I have a 2006 6.0 f-250. I will say upfront that I don't know anything about trucks, diesels, engines, or how things work. I'm just a mom who bought a truck to drive a kid and her horses around. (Please be gentle)

Truck stalled on Mothers day while pulling a horse trailer. At the time it died, we were going around 40-45 mph and came up on a light. Daughter decided to stop as the light had turned yellow, truck stalled when she hit the brake and would not restart. Cranked it until battery died, got it jumped, managed to start it and made it another 250 yards or so before it died for good.

To me (knowing little), it seemed like it was starved for fuel. It had a half tank showing. I had it towed to the only shop in town, suggested they start with the fuel filter, which they told me was fine. Haven't heard from them in a week, but when we spoke originally, he mentioned FICM and "high pressure oil regulator" but he didn't know what, for sure, just yet, was wrong.

So, thinking back, last fall, the same type of thing happened. Driving down the road, truck up and died for no particular reason. It acted like it was out of fuel. Got it towed home, and after a few round trips with gas cans, I managed to get it to start up again. Drove straight to the service station and it never happened again. At that time, I believe it was showing me I had a quarter tank, so I vowed to never let it get below a half tank. Kind of forgot about it.

Now this most recent time when it died, it just died. No loud noises, no bucking, nothing spectacular, just shut off.

SO IF YOU ARE STILL AWAKE AFTER READING ALL OF THAT I ACTUALLY HAVE A QUESTION

Before I call the shop that has the truck now with my thoughts, I was wondering: Is there such a thing as a fuel level sensor or something similar to that? Is that a part that goes bad or gets loose or can be replaced?

Thanks & I'm sorry for the novel, I tend to over-explain things when I'm upset.

-Andrea

 

HAHAHA, and I clicked this thinking you were a threat to my reign here. No one asks noobier questions than me!

For obvious reasons, I don't answer many questions that others post, but I think I can save others here a little time with yours, and having been as frustrated as you sound, I understand how any response is a good thing.

You really don't have enough info to help these guys uncover your true problem. While it is possible for the gas gauge to be off - my son says his runs out at a quarter tank, same truck as yours - but it occurs much less frequently than a dozen other things that could cause your truck to stop, and the guys (not being sexist, it just is what it is) here are kinda **** sometimes about really fixing what's wrong rather than throwing parts and labor at problems, which a lot of shops don't mind doing.

There are basic data available from a good OBDII scanner that can quickly eliminate a host of possible explanations. It sounds like your current tech has one, but might not be a diesel guy. Only after someone reviews that base data and determines that there's no obvious reason the truck doesn't start would I ever spend the money to yank the tank to check out the fuel pump, filters, and sensors.

You'll get some answers soon here. The guys love a damsel in distress.

r

 

Sorry for your 6.0 troubles.

It'll be almost impossible for anyone to diagnose what you have happening without additional data that can be had through the OBD-II port as mentioned. Look up things like Torque Pro, Forscan, etc. and you'll find a bunch of information on what you need.

There's a good no-start folder at the top of the forum (or it may be in the Tech folder - may have to do some digging).

I'd recommend reading it and then evaluate the mechanic's actions against it. It's much faster to learn about someone's competency by listening than it is by directing. If the mechanic is not methodical and generally following the no-start checklist, you may be in for a long, expensive, bumpy ride.

If you do live in a one-horse town (no pun intended), getting familiar with the data logging and no-start tree will enable you to help your mechanic reach a successful conclusion. There are also many excellent resources on this board that can help sanity-check your thoughts. I've benefitted from such knowledge sharing many times.

On a very high level, I would suspect an intermittent failure to be something more electrical based, but that won't help much as even these engines have a lot happening electrically.

 

I'd start by making sure it's getting fuel. Can you hear or feel the fuel pump running whit key on, engine off? Might be as simple as a pump or relay.

 

Hey, thanks. I know better than to ask for a crystal ball diagnosis - I just didn't know if that was a possible "thing." I hadn't read about it in the few dozen "crank no start" threads I've read, so I know it's not one of the more common culprits.

I didn't want to call the shop and sound like a total blonde with a truck and a credit card asking them to check the blinker fluid, if you know what I mean.

I figured I'd be asked for data which I do not have. I have a SGII but (1) it wasn't plugged in and (2) I haven't got my truck anyhow. I'm about 24 hours away from having it towed to one of the two shops I trust - I had the misfortune of breaking down out of town. Though I know the owner of the shop where it is - its not somewhere I would have taken it if I had a choice.

I do wish they had basic diesel truck maintenance classes or something for non-mechanical people. I'd love to learn to do some of the things you guys are able to do in your own time!

 

I'll look on youtube and see what that sounds like. Thanks for the idea.

 

I understand that it is at the shop from your first post, but the information below might still help.

