you are located

 

I located the ICP Sensor. This thread - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...cp-sensor.html had great pics to show the location.

I unplugged it and tried starting it. It just cranked without starting. One thing I noticed was that when I cranked it over before I disconnected the ICP, and again after I hooked it back up, was that the engine cranked over, but also seemed to crank faster every couple of tries, like it was just on the verge of starting. But each time it would just hold at that level, not getting "over the hump" to start.

Does this mean anything?

 

What about this^^^^^^^

was your ICP sensor in the Passenger side valve cover??????

 

Yes, I have the OEM oil filter cap. I had the local Ford dealer do my last oil change. I plan to do my future oil changes, but will still only use Motorcraft filters after the problems I've seen with how the 6.0 deals with non-OEM parts.

The ICP sensor was on the passenger side, about 8" from the alternator.

 

It would have been easier to find had my motor not been so dirty. I might have to have it steamed so I can tell what each part is...

 

Are your batterys charged up good???


I suspect a HPO problem but not shure would need gauges to verify
to look at the High Press Oil System we Look at ICP and IPR% so if you dont have a wAY TO see those things you need a ScanGaugeII or your stuck and may want to get one or take to dealer its up to you if you decide to repair on your own Lots of great help on here to help you out

Might want to look into a ScanGaugeII 160.00 and a Great Unit will read a Ton of stuff on your engine this is the BEST Gauge to start with and what I and many others on here use. Most everyone will agree with me its the BEST 160.00 they spent on the truck. My SGII has Paid for itself many times over

Theres also a Few things you need to keep an eye on to avoid certain Failures witha Snowball effect that get Very Very Expensive. Like your Oil Cooler so you need to see EOT (Engine Oil Temp) and ECT ( engine Coolant Temp) and theres other things But all can be Monitored with the SGII

SGII can be found at Auto Zone or here www.scangauge.com

Another option is AE with the Ford Enhanced Bundle its 360.00 from Clay at Riff Raff Diesel and is the Cats A$$ for a DIYer its a computer program so its Great to have but you might want to have a cheaper SGII to leave in the truck at all times and just use AE when needed