I have a 2003 F250 6.0 diesel. Love the truck. Recently I have noticed a weird noise. It sounds like a distant siren and only happens when moving. At first I thought a belt or pulley, but when stopped at a light the noise disappears. Put my foot on the gas and as the speed increases the nosie comes back. Not much to go on I know but its driving me insane. Anyone else experienced this? Wheel related perhaps? From a stop at light, truck seems sluggish when i go, eventually it takes off but wondering if noise could be related. By no means am I a diesel mechanic so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

The new guy

 

Sounds like an air leak somewhere after the turbo. Usually the hoses to or from the intercooler, sometimes it can be the intercooler itself starting to leak.

 

im with Beerstalker
do you hear you turbo spool up? check you Intercooler boots with your hands, and make sure you cant move them. they should be tight...look for a Soot buildup too, might be up pipe leaking too..... you can do that under your truck, if its a significant leak you see it right away.... hope this helps you ...

 

BTW 250fan Welcome to the FTE...... .

 

Beerstalker, thanks for the info sir. like the name btw.

Pete, thanks for the welcome. I will first research exactly what you guys said and then see if I can find it and check it out.

thanks again,

New guy

 

while i got you guys here, I am seriously considering trading my 03 for an 06 crew cab 4x4. Kids gettin too big for supercab and I am looking at fifth wheel toyhaulers. Figure the bigger cab will do me good. Has FOrd upgraded the 6.0 in any significant ways since 03? I have heard numerous horror stories about the 6.0 and the truck I am looking at has it as well as my 03. Just dont know if I should pass on this truck or if the 6 is better now than it was in 03???

 

it was interior and bunch of engine mods , updates flashes.
get Oasis( any Ford dealer should do it free) report before you get the truck, to see what was done and if PO was neglecting the truck, or just plain abuse it. or never had a problem with it...
nd make sure dealer gives you all pages of Oasis, and get carfax, last dealer tried to sell me f350 with some crap on carfax, and said it was clean, i got the info myself...

 

Like was said above, get an OASIS. '05 and later got interior, brake, frame, suspension upgrades. Torque rating went from 560 to 570 as well. The GVWR and GCWR went up on the '05-'07 models also.

 

Lots of little engine changes went on through-out ALL years of the 6.0........most where not major, but still changes (for the better)........the high pressure oil system is a tad bit different, it has a different style intake manifold, and a different EGR cooler to name a few things.

 

Could also be excess pressure venting from degas cap, (headgaskets?)

 

well, I checked the hoses past the turbo...tight. Still making the noise.
Got in drove down my street, set cruise and hung half my body out the window to see if I could pinpoint where the noise is. I am relatively sure its coming from the back end of the truck. No leaks from rear end, drive shaft looks good. Like I said, ONLY happens when truck is moving. In park and rev, no noise, at stop no noise......so....any ideas to look for in rear end? Sorry to be pain in the neck but am wanting to trade this truck soon and dont want to get skyrewed over the stupid noise thing. Any input is GREATLY appreciated.

 

well you can do a test if you have two jack stands. jack up rear end put it on the stands. than have your wife or your beer buddy put it in "D" and you see where the noise is comming from. maybe driveshaft bearing , or one of your wheel bearings , hope its easy,
BYT REMEMBER, be safe when you jack up the rear of your truck. dont anyone walk in the front of it just in case the jack stand brakes and your truck will jump forward....
put somthing in the front of the front wheels to block the truck from rolling, and in the back of them too, and before you do anything shake the truck as hard as you can it should stay on the stands,
when in doubt leave it alone if you dont feel safe....

rant over...

 

any coolant residue on your coolant overflow bottle(degas bottle) any coolant loss ? running hot? and also look at your boost tubes to and from your intercooler. tuned?

 

not running hot at all, no coolant loss and the degas bottle is clean. tubes to and from cooler are tight. Yesterday the issue of slow starts seemed to have disappeared. Still got the noise that is driving me crazy tho. Hate to do it but think I am gonna just clean the beast real good, take it to the dealer and trade for the 07 crew cab and take my lumps. The 07 is clean, carfax is clean and oasis shows no issues either. Just hope it doesnt have some mystery noise!

 

Sorry im running out of bullets, if you love your truck, close to being paid for and are not just looking to trade up, i would bite the bullet and get it diagnost by ford ,its going to cost ya a little coin, but if the the noise is your only complaint, finding it and fixing it will be less expensive than a new 5 year truck payment. personally biting a hole box of bullets, no waranty and my trucks @ford for heads, big, big money but,less than another 60 months of payments, kicker is i have 3 payments left.
Good luck on your choices....