Ive got an 06 F-350 cc 6.0 that will not heat at all. Ill let it high idle for about 10min or so then take off the trans come up about 1/3 the way to normal (half way) and the engine temp barely registars after idle it takes about 5 miles before it comes in to the first line and the trans is halfway "normal" but i can never get the engine up to temp "halfway" even after driving all the way to work about 16 miles "25 mins" ive already blocked about 80% of the grill off with foamboard and seen little improvement this morning it was about 6*F and i had to stop halfway home and put it back on high idle for a couple of mins. because it started shaking and had no power Any help would be appreciated!!!
Thanks
"First diesel ive owned"

 

It's hard to say for sure without some sort of analog gauge to see what the temps are getting up to the factory gauge really isn't very reliable. It's more like a dummy gauge. You might want to change the thermistat it may be sticking open with would let the coolant constantly circulate. Do you have any way o pulling codes you should look at them you can have dtc's without a cell on.

 

sounds like maybe your fuel was gelling on your way home starving the engine for fuel causing the no power situation?.sounds like texans is right on with the heat problem.

 

yea i can pull codes with my reader ill have to try that in the morning and a new thermostat thanks hope it help since i can barely drive anywhere without it feeling like its loaded up and no power

 

I changed my T-stat last winter. Almost same symptoms. It was pretty easy to replace. Your probably not getting much warmth from the heater either.

 

I like the sounds of it being easy to replace the thermostat. Where is it located? On the top of the motor where the main coolant hose connects (kinda sorta near the fuel filter?) Mine takes FOREVER to heat up (and runs horribly rough until it does!) I was thinking mine might be stuck open also.

 

Yes the t-stat is right beside the fuel filter where the hose goes to the block from the radiator

 

You were right... Extremely easy... It took longer to drain the radiator than to change the t-stat. The new one works great too... Warms up in 5 minutes +/- whereas it was 40 minutes before... The old was was visibly stuck open by about 1/16"... It is still running rough however, so I'm not sure of my next move...

 

There is alot of things that could cause the running ruff. Can you pull the codes? Did you say it runs fine once it warms up? If that is the case you might have a little sticktion going on. What kind of oil do you use, and how often do you change it? Can you plug the truck in at night so that it will be warm when you start it? By the way glad the t-stat worked for you.

 

Thanks for the comments. I don't have anything to (or know how) to pull codes. Would a typical ODB-II reader work? I've had the truck since May. It has run rough in the morning for a couple of weeks now and seemed to smooth out once warmed up. I took it to a local (private) lube shop though I'm not sure (and didn't think to ask) what type of oil they used. I have this feeling you're going to say it makes a difference! I do keep it plugged in. What is "sticktion"? Also, the auto parts guy (again, private parts person) recommended a fuel additive (which I have always avoided) called CRC Diesel Fuel Therapy (Diesel Injector Cleaner with Anti-Gel) so I have that in the fuel right now also. Lastly, it used to idle "clean" (you couldn't see any exhaust coming out) but at the moment the exhaust is visible just sitting there at idle... (blueish in color)

 

Yes and no a generic obdII reader will work. It will get some codes but not all. Oil is a major thing in a 6.0 that is what runs your injectors. I would recomend using a 5w40 syntheic oil. It is very important that you keep up with your maintance on these trucks. Change the oil every 5k. As far as the blue smoke goes here are a few things to check for that.
the first thing with blue smoke is check the oil level.
next remove oil fill cap and start engine. Does it puff smoke from the oil fill?
If it does then you need to do a blowby test also knowen a crankcase pressure test. also if you remove the exhaust outlet from the back of the turbo see if its full of oil. all this is assuming your smoke is really blue. As far as what is sticktion.
Here is the post taking strait from bismic (mark)*
FYI -

Typically when one injector fails, we find that the engine is hard to start and is low on power. If two injectors fail starting will be very hard or the engine will not start at all. If you do manage to start the engine, it will be very low on power.*

You also need to use synthetic oil (5W40), change the oil often, and get the latest flash -

The main reason why the 6.0 is so picky about oil is because it is totally reliant on two electromagnets to shuttle the spool and control the oil to the injectors. The 7.3`s use a electromagnet also but a spring to return the poppet to the closed position. Obviously the spring will work much better to "cut" through the thick oil and close the oil flow.

Not only will running oil with too thick of a viscosity cause rough starts. But this also will interrupt the shuttle action of the spool causing injection timing to be retarded causing poor performance and decreased mileage until the oil is up to full operating temperature.

There is a small spool valve in the top of the injector that controls the flow of high oil pressure fed to the intensifier piston in the fuel injector. That spool valve only moves .017", back and forth, on and off every time the injector fires.*

Many factors play in to how well that valve works such as, oil temp, oil quality, normal wear, ambient temp, and many others. As this valve ages it polishes itself inside the bore of the spool valve and as the spool valve slams back and forth it can set up the condition like a suction cup, hanging the valve to one side or the other.*

This uncommanded uncontrollable condition is called stiction (or oil latching). Mostly its a rough run cold condition but in severe cases it can be a no start or pretty harsh misfire condition. Oil that stays inside the valve on a hot engine shutdown and is allowed to cool slowly in the injector can aggravate the condition on restart, so the newest reflash uses inductive heat after shutdown to keep the oil warm, keep its viscosity low, and maximize the oil flowability to purge the oil from them. It has worked fantastic. It is an excellent preventative measure.

 

Thanks for the amazing information and insight on how that works. I checked the sticker they put in after the oil change and it says 15W-40. I will ask for 5W-40 next time. I've never run synthetic oil in anything before. Do you notice a significant difference when you run it? Or are your generally partial to synthetic in all motors?

I put about 50 miles on it this afternoon and it has smoothed out a bunch. There were still a couple of times where it was missing a bit but nothing at all like what it was before changing the t-stat.

Lastly, I assume only the dealer does the flashing. Is there a way to tell if it has been done already? What is a reasonable charge for having the firmware flashed?

Thanks again!

 

No problem. I dont run synthic in anything but this truck. I have noticed much better cold starts since I have been using it. Your injectors will like this much better. By the way one thing that has been common around here lately that will cause ruff running is the ficm. Here a link on how to test it. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...procedure.html and one on repair if it is bad https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...procedure.html Yes the dealer is the only one that can flash the truck. The only way to know if it has the latest flash is to take it to the dealer and they can hook up to it and find out for you. They maybe able to look up your truck and tell you without even hooking it up.

 

You shouldn't wait to drain that 15w-40 out and get the winter oil in. If the truck is running rough in the cold weather, it will only get worse. Doing this now will prevent further injector troubles. 5w40 synthetic is ideally the best choice, but not the only choice if you want to save a couple of bucks. Here synthetic stupidly expensive and I do about 3 changes a year. So I use the Motorcraft 10w30 for diesels at 3.50/ltr vs the 5w40 syn at 9.50/ltr. The oil has to be at least CJ4 rated. I usually end up picking it up at the nearest Ford dealer since nobody else seems to carry it. I've being using this for 4 years now. No injector troubles and starting is fine. This morning -36C and she fired right up. (plugged in but outside) For you non-metric guys out there, that's not quite -33F. Either way you slice it, that's friggin cold. We're suposed to hit -40 tonght. If your concerned about warranty, it's what is recommended in your owners manual.