Guys,

I am at the point of no return with my engine. It has left me stranded again. I love the truck but have no faith in this engine. It has broken and bent things no one has heard of (like 5 pushrods on 4 different cylinders).I have a line on a brand new 03 engine, complete except for FICM. I know there are many differences in the 03 and 04. My questions relate to interchangebility of some parts. Will my FICM work with this engine? What about the differences in the HPOP and the ICP locations? The turbo? I have a FCD egr delete on my current engine and a brand new oil cooler. Are there any differences between the oil coolers/filter assembly? If I do not go this route, I will look for a 06 used engine. What issues will I find with that scenario? I looked at Bismics list and did notice some fuel line changes and radiator hose location differences? Help please?

 

same oil cooler. depending on build date it may be the same motor. the ficm is also the same and will work just fine.
You need to find out id the o4 engine is early or late build.

just wondering does your truck sit alot?

 

Cheezit

I was pretty sure I could count on your help. My truck engine is a late build 04 with the IPR sensor on the valve cover and it had the 04 style egr cooler that I deleted. The truck does not sit much when it runs.It had 97000 miles on it when I bought it. I put 20000 miles on it from early this May when I bought it until September. I did an Oasis on it when I purchased it and actually talked to the dealer who sold it new and took it on trade. He had wholesaled it to the used dealer I bought it from. It had received regular scheduled maintenance and the only warranty was a new turbo just before it was traded. I had an egr cooler failure at 104000 miles. I deleted the egr cooler at that time. The oil cooler failed at 118000 miles. I replaced it and did head gaskets and ARP's. I had the heads redone at a very reputable shop. I had a lot of issues getting the coolant cleaned and other issues resolved but perservered. I still do not know why it bent 5 push rods. I put 1100 miles on it and it ran fantastic. Then it just quit. When I tried to restart, it ran very poorly, belched blue smoke and quit. I could not restart it. When I got it home I found the starter had lost a bolt, came loose and brokr the starter case. Now I am just plain scared of this engine. I love the truck. It pulls my 12000 pound fifth wheel real nice. I just need it to run.

Thanks for all your contributions here

 

I think the rocker box may be different, the early style engine has 8 bolts in the oil rail the late has 9. so moving the icp would mean swaping the rocker box.
however you could use the whole wiring harness and may be allright. Im not 100% on this though. another option would be to overlay the harness to the icp sensor new location and thats easy enugh.
Im sure ill think of more on this as the topic grows.
There were issues with this engine early on when with sitting to long and lifter's pumping up and getting stuck also a few with buildup on the vaves and they will stick after sitting for some time.
We have had a few that will pump up lifter when you pull the heads and bend the push rods when you start it up.

 

Cheezit

The push rod problem was exactly as you described after HG replacement. I did replace 2 lifters before it quit bending them. We have it partially apart now and do not see any bent push rods. I definitely have the new style "wavey" oil rails. Do you think a low milage, under 60000 miles, 06 engine would be a better route to go? I worry about the early HPOP pump issues. Whatever goes back into the truck, it will have reconditioned heads, new head gaskets,ARP studs, egr delete, the new oil cooler from current engine and a coolant filter. I have read that 06 and up engines have been relatively problem free. I bought the truck at a really good price so I can justify fixing it right.

Thanks again,

 

I have an 06 sitting in the shop now that I plane to rebuild. I don't know for sure yet condition of block cause I have not pulled pistons do plane to and send to machine shop. If all is good and you are interested I may sell it to you. It has 140,000 on block though

 

Texans

Thanks for the offer. I am looking for a lower mileage runner that I can basically spend a day or so doing the upgrade mods and then install it.

 

I would opt for the 06 engine. the only thing there that comes to mind id the pcm on the 06 is a hs can network. so if they are pined the same then great, if not you would need to use the harness from the truck all the sensors are laid out the same way so it should not be much of an issue.
remember with all engine swaps even the easy ones there is bound to be some issue

 

Here's a web site of salvage yards nationwide for an '06 6.0L
Search Results

 

Cheezit,

Can you further explain the wiring harness issue? How do I determine what I would need from the donor truck? How large of a harness are we talking about?

 

It is never a good idea to put in an older year engine than the current factory engine.

In many jurisdictions, that mean you cannot get the vehicle smog passed if they know about it.


If you are going this route, why not buy a reman from a reputable place near where you are?

Price is close to the same as buying a used engine of unknown reputation...

 

Gearloose

I would consider a reman but do not know any in my area. I was aware of the smog issue you reference but I already crossed that bridge when I deleted the Egr on the current engine

 

the newer trucks use a differnt pcm that is faster. so far as how to determine what is needed is a little tricky. It may be just plug and play it may be swaping a few parts.

remember Im a dealer tech and dont get much in to the mods and incorect year motor swaps much. someone on here no doubt has some more info.

 

Your choice. EGR deletes can be undeleted anytime.

But if you are nailed for a non compliant engine, the fix is to put in a compliant one.