Interesting thread......
Question #1
Question #2
So now you have 2 EGR valves plugged into the same harness? What happens if one goes bad?

2 good EGR valves on the same harness = 1 good ERG valve
1 bad valve and 1 good valve = a bad EGR valve. Either way, you increased the potential to have a bad EGR (sticking, wire damage, connector issues) by a factor of x2.

EGR won't make a pop when warm, that's probably an injector or black smoke from the turbo vanes sticking...

My thinking; if this actually worked...

A good EGR = fan working correctly.... watch your fan speed using the gauge from your scan gauge or whatever your using to verify its operation at higher RPM, not sure why you didn't get this advice first. Adding a second one makes no sense what so ever, especially if the first one was bad. The second one functioning correctly is negated by a bad one, which it probably wasn't... If you believe the second one corrected the issue... then the first was broken to begin with and you probably have a wiring issue after the splice leading to the first sensor.

If the bad EGR (if you actually have a bad one) then sends bad data to the PCM..... Bad is bad, not over written by good.

Sorry you felt this was a side tracked thread, didn't mean to get off topic.
Did the second EGR fix the black smoke and popping?

 

I don't think both egr valves are plugged in. He just has the dummy one connected and the actual one in place, disconnected.
I don't think this test will help in any way.

 

I would agree.
But why would he say he pulled up the wires and found not much room? And the original question was to add a second ERG to the same harness.

I think he has two EGRs installed and wired to the harness.... Spikedog, what say you?

 

After staring at this thread numerous times;
The EGR valve doesn't care where its at... in the proper hole or laying in the valley. If it's good, the fan will work. AND you may get a CEL from it, as in low EGR flow.

Your title is misleading as it suggests you wanted a second valve installed. You should have been watching the gauge reading fan speed to verify its operation.

Then went after the issue of smoke and popping... I probably added to the confusion, my apologies.

 

2 EGR valves, one in the proper hole (unplugged) and one laying in the valley (plugged in). There's only one connector in the wiring harness, and it was a pretty short pigtail.

I never really established whether the old EGR valve was bad. When I pulled out in Jan 2014 it wasn't too bad - no wet crud, just black soot polish. I haven't even cleaned it. If I'm going through all the trouble to pull the old one, I felt it was worth the $150 to buy a new one.

FICM - I haven't done much with that, other than program in all the Scan Gauge II codes. All of them kick out a steady 63 volts, which is nonsense. The E-450 doesn't have much of an information center like the trucks do, so I'm not sure if it's an interface issue or the van has a simpler operation algorithm (I've heard the 6.0L is detuned for the vans). The FICM is mounted on the inside driver's fender, so it's not subject to all the vibration and heat of a valve cover mount. I'm just not convinced if the FICM was the culprit the problem would be so intermittent. I made a trip last fall through Yellowstone where it only farted once in 6 days.

 

FICM shouldn't be 63v, van or not.
A fart is a fart, if you let off fast after a throttle stab, that's probably a fart. Black smoke after a throttle stab, could be turbo needs cleaned. The P0299 is low boost for more than 5 seconds AND more than 4psi under boost, so the code may not set IF the boost catches up in less than 5 seconds... you could smoke black for 3-4 seconds and still be good.

Clean the MAP sensor and hose as well.

EGR won't give you a POP, why I said injectors maybe. Do the buzz test after you ge the EGR sorted out.

 

I drove about 200 miles this weekend, up and down the mountains from 6000' to 8000'. No backfires, sputtering, or farts at all. Most of the time I had good power, and the engine ran about 20 degrees cooler without the exhaust recycle. The fan worked fine.

Only issue I saw was 3 or 4 times when I seemed to have no power. The boost on the scangauge read -10 or so, which is odd. I don't think the boost was there due to the general powerlessness; maybe the turbo vanes weren't working right. These episodes were short, maybe a minute to climb a hill at 40 mph when I should've been grunting up at 60 mph.

 

Unplug the EBP sensor and try again. You will get a CEL for it, but see if that restores power. IF not, I'd be cleaning the turbo.