It is a two person job, but with the engine off you can remove the secondary fuel filter cap under the hood, remove any residual fuel level, and have someone turn the key on (do NOT crank), and see how long it takes to fill the fuel filter bowl. It should fill quickly, say in 4-5 seconds, so make sure the person in the cab is ready to turn the key off QUICKLY. You might want to have a towel around the fuel filter bowl. When you are filling the bowl, you don't want to see any air bubbles. It is also a good idea to drain the water from the primary fuel filter drain plug and inspect what comes out. Bad fuel will be dark and slimy. drain it into a glass bottle and you can see water separate at the bottom if there is any water present.

If it is the fuel pump relay, it isn't simple. That relay is part of a junction box under the dash. It requires the entire junction box to be replaced.
When you look at the fuel in the secondary fuel filter bowl, make sure it is clean and water free (and doesn't smell like gasoline).
Make sure BOTH the fuel filters are fresh OEM filters. Also, verify that the oil level is proper and that the oil and filter has been changed within the last 5000 miles.
Voltage is important to these trucks, so you need to start off the troubleshooting with fully charged batteries and you should even have them individually load tested at an auto parts store (or local battery shop).

The steps above are a good start at troubleshooting. As the folks above stated, get an OBDII monitoring device (a phone app and an OBDII wifi or bluetooth adapter is the cheapest way to go). If you have an i-phone, download the ForScan app ($10 or so if you get the add free version) and get a BAFX ELM327 wifi adapter $35 or so. You can troubleshoot a TON of things with it.

ForScan is a great code reader also, so that would be a great help in troubleshooting.

Oh, one other thing - when you turn the key on do you hear the injectors buzz? If they do, then the Fuel Injection Control Module (we call it the FICM) is at least working well enough to send that command to the injectors.

 

As Bismic said in his post make sure to use only Motorcraft, International, or Racor fuel filters. That also applies to the oil filter it is very critical on a 6.0. If you can get to your truck your SGII will help with reading the data that is needed for diagnostics. The SGII works well within it's limits and is not a very good code reader, ForScan works with a bluetooth OBD adapter, is free and is a very good diagnostic tool and code reader, some versions work on a smartphone full version is best on a laptop. There is a lot to learn about on a 6.0 but the info is out there and with the right data this forum is a wealth of information. Beware shops that just try to throw parts at a 6.0 they can get very expensive and not even fix the problem. Good Luck.

 

 

Since you have a ScanGauge already, look at the Diesel Tech Ron videos on YouTube - they are that basic diesel class you wish for and he uses the SG a lot. RIP DTR.

 

Just curious im235mm, how is the diagnossis progressing?

 

Hi there, thanks for asking. I finally got to talk to the owner yesterday. Of course I was driving when he called me and didn't get to write everything down. He mentioned that I had a dirty air filter, that I had a bad O-ring, and (standpipe?) I have read so many threads on this forum that this may be a word stuck in my head that isn't correct.

Then he said it was running great, he took it out for one last test drive, and it died when he was pushing it to 70mph, trying to simulate pulling a trailer. (I personally drive like an ol' lady but whatever, he's the mechanic, right?) Anyhow, he had to tow it back. He said it just shut off like someone turned off the key, just like it did for me. No shudder, no clatter, just on then off. I asked him if he ran out of fuel with all this driving he's apparently been doing (had a half tank when it died).

He also talked about fuel pressure. He said it was around 60. That's good, right? I have an added fuel pressure gauge which seems to either not be connected to anything, or it's measurements are in some other metric because it always reads 102. Like always.

I've started watching the Youtube videos mentioned above. Thanks for that. I think I need some tools and a boyfriend. lol.

Hoping to hear something definitive today.

 

As you probably already know the 6.0 uses the Hydraulically actuated Electronically controlled Unit Injectors (HEUI) system. And yes it has 2 standpipes and 2 dummy plugs that have O-rings that fail in time. There is also an STC fitting that can be problemetic. Anyway it looks like the mechanic is on top of the diagnossis and it's a good sign that he road test your truck and didn't give it back to you with a problem.

By the way a good mechanic is way better than a boyfriend.

 

Doesn't that sound unusual - a standpipe or dummy plug O-ring causing a stall while driving? I know they'll cause a hot no-start, and maybe a cold one as they deteriorate, but hadn't heard of that causing a stall without exhibiting those other problems first. But, I don't know anything. Hopefully, it's not a chafed wire - takes a good tech to identify that before replacing a bunch of parts - but that could cause a stall while driving; maybe you hit a bump and the wire shorted. I had one that did that, pestered the heck outta me. But, once I knew what it was, whenever it happened, I could just pop the hood and tug the wiring harness (not hard enough to pull them loose, just separate the bare wire from wherever it's grounding) in a few places and it start up and run again for a few weeks. Search this forum for "wire chafiing" or some such term to learn where to tug.

Even if it wasn't the standpipe/dummy plug (dummy plug happens more often), you didn't do bad replacing those. The originals will fail. The new ones have fixed that problem. The new DPs are only about $50 for both + 2-3 hours of labor. Standpipes are pricier, like $150 ea, and another hour or so to take both oil rails off.