I posted early in the wrong place, I'll try here to see if you guys can help me figure out if I have a problem with my rig or not:

Hi everyone, I got my very first diesel vehicle last week, I am anxious to learn more about it from you guys.
But because I know nothing about trucks and diesels - am I in the right forum?
I have a Ford 2004 E-450 Diesel, it is an RV camper, (I hope that does not barr me from learning about the engine from this forum.)
I have 5100 miles on it, I had heard some scare stories about Ford diesels but I went ahead anyway - was that a mistake ??
My VIN is 1FDXE45P44HBO2840 (Would very much appreciate any information on this vehicle if someone has access to a search, date made etc).

On our first trip last weekend everything seemed OK except that on two occaisions my wife and I were sure we had lost power for a short time on long slight inclines, it dropped a gear as expected but could not get above 55 mph and flooring it made no change in speed or RPM.
We are not 100% sure about this as we don't quite know what to expect.
Any tips and advice would be much appreciated - thanks in advance
PS, I know it's not a race car is de-tuned for the application, but I am convinced we lost power and engine responsiveness for a short time

 

you are in the right forum welcome!!...ur problem could be a egr issue(if it happens agian or becomes a everyday thing try unplugging it) good luck geting the dealer to figured it out if it isnt seting off a CEL. I am convinced that is why my dealer could never fix mine..make sure to always use a good fuel additive...and try not to let it sit for to long of time as they could develope turbo problems. welcome to the board...also ill send you through the same speech i send all the new diesel owners. make sure if u service the truck or have it serviced that only racor oil filters and fuel filters go in it...and good CJ4 oil is used.....good/clean oil is the life blood of these kinds of motors because it is also used to run all the fuel injectors....so u can see where i coming from...any other questions let me know..

 

I have a 2004 F350 with the 6.0 and have the same problem when towing our fifth wheel (15K lbs). On any incline over 3 minutes long and pushing full boost (floored), the turbo fades down to about 15 psi max and speed has dropped to as slow as 25 mph for the rest of the grade. I have had it to the dealer at least three times for this. Just picked it up today and was told that the engine oil temp is getting too hot (over 220 F) and the engine goes into an automatic derating mode to help cool down the oil and prevent damage to the engine. This makes sense, I guess, but who wants to drive a truck that can only go up a hill for three minutes while towing then have to cool it down or go super slow up the hill? I am researching oil coolers to help it out, as we are grossing the truck out with the fiver and all other gear. The dealer has already replaced the EGR cooler, Oil cooler, Turbo, VGT control valve and EGR valve. Other than at this full power, full load condition, the truck runs great. It only happens on long inclines with the trailer in tow. Urgg!

 

the truck has a oil cooler on it stock i supose you could add another w/fan but i have yet to hear of engine oil temps geting to high during towing....if you pulling that much weaight up a hill like that id be worried about tranny temps also..might want to look into a A/M temp guage..

 

We have an E450 gas RV and recently experienced power loss issues. Long story short, our gas tank, according to the Ford Dealer was rusted on the inside, not allowing fuel to the pump. The dealer stated that they were experiencing the same problem on the diesels. They replaced the fuel tank which corrected the problem.

 

fisrt step is checking it for codes, from there check egrvp and egrdc at koeo. next check icpv, ficm volt's

 

Agree, 2003/4 has the better EGR cooler, but other issues. Do you have a boost gauge on the dash? You need to be able to read codes and read many engine parameters. Scan gauge 2 would be a good idea.

RVs tend to be max weight fully loaded for the rating of the chassis, so I would imagine she has to work hard. Such low mileage, a number of things can happen, ie fuel tank issues, quality of fuel, water in fuel, sticking turbo vanes(it's a variable geometry turbo) and so on. Also agree, no aftermarket filters, always ford or racor fuel and oil and be sure to use a fuel additive such as stanadyne or power service. A good diesel engine oil that is API rated CJ-4 or better, preferably full synthetic 5w40 weight. You should do a bit of reading on oil here, again, you are max weight with an RV and need the 40 weight protection, but you also need the good synthetic to protect those injectors. Oil changes for a deisel are every 5000 miles, severe service, or atleast once per year, but i would not store over winter with dirty oil.

Agree also, get those codes read and read up in our tech forum so you are informed even if you are having repairs done it helps to keep things on the up and up.

This is a lot to absorb, diesels are good pulling motors, you will see the benefits when it's running right. You should be able to hold sustained boost at 26 -28 lbs, but that is dependent on load and coolant and oil temps.

 

Welcome to the 6.0. It sounds like like you definitely have something going on. When it's right your truck should pull strong. There's a lot to learn to communicate here online. This list might help a bit:

Acronyms
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/821641-acronyms.html

I would also suggest getting some kind of engine monitor to keep an eye on what's going on under the hood. There are apps for smart phones and stand alone units available. The ScanGauge II is popular here. The factory instrument panel is poor at best and can be down right misleading in some situations. Given your description of your trouble I would guess you have been very close to a serious and expensive head gasket failure.

 

X2

The scangauge2 will let YOU figure out why it looses power, the next time. It is essential to both know things are good, but also watch for signs of common indicators of pending problems.