I've had stiction for a while and it has gotten progressively worse. Additives aren't helping. I was hoping to wait until I could just shell out $2000 for a set of Ford remans, but I think I will need to address this sooner than that.

So: early '03 model, no mods - runs like crap cold - worse the colder it is, runs fine after warm up, occasionally a small miss when cruising, rarely has a crappy idle after long periods at highway speeds, sometimes coughs black smoke when I stomp on it
All live data readings from a Kiwi BT device match what I have found to be normal in this forum.
A little background on me - prior ASE certified Master Tech, don't turn wrenches for a living anymore, work in engineering now.
Life happens, family issues, medical issues, a recent move, don't have $2K to spare.

Here is the list that I have going:
(any input or additions appreciated)
AP002 Alliant injector seal kits
valve cover gasket set
heated ultra sonic cleaner (already have)
seafoam for the U-S Cleaner
600, 800, and 1000 grit emory cloth
Bosch 303-D112 wire brush
Bosch 303-D111 wire brush
injector holding fixture to go in my bench vise (can anyone recommend one?)

New hold downs and/or hold down bolts?

Should I get the HHC nipple cup seals and tool, or just leave well enough alone?

Other than the sockets to disassemble the injector and the torque wrenches is there any thing else (special tools) I will need tool wise? (I still have all of my tools from when I was a mech)

Is there anything else that's not super spendy in the context of "since you're in there"?

I'm trying to save some money, but I don't want to cut corners and half a** it either.

I know I could open the injectors and possible find that one or more need to be replaced. I also know I could put it back together to find it didn't help. At this point it's worth a shot.

I have read a lot of threads on FTE, including this one: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...rks-great.html
and this one: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ole-story.html
and this one: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...submarine.html

I don't want to skip anything that I really should do, and I don't want to something that really isn't needed.

Thanks for any tips!!!

 

Your in it that far I'd get the HHC kit for the nipple cup. That way you know it's fixed.

 

Injector holder https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-0-Powerst...item3af7549da2

Get the HHC kit with the tool and rings, $85
T-45 bit 3" long.
Valve cover gaskets are re-useable, don't waste your money.

I re-used my bolts and hold downs. If they were over torqued, then I'd say buy a set.

Not hard, go slow and be very clean.

 

Roger that on the nipple cup kit with the tool.
Are the "upgraded" cups really necessary? (I wasn't planning on going that far)

Nothing else I'm missing?

No one has a recommendation on a fixture for mounting the injectors in the bench vise?

 

It’s the first thing Randy had in his post. ???

I never can understand this. Two of my old company divisions were into hydraulics, aircraft and commercial, the commercial being Denison. Hydraulic control spool tolerances were 0.000025" to 0.000040" clearance on the radius. How the hell do you maintain that in the two-car garage?

 

You may be right.
I can gamble with less than $200 worth of parts and it works or it doesn't.
Or I can do noting because I can't afford $2000 worth of injectors right now.
People have done it with success, it's not like I'm the first to try it.

 

I don't know how, but I totally looked over the link to the injector fixture. Thanks for posting that!

 

I understand the reasons. My credit card bought a lot of 6.0 parts last month. I’ve not followed the success rate of spool polishing, but I wish you the best.

 

Good point Jack, reminds me of the days when I rebuilt cranks for two stroke outboard engines. When I was making the final journal cuts, was dealing with such small increments if someone walked by pushing a heavy cart I swear the vibrations went right through the steady rest and I often went a tad over my target.

Curious how the results are here, please keep us posted Mailman. We all learn from each others repairs and problems.

 

I wouldn't buy upgraded cups, just do the o-rings on the cups. That is if they are loose and you can wiggle them pretty easily. They are torqued to 75lbs and with new seals, they should be fairly stiff.

 

I was tole by Ed at FICM repair that there were a few internal seals
that should also be replaced and the kit they have has them. They also
have the injector holding tool and it looks like they do a rental thing with it,
Just for fun I ordered the tool and a kit to play with an injector to see what
all goes into the job. Remember to get the spool valves in the right direction.

 

Thanks for all the tips guys, any input is welcome!
Unfortunately medical bills are eating up my money and my credit these days, so the truck doesn't get the proper attention it needs.
I'll likely go ahead and get the HHC nipple cup seal kit with tool to have on hand, because if I opened it up and found them lose and didn't have it I'd be stuck waiting for shipping.
I was thinking the upgraded cups weren't needed, but I'm glad to have some experienced acknowledgement of that.
I'm aware of the tolerances in hydraulics, but I've rebuilt quite a few hydraulic control valves and cylinders in the field (desert) on MRAPS and other vehicles, and if you're careful and keep things clean it can be successful (though not 100%).
I'll check out FICMRepair.com for parts and tools.

 

Is stiction an ironclad diagnosis or is it more subjective than that? Did you have a thread on stiction diagnosis? Or do you have a favorite thread or two on stiction diagnosis?

I haven't read about stiction yet. Thanks in advance from a newbie trying to learn from your efforts. I'll check out the FAQ (Tech Folder) on my own but I'm hitting a lot of outdated links in the FAQs. I'll check out the links in your first post also but at a glance they look more like repair info than diagnosis.

 

Yes, the threads I linked are about the actual repair work.
There are tons of threads and information on stiction, I've read most of them.
There aren't a lot of things that will cause the 6.0 to run like garbage when the oil is cold and then seem almost completely normal when it warms up. I started researching and reading as much as I could shortly before buying this truck and continued after I got it.

 

Running a good synthetic oil will help, changing it at 5000 miles and good maintenance practices will extend the life of your truck significantly!