Looking for a little input since the Ford dealer seems to think I should get rid of my truck...

This is my first Diesel, I bought an 06' F250 back in April and put 10K miles on it. I love the truck because I pull almost every weekend.. I had an FICM issue and new batteries put in two weeks ago which cleared up my cold start issues, but when I was at the dealership the guy told me that I needed to get rid of my truck. Not sure if he is telling me this because I am female or not, and he treated me like I didn't know anything. I think he was surprised when he asked if I knew what an FICM was and I told him, or the fact that I knew what voltage they should be at... but said "you know your just going to be back in here in a few months in injector issues" He didn't say any of them were bad. He also told me that "if I just want to drive a big truck as a daily driver that this isn’t the truck for me"

I bought the truck with 94,000 miles on it from a friend who babied the truck, never towed with it, and kept in in the garage. It truly was a daily driver for him. He only had it in 4X4 twice while he owned it.

Since I've had it I have had to replace the tensioners, and serp. belt, rotors, batteries, and a front break line (tires grabbed and ripped it off). I know that is normal for 100K miles. Then with the FICM and GPCM...

What are your thoughts? I realize that having a diesel is more expensive, but with the dealer putting all these thoughts in my head I am worried and almost don't enjoy driving it because I am worried about what is next. Here are a few things that are going on with it now..

Auto 4X4 doesn't work, I don't mind having the hubs locked, but I do use 4X4 several times a month. Dearler says its $1000 fix..

Compressor for the vacuum is possibly going out? Loud noise coming from the glove box area when waiting for the glow plug light to shut off. (not every time)

When towing in 4X4 speedometer is intermittent or does not work at all

Slight smell of diesel in the cab when heater is on, very strong this morning when it was idling in the driveway with defrost on full blast.

I have a brand new serp. belt and is squeals constantly, took it back and they tested all the bearings and said it was just a hard spot in the new belt and put some belt dressing on it but the squeal came back within two days.. Just drives me nuts more than anything..

I am very religious about my oil/filter changes every 5,000 miles if not before and Factory fuel filters every other oil change.. The only thing I can see I should change from reading threads on here is a lighter oil for the winter.

Only other things I have done is a 4" turbo back and Bully Dog intake.

Is the guy just trying to scare me?
Sorry for the long post, just want to believe in my truck!

 

I think the 6.0L is a very dependable engine, I love mine. That being said you do need to pay attention to more items on them than you would on a gasser. But you need to get yourself some gauges, like scan gauge II, Edge insight or one of the smartphone apps like dashboss or torque. With those you can read live data and that can help you spot problems before they leave you stranded and can also save you money by being able to make informed decisions. Some of the live data you can read with them are System voltage, FICM voltage, ICP pressure and volts, MAP sensor, EBP sensor and some will read IPR% and VGT %. If you do a lot of towing a EGT (exhaust gas temp) probe is a must have. Never skimp on your maintenance, make sure you are using OEM filters for oil, fuel and air and make sure you do them at proper intervals.

 

I see a lot of people on here talking about a scan guage.. is that something that you plug in every now and again or something you leave plugged like a tuner? We sell Bully Dog and I was going to get the GT Tuner just to run on stock and have more guages to see EGT and things like that becuse I do tow so much, and a lot more in the summer. I heard you don't want to run any of the programs unless you have the head studs done as well. I also want it to program my speedo.. Do I need both?

Do you think the same of the Bully Dog intake V.S. the K & N that they dust the turbo? I am running a pre filter on mine. And it did add a little power over tunning the stock filter with the bigger exhaust.

Thanks.

 

The guy that told you that you had no business owning a big diesel probably drives a chevy and can't afford a ford

 

LOL this is true.. should have seen the look on his face when I pulled my gun out of the back seat.. I hope he's wrong or I may not be able to own a Ford..

 

Let me guess they want to sell you a truck and screw your resale on yours too right. I would never listen to a dealer give advice on getting out of a vehicle. Unless you are strictly speaking with a mechanic that you trust. I think the 6.0 is just as reliable as the 7.3. It just needs regular service intervals and certain aspects need to be monitored like mentioned, as long as you can monitor engine oil temperature, coolant temperature, ficm main voltage, battery voltage, transmission temp, fuel pressure, Egt and just pay attention to the oil temp vs the coolant temp deltas those will inform you if the oil cooler is plugging.

The ficm seems like you are aware that it needs to be at least 45 v or higher to prevent damaging injectors, the fuel pressure there is an updated spring that goes into the upper fuel filter area that is the fuel pressure regulator, it is longer and stiffer than stock to keep the fuel return from opening too soon it needs to be at least 45 psi at wot to keep injectors happy,

Get rid of the air filter setup, the stock is good to 500hp and filters plenty better than any aftermarket.

The problem with your 4x4 could be related to the hiss you are hearing. Since you have owned the truck does it shift from vents to defrost when you engage the ESOF on the dash?

 

Do I need to get the updated spring from the dealer? Pretty easy change? I'm no truck mechanic but pretty good at figuring things out..