Scan Gauge may not have the correct value's for boost, why it read -10

 

Boost was usually normal (up the 20's when climbing hills). It was only reading negative when the boost seemed 'off'.

The sporadic nature of this issue is confusing. If the turbo needed cleaning, why does it work fine 99% of the time?

 

Its low boost of 4psi or more for 5 seconds or more, so you need to meet both to get a CEL. So it would still have an issue if it was under 4psi and for 4 seconds. You hold the throttle, boost builds and you let off, if boost build just a little slower you may not even be aware until the light comes on. Could go some time to turn it on again or that one time freed the vanes somewhat. Park the truck drive to the store... no big deal, pull the camper on the first hill... bam! WtH?

 

I know I've got to pull my turbo and clean. I pulled a P0299 this summer while traveling without our trailer, but hauling quite a bit of gear at 8,000'.
The other morning upon start up, just idling, it popped a 299 again as it was warming up. A little surprised it could detect that, as every other time I was either pulling my trailer or climbing in higher elevations.
I didn't replace the unison ring and it's only been 20k since. I'm going to have to take a good look at it before putting that same one back in.

 

This is an E-450 class C motorhome, not a truck. I have terrible access to most of the engine, although maybe better access to the turbo. I think the van version of the 6.0L gets a detune, and may not have the same 'check engine' protocol.

 

UPDATE -

The RV has run the same all this summer - sometimes it'll run great and sometimes it'll run like there's no boost. It was getting pretty annoying to have the turbo cut in and out, especially when I'd go to pass someone on a two lane. Still doing research on the issue, and figured it was maybe time to have the turbo unison ring or solenoid looked at.

There's a diesel racer / puller with a shop here in town, so I took it there. He ran his diagnostic and came up with 3 codes

P0404 - EGR performance
P1408 - EGR flow out of range
P0472 - Exhaust backpressure sensor low

I brought him up to speed on the dummy EGR valve setup, so we dismissed the first two. He could move the turbo vanes around just fine with his scanner tool. He replaced the EBP sensor, and I just got the rig home. The boost is reading -2 at idle, a little lower than before, which I figure is due to the 6200 ft elevation. I hammered the throttle a couple of times and got up to about 7 psi, which is quite a bit lower than with the old sensor. I'll have to take the RV on some longer trips to make sure we've got it, but this looks like progress.

Meanwhile, I'm rather pissed at my ScanGaugeII for not showing me those codes. I ran the scan function several times this last year and never saw any codes come up. I got Forscan for my 2013 SHO, maybe I should be using it instead of the Scangauge?

 

Scan gauge is a horrible code reader, Forscan is much better. The scan gauge will do a DTC count if programmed as an X-gauge to just give a number. mine says DTC-3, then when I scan for code, comes back with zero codes found.

Maybe do a VTG relearn after that EBP sensor was replaced, worth a try. Also try cleaning the MAP sensor and rubber hose leading to the intake manifold, passenger side and the nipple connection. MAP and EBP both influence Boost.

If all he did was replace the EBP sensor, remove the sensor and clean the tube leading to the exhaust manifold, like the MAP tube, it needs to be clean so it can sense the pressure. Use weed trimmer line to ream it out and open the tube up, including the nipple.

 

Just for giggles you can program the SGII for reading the EBP.
See what you getting. You may want to see how hard it's going
to be to pull the EBP sensor and clean the tube. If you get good
readings from the SGII on EBP than you should be able to skip
the cleaning. 3 inputs are used for airflow through the engine.
MAP MAS and EBP. If the numbers don't come out correctly then
you can have things like smoke. So along with the stuff about cleaning
the EBP I would also look at the MAP sensor hose and the nipple
at the intake and sensor end. The MAS can be cleaned with a spray
that is meant for cleaning MAS sensors. It will say on the can. Don't
use any other stuff for cleaning it or you might need to replace it.
One thought about the MAS if you have been getting turbo farts
then more than likely you have had some oils blow back onto the sensor
from the crank case ventilating line.



Sean <BR>

6.0L Tech Folder