Went from cold weather mode to warm weather mode.

 

Whew... I hate seeing a subject title like that from a long-term member. Next you are reading about the next truck they are buying and us all wishing you good luck... I agree, I'm tired of winter - we've had like 2 days where it wasn't cloudy if not raining/snowing out here...

Glad you're just tucking away the heater cord, Mike!

 

I’ve been gone too long, I don’t think I saw that you had gotten a 6L. Hope it’s treating you well. Any plans on a meet up this summer?

 

I got a 6.0 in August of 2017. So far it has been a work in progress but I knew that going in. This spring I got a lot of work to do. Need to get my stripped block drain plugs out, get the system flushed, replace the EGR (probably going BPD vs a delete), new oil cooler, updated STC, updated EGR hose, new radiator, new water pump, new fan clutch, need to clean the turbo, updated turbo drain line and supply line, new even side glow plugs and harness (already did the odd side) and update the dummy plug and stand pipe on even side (did the odd side when a I replaced a few injectors). I got a number of parts already but need to get some of the bigger items yet. I got to find the time to take a few days off work and plan a long weekend to do it all.

For a meet I posted in the 99-16 and 17+ Super Duty forums to see if there was much interest in a meet this summer. Seems to be some interest. I was targeting August but that month is filling up with other activities. Might try to target September.

So are in back in a 6.0 now?

 

Awesome to hear. Let me know if you get a date nailed down and I'll be sure to request off work.

Yep, I'm still in my 6.0 that I got back in 2014. I have a similar list of things to do as well. In 2015 I had the unison ring on the turbo cleaned up, ball joints replaced, odd side glow plugs and harness done. Then later that summer I ended up replacing the front U-joints, wheel bearings+ Warn hubs and all four brake rotors, pads and calipers. Learned my lesson on getting what you pay for because I've already replaced the passenger wheel bearing with a Timken unit and the driver side is a bit noisy. I did a 2.5" level with Bilstein shocks, FICMrepair upgraded FICM with Atlas 40, LN 240A alternator and upgraded wiring, RiffRaff CAC boots and I replaced the cold side plastic intercooler tube with a metal one. I did the blue spring, coolant filter, and went back to the stock air filter. That's it off the top of my head besides maybe a few odds and ends. Still have plenty planned though. I have an HPOP leak somewhere, slow ICP build during cranking, plus an occasional hot no start where ICP builds to like 250 and that's it. My money is on dummy plugs, but I just ordered dummy plugs, stand pipes, STC fitting and IPR screen to knock it all out at once. Randomly, not even frequently, I'll accelerate from a stop and lose all power while just dumping white smoke for like 10 seconds before it clears up and goes like normal. So I'm trying to catch what's causing that, I'm wondering if it's oil or fuel. I'm going to replace the orings on the injectors and clean up the spools while I'm in there too. Hopefully the top side orings are good because I really don't want to have to do the oil rail cups and pay twice the price to get the top orings yet. I'm just under 190k miles and not getting any misses or huge indications of injector failure so hopefully I can get a bit more life out of them before I just do them all at once.

I still have the EGR to do. I'm leaning toward a delete, either IPR research or Performance Machine's delete. I've recently seen some of the quality complaints with IPR which has me wary. I'd like to do the turbo bearings and upgrade to a billet compressor, plus updated oil feed and drain tubes. My delta's are still under 10 degrees, like 6-8 degrees most often so no plans for the oil cooler. I'll do a coolant flush with VC9 whenever I do the EGR and probably just backflush the cooler before I do the final fill. I'm not doing head studs until I absolutely have to because I'm not sure I could do that myself without a good way of pulling the cab. Eventually I'll put a new bed on as mine is not in good shape. Besides the wheel wells, the support beams are swiss cheese and half of the bed bolts aren't doing much good. For the time being, I might take some rectangular steel tubing and replace sections of the support beams and bolts to make sure the bed is secure until I can find a newer one. It's slow going finding the time and money to do it all, but I haven't had anything catastrophic leave me stranded yet. (knocking on wood) And I enjoy doing the work.

 

I am curious - why use VC-9 when you don't have any indication of plugging?

 

Just seems to me like a normal part of taking care of these trucks. I'm just under 190,000mi and to my knowledge it's never had anything done prior to me. At least in my mind, I figure that a clean with VC9 and a backflush to remove anything that may come loose and lodge in the cooler removes the worry of wondering if I'll start to see those temps rise. But considering that I've had a coolant filter most of the time I've owned the truck and I haven't actually done a coolant flush since I bought it with no changes in deltas, maybe doing the VC9 step is just flushing $50 down the drain.

 

VC-9 is an acid based cleaner. From what I have seen, a number of people have created a problem w/ their oil cooler plugging up when using it. Personally, if you are happy w/ the coolant temperatures, I would just flush with distilled water only. It takes quite a bit of flushing to get most of the old coolant out. Just draining it will only get about half of the old stuff out. It makes it interesting to get back to a 50% concentration unless you flush it 4-5 times at a minimum.

 

Ryan your list of things looks as long as mine. My deltas are climbing and debating of doing any cleaners before doing the oil cooler and EGR. I did get a Fixur6 back flush cap that I'll put on the new oil cooler. At least that way if I don't get things clean I can try back flushing.

 

Makes sense. I suppose there's no reason to flush with VC9. I was planning to do the flush described in srmastertech's video I'll just skip the steps with VC9 now.

this guy made his own backflush cap and made a neat fitting with a hose and compressed air to get basically a pressure washer (starts at 2:30). He got a ton of junk out of his cooler. I imagine that the to-do lists on these trucks never truly ends, especially for those of us who enjoy wrenching and upgrading. Let me know if you need an extra hand, I'd be happy to run out there for a day or two.

 

I remember seeing this before now that I watched it. Hopefully I get the cooling system clean enough not to need to do this with the new cooler but just in case.

Thanks for the offer to come help. I got to get everything bought then figure out when I got time to do it. Might have to take you up on the offer.

 

Sweet, just let me know!

 

I got all the parts I need to yet acquire sitting in a few shopping carts. Just need to hit the checkout buttons...

 

I got my stand pipes, dummy plugs, STC fitting, and injector seals in the other day. I'll get the stuff for an oil change and fuel filters next pay check and I should be good to go. I'm debating though. I'll likely go ahead and just pull the whole intake manifold out since that makes it easier to get to the HPOP and get that cover off/on. So I'm considering just getting an EGR delete while I'm at it so I don't have to tear it all down again down the road when I'm ready to do that.

Then it becomes a matter of lining up my schedule to have enough days off to get it all done with ample time for any hang-ups that inevitably happen. That's the perk of working 12 hour shifts, 3 day weeks make it much easier to plan long weekends.