Hi all,

My dad has his first diesel pickup, an 03 F-250 with the 6.0 & Torqueshift tranny. He likes the truck, but he treats it like a gas motor. In my opinion he doesn't let it warm up or idle down long enough. I told him that if he keeps doing this he's gonna damage the turbo. His response is: "Oh weel, when it goes out, I'll just buy a new turbo". He also doesn't believe his 22 yr old kid about when they get too high miles on them, you just can't replace the turbo. His response to that is: "you show it to me in writing & I'll start doing what you say". I also believe his truck also puts out higher EGT's because the PCM was recalibrated by Ford. Is this correct? Is there any website or book that tells you to idle your turbo diesel equipped vehicle up/down? I know he doesn't do this to my 02 7.3 because UI won't let him. Any help would be great. Thanx & hope you all have a wonderful Weekend

 

Check the owners manual. If I remember correctly it says there is no need for warm up. Just start and go. I personally only warm mine up for a minute or so and then I have a mile of down hill driving at 15 mph that helps with the warm up. As for shutting off the motor I believe the book says to let her idle for 5 minutes or so when towing or hauling a large load. I personally let the pre turbo egt cool down to 350 to 325 deg before I shut her off. When I am empty it only takes a couple of seconds to cool down and when towing a trailer it would be anywhere from 1-3 minutes depending on how hard I have been running her. Again I believe the info is in the owners manual.

 

Where would be a good website to find this? The truck was bought used & didn't come with a owner's manual, & my 7.3 didn't come with a diesel owners supplement. And is a 02 7.3 the same?

 

You could go to this website:https://myford.fordvehicles.com

Once you create an account you can look at the owners manual online, plus track your maintence.

I personally let it warm up briefing when cold starting out about 1 minute. When shutting it down I just slow down coming into the driveway and that is good enough, unlesss I have been running hard then about 3-5 mins.

 

That is a big no-no very alot of obvious reasons.

Actually a lot of idling time is not good on the 6.0 and later diesel engines due to such things as the EGR system on these trucks. You could have gotten away with this on the 7.3, but not the 6.0.

Sure he can just replace the turbo when it gets too many miles on it, I just don't know how much good that will do him though. However, it can be done.

It is possible, but not very likely.


Are you talking about a high idle versus a regular idle or are you talking about idle duration?

7.3 is definately a different animal then the 6.0. There are some things that you can do with the 7.3 that you just won't be able to with the 6.0.

 

Are you talking about a high idle versus a regular idle or are you talking about idle duration?


I'm sorry I left a couple words out. I am talking about idle duration. I'm not that (obviously) experienced in the field of diesels either. My stroker is the first turbo-diesel I have owned. I've owned an old 7.3 and a 69 Both were non turbo idis. I am not doing this to be an a**, I just want to save my father some money. I am not out to dance around & say I told you so. I really appreciate everybody's input

 

That's alright, I just wanted to make sure before I started going on about something that you weren't wanting to know about.

You shouldn't idle the 6.0 like you would the 7.3 due to the EGR system that is on the 6.0 as that leads to turbo problems due to carbon buildup unless you setup a high idle circuit(reason why I mentioned high idle in previous post). Starting with the 6.0s, alot of how people treated their diesels is thrown out of the window and you have to start treating them like high performance engines.

 

I am a new 6.0 owner ('04 super duty F250) and would appreciate a brief list of do's and don'ts for my truck.

Roy

 

Do List:

Regular service intervals(suggest going to synthetic oil); This is the biggie
Every now and then really work the truck once it's up to Op. temp. if the
truck is a daily driver
Think about investing in good quality gauges rather or not you ever tune
the truck.
If you do tune the truck only get custom tunes from respected tune writers
Suggest rotating where you get your diesel fuel or atleast going to stations
that have high diesel turnover(flying j etc)
Let the truck cool down for a couple of minutes(time varies) after a fast,
long, or working(the truck, not you) trip, this is were gauges will come in
handy
Last but not least: Enjoy the truck

Don't Do List:

Not doing regular service intervals(like I said this is a biggie)
Idle for extensive periods unless do the high idle mod(even then don't do
excessive idling)
Nothing but stop and go traffic and very little work for the truck
Dog the truck before it gets to operating temp.
Don't get "off-the-shelf" tuning devices

This is some broad stroke stuff that I can think of off the fly, there is more and if you want an omnibus post I'm sure everyone here can do that for you. However, this are the immediate biggies that I can think of off the fly.

 

You mentioned "tune the truck" and "off the shelf tuning". Do you mean changing the computer settings or chips? I don't have any plans to do many modifications to it. We haul a two horse trailer sometimes but do not need lots of modifications.

I did see a video at
POWERSTROKEHELP.COM - The Information Source for Ford Power Stroke Diesel Owners
That recommends exhaust gas temperature guages (and replacing the exhaust system). Maybe these guages are what you suggest.

Roy

 

That's what I meant. I haul a 2 horse trailer and a 4 horse trailer on a regular basis.

Yes Exhaust Gas Temp gauge(EGT or Pyrometer) is one of the gauges that I was suggesting and that is the one that is used for cool down. You want to do it pre-turbo at the exhaust manifold.

Another gauge would be a tranny temp gauge if you have an auto. You could still use it for a manual, but unless your sled pulling you could get by without it for a manual.

Boost gauge usually rounds it out for the usual 3 gauges that people get.

Water or oil temp would be the fourth gauge that I would get to establish when your at operating temp or not. Perfect world it would be best to have both as you can tell if something isn't quite right if those two gauges fluctuate to much between their readings(oil temp usually reads ~15 degrees warmer then water temp).

Those four should do it for the imperative stuff to monitor.

 

What harm does it do by "******* the truck" until it is warmed up?

 

Wait till your engine is up to temp before asking it to do hard acceleration. Drive like there is an egg under the acceleration pedal till it is up to temp. I am convinced that many of the folks that have had Head Gaskets/Head Stud problems are the ones who really gass on thier truck rright from a cold start.

My truck is all loaded up, trailer (32' three axle car hauler) hooked up and loaded with snow machines. It is -30'F here and my truck sat out side, loaded up and hooked up all night. I will start it from in here when my friends get here in a few minutes, let it idle for as long as it takes to put on my coat hat and gloves on. I will drive it real easy (watch the turbo gauge not getting more than 15 psi and not get above 1500 rpms) from here to the highway (about 3 miles) then I am up to temp. At -30 I still won't stand on the petal, but I get up to 65 mph and set the cruise. Fuel mileage sux when its this cold.

 

I had a different understanding of what "******* meant" I thought ******* as in going real easy. I do about what you do 1500-1700 rpm with a real light foot.

 

Besides, quit trying to tell your Dad what to do. I hate it when my son struggles to look like he knows more than me.

Trust me, when he wants to know what YOU think....he will ask your Mom or sister or one of his friends.

He won't have to ask you because you won't stop blathering on about how He drives the truck You want to own.

***that was kind of a fun post to write*** Just joking, I have a 24 year old son who is very good to my wife and I. I tease him about forgeting more than he will ever know.