Hey guys, I've got a few questions about some of the mods in the tech files and just some other general mods. I'll go ahead and start off by saying that my truck is a 2003 F-250 6.0L CC SB with straight pipes (except for the cat) and a cold-air intake (and that's switching back to stock tomorrow) and it's got 155k miles. Feel free to answer only one question or all of them. All input is greatly appreciated.

My first question is about the fog light mod. I tried doing the mod to make my fog lights stay on when I turn my brights on but when I did it, it would blow my fuse for the brights when I would cut the brights on. Has anyone else experienced this in an 03, because I did it in my '04 and it worked fine.

My next question is about the cats on my exhaust. I took my truck to two different shops today about having the cats cut off the exhaust, and one shop said you can't do it because it would mess up electrical stuff, and the other shop said that it would be fine and it would actually run better. Who's right? I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that my '04 didn't have cats.

Next is the high idle mod. What exactly does this mod do? How does it benefit the truck? I read the write-up on the tech files but that really doesn't tell me anything, but if it's something I'll benefit from then it sounds like somethin I'd like to tackle.

My last question is about a tuner. I'm looking at getting the SCT Livewire from DFuser, but I'm somewhat worried about the toll it might take on my truck. I'm a college student with a part time job, and can afford to do mods every once in a while that are under $1,000, but having the head-bolts switched out with head-studs is something I definately cannot afford. I asked a mechanic at the Ford dealership about a programmer, and he said that the 6.0s do fairly well with them as long as you don't tow. I've also heard that the SCTs program the transmission as well, where some others do not. Will this help with my truck having really hard shifts in the mornings when the truck has been sitting all night, or is that just something that cannot really be helped? My truck also seems to lag a little when rolling in reverse and then shifting into drive...I try and give it a few seconds before hitting the gas, but even then sometimes I hit the gas after I think the transmission should have shifted into drive, and it will jerk really bad because it shifts after I already have some throttle into it. Will a tuner help that lag? I read something about SCTs tensioning the transmission line, so hopefully it will.

Well that's all for my questions guys. Sorry if they seem a little newbie-ish, they probably are. But any input you have would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully I can start racking up some change...2 cents at a time.

 

I know for a fact the '04 and up have cats (single cat per truck); and I feel confidant that the '03 had 'em as well. You can take the cat to the pound and it won't cause any issue, the truck won't know it's gone. You mileage should improve some (depends on how plugged the kitty is) and the whisle of the turbo will be more noticeable. The shop that told you it would screw-up the truck's electrical system is either staffed by idiots or wasn't sure if you were some kind of EPA cop.

It raises the idle speed of the engine from 600 to 1100-1200 rpm. Originally done for the commercial fleets where the trucks run pumps off the PTO system. For non-commercial trucks it helps the truck warm up faster in the winter; keeps the engine cooler in the summer as well as help the a/c when cooling the truck. Also, most importantly...it keeps the pistons from wet stacking. Which is when the engine over-cools it's self and the all the fuel doesn't burn during combustion. The diesel vapors return to a liquid and work their way past the rings...washing the oil off the cylinders and into the crankcase oil. Basically not a good thing to let them idle for more than a minute or two.

There is no such thing as a stupid or newbie question...everyone on the is forum was new at one time or another. For some it's been quite a while since they were considered "green"...others are still green. The search function on this forum may seem strange...but it can also point you in the direction you need to go. Don't be affarid to bump a thread that's a couple of years old. Things change over time and a new/better way of doing things may have come along since the thread first started.

 

That $.02 will go a lot farther than most I've gotten on here. I really appreciate the input. I do try and do as much searching as I can before I post a question, but like the high idle mod, I could only find questions abou the proceedure, and not about the results or benefits. And I was looking around just now and found a post that said that removing the cats was perfectly fine, and 2 seconds later I got an email telling me you'd responded...so I guess I could have looked a littler harder on that one. But really the only reason I said that was because some people on here have a chip on their shoulder ad it seems like they get pissed off every time somebody posts something. But you've been more than helpful, and I really appreciate the input. A+

 

Unless you really want the tuner. I'd just stay away. Pull the cat off your truck and see how you like it. If you decide you want more power down the road then go for it. Otherwise invest the 500 some dollars in to some gauges which you need to do before you get a tuner anyways.

They do, but no, it won't help. If you let the truck warm up for a few minutes prior to driving then that rough shifting won't be nearly as bad. She just has to warm up a bit.

The delay from reverse to drive is a bit of a debate on here. A lot of people have it, and have not had any ill effects from it. A lot of other people don't have it and say that if you do its a bad thing. I can personally tell you that I have been through 4 6.0's and put over 100k miles on each one, and 3 of them had the delay and never had a tranny problem. I have 3 other 5r110 (torqueshift tranny) on gas motors and 2 of them delay also. I have no idea what causes it, and yes its annoying, but I don't see any reason to tear in to a tranny to try and fix something that doesn't cause any damage.

 

I wasn't griping, just saying you can usually find an answer to just about anything you can think of. The annoying thing it sometimes you have to dig for it, and use crafty words to find it. I was surprised you couldn't find anything on the High-Idle mod. If you want to open a can of worms...start a thread about which oil is the best for the 6.0L ; then you'll get allot of grown men to start ...especially if ask about one of the "snake oil" brands.

 

Oh I know you weren't griping, I was just saying that's how a lot of the people are on these sites. When I had my Tacoma and got on ToyotaNation a lot, they were even worse about it than a lot of the people on here.

Speaking of my Tacoma though, I have another question. What does "blank-back" exhaust mean? On here the big thing is "turbo-back" exhaust (what is that?), and on ToyotaNation the big thing for Tacomas was "cat-back" exhaust, but I never understood what that meant.

 

Yeah I didn't think it would cause any damage but I wasn't sure. The main reason I asked though was because I was just wondering if it could be fixed cause sometimes it makes you look like an idiot when you hit the gas and then the tranny catches and the truck jumps forward like it's your first day driving.

 

The term "____-back" basically means from that componanta back the exhaust pipe is that size. On the Super Duties (SD) equipped with the Power stroke Diesel (PSD; 6.0) the factory/OEM exahuast is 3" from the turbo down to below the fire wall....then it's 3.5" from there back. Aftermarket kits are 3.5" from the turbo down to below the firewall then go what ever size you pick to the rear. Most folks are running 4" "turbo back"; some who live in emission states (CA) are running the 4" form the kitty/cat back. On your former Toyota, they most likely have an O2 sensor behind the kitty, so they have to keep the kitty in place so that the engine computer doesn't get cornfused. Like I said above the SD don't have O2 sensor in the exhaust, and the PCM doesn't know if the kitty is there or not. If I can find 3.5" locally...my kitty is headed to the pound. Right now isn't a good time for me to drop $400 for a new exhaust system; and can't exactly slide that kind of expense past the finance department (aka wife/bride) unnoticed.

 

That's kinda what I figured, but a wasn't sure. I thought that it might mean that it's from that point back. So if I have factory pipes from the turbo to where the cat is supposed to be, and then it opens up to a 4" pipe from there back, would it be expensive to step up pipe sizes up to the turbo?