The bully dog tuner can watch all those items except the FICM.. as far as I know. I can call and ask them more, do I still need a scan guage II?

One of my vacuum lines came off before or after I bought the truck and it used to flip to defrost, when I re connected the line it fixed the problem. I thought I was having trany issues when that was going on, but it turned out the noise from the line and the exhaust hitting the cross member at 2,000 RPM was all that was. The 4X4 light will come on in auto, but noticed pulling the boat up on the beach from the boat ramp I was just spinning, got out and locked the hubs and was fine, other than the speedometer didn't work.. Not sure if that is electrical. The boat is 4 flat and everything else I pull is round.

The other concern is that It was fairly warm from the time I bought the truck until now so the FICM might have been bad the whole time I had it, and I am worried about damage that may have occurred from then until now. The truck also never had a block heater cord, but I put that on a while back. before the new FICM when it was started cold it did the typical clashing and sounded like there was no oil for a few min.. smoke the whole 9, now if its not plugged in it only does that for a few seconds and is fine. Its a complete 180 from before. Should I use Rave X or an oil additive now to maintain the injectors?

 

Best to find another dealer, the one you use will nickel and dime you to death by the sound of things. The 4x4 issue is likely a vacuume line at one of the front hubs that squeak in the belt sounds like the idler pully (new belt squeak is the dealer covering his azz after replacing the tensioner and belt). The GPCM on the 6.0 is almost never an issue on a low mile truck. The exhaust smell is a simple leak that should be 5 minutes or less to find for a decent tech. All this is my opinion but I would strongly advise you find a diesel tech you can trust. Good luck, keep your truck trade in the tech.

 

The guys that replaced my belt and tensioner are good friends at the tire shop, they also are the ones that re checked it all and lubed the belt for me. How many idler pulley’s are there? They did the pulley and the tensioner when they did the belt because it was melted together and I had to drive it to get the truck and trailer off the road a little ways. Either way I can take it back to them and they will take care of me. I really try to stay away from the dealership unless I need Ford parts because I get Fleet rate from them.

I don't know how to post pictures, but I pulled the GPCM and looked at the back and the box was cracked so I tapped it open and one of the corners of the board was burnt. I put another one in and it lasted three weeks then it did the same thing. Then did the FICM and batteries and it starts fine now. Dealership said those are not related to each other, but it seemed to fix the issue.

 

That BD Tunners going to Toast the Auto Trans Id take it Off

If your Hub Seals Leaked I can see 1K
My only concern here is if thats what they are Really Fixing If its a Bad Siliniod you could change that yourself or the Vac Pump

The Diesel smell in Cab this will be turbo removal to get To the Flex joint at the Back engine exhaust pipe this will be another 1K Repair Unless You Can find the Leak and Just tighten a Bolt slim chance on the Bolt

The Dealer will be another 1K For a Bad FICM Repair Or is this repaired already and I am Lost????


IDK but Im seeing 1k repair bill to have a Shop Fix the Exhaust leak

Or we can give ya some info you can pull your own turbo

 

I have read many times on this forum that the bullydog should be ditched as it is claimed here that they are hard on transmissions. I use SCT, which I have read are a much better choice.
Scanguage 2 gets good reviews here.
Just sayin. For what it's worth...

 

I didn't buy the Bully Dog yet. I can get one for really cheap through work. It would cost me less to buy one of those then it would be to have the dealership calibrate the speedo for my over size tires and buy a scan Guage together.. and I would have all the guages. I would leave it on the stock setting.

I guess I need to do some research and figure out what the SCII is exactly. I thought it was just the computer you plug in to find codes when there is a problem, not something you leave hooked up to read the guages all the time.. I am more concerned with EGT, tranny temp ect..


The dealership told me it was going to be 1k before he even saw the truck, so I bagged it. I have a friend that can look at that for me, and its not a big deal to me to lock the hubs. Wasn't sure about the compressor sound from the glove box area, if that would be hurting anything.

I already had that done along with two new batteries. I didn't know how or know anyone who could test the FICM so I gave up and took it to the shop. That was 1K for the FICM and Batteries.

Both exhaust manafolds were replaced under warrenty before I bought the truck. They didn't tell me anything at the dealership about that. I can pull my turbo.

Thanks for the help!

 

I guess I should say I am pretty sure I can pull my turbo. I have never done it before.

 

Oh if this is the Case DonT Get the Bulley Dog then

You just need something for your Bigger Tires Right???? to calibrate Speedo

I just figure mines around 5 MPH off with 35inch tires

ScanGaugeII can be calibrated for bigger tires But I havent tried it






Ida RUN Like HELL To at that


NOT THE RED ARROW BOLT
Well then check these Bolts First where the exhaust manafold meets the Uppipe


See the one Holding the 2 pipes together^^ theres 2 like that right at Bottom pic
This is where the egr deleate goes and thats why mine will look difrrentt than yours

Those bolts shoulb be tighten together alternate tightening


I suspect you had the exhaust smell in the cab before the Exhaust Manafolds were changed???????????????

 

#1 in the pic is the normal component that leaks when you can smell exhaust in the cab with the Heater on