I am wrestling with a problem. My truck is costing me big $$$. My wife and buddies say ditch the truck by a new warrantied one. I don't like the look of the new trucks. Sure the motor may be awesome ( time will tell) but I love my truck. So instead of paying $ 75,000 CAD for a new one what can/ should I do to make my truck as bulletproof as an early '04 6.0l can be.

I have spend about $26,000 on this truck over the past 4 years. Some of it was on upgrades but some was just repairs ie. Power steering gear box etc I'm not sure if my sig shows it so here's what she's got:

Arp studs
Suncoast lvl 3 tranny with lvl 5 converter
Tranny filter and am using synthetic fluid
Airaid intake
5" Bullydog exhaust
Edge Insight
SCT tuner w/ extreme tunes from Eric at Innovative diesel
240,000 km

I want a powerful truck. And I know you have to pay to play whether it's in repairs or the upgrades. But what can I do to make the truck as reliable and still be powerful. I've spent hours on forums trying to figure it out but it's almost to much info to digest. I was hoping that some of you vets to the 6.0l would give me some advise for my truck specifically. I guess I look at it this way. Why spend so much on a new "awesome" motor if i have the access to the advise from experts on a motor that has been around long enough to know what needs attention. Who knows mb the new 6.7 will have it's own big issues.

I was planning on installing a coolant filter since I have noticed my eot and coolant temp are sometimes 23 degrees apart. I just replaced the oil cooler a couple years ago when i had the head gaskets and studs put in. Seems quick to be happening again.

I am planning on installing a fuel psi gauge.

I am also planning on getting larger injectors and a more powerful turbo. And I suppose the other mods that are required to supply the fuel etc. I'm hoping to get between 500-600 horsepower at the wheels. Maybe more if it's feasible.

What complete package of add ons would be recommended? Are any of you running some trucks similar to this amount of hp and what is your setup? What types of maintenance issues or break downs have you had?

 

I will let others talk about the mods. I will jump in on the reliability topic.

Are you having issues other than your ECT/EOT temperature difference?
If so, what problems?

What are you doing to keep your coolant healthy? What fluid do you use and how often is it changed/flushed? Do you periodically check for nitrites?

Poor coolant health can be a root cause of many problems, not the least of which is corroding the surface of your heads (and block) and plugging important cooling passageways to the engine.

Do you still have your EGR system?

If you have stock fuel system and injectors, and have been running extreme tunes, you could easily have injector problems down the road since you are likely to have been running with very low fuel pressures. So, even though I am in the camp that you can get close to 450 hp with stock injectors, you should plan on changing them out.

 

Well since you are planning on bigger injectors and turbo, I'll leave you alone about the problems with having a 5" exhaust and a/m intake at the stage in the game that you are at now.

500-550 is more then good for the street use and to still be able to tow a good amount. I'm at 508 and I tow ~16k worth of horse flesh, however, tuning is going to be more critical now then it is with a stock truck, particularly with the bigger turbos, otherwise, you'll have "dead spots" and you won't like that at all. They can be tuned out, but it's not fun having them when you are towing especially.

It is feasible to go higher, but any higher then 550 isn't worth it on the street. All that extra HP will be so far up the RPM band that you won't ever "see" it unless your at the strip racing(and maybe you are going to do that I don't know).

Yes, you are going to be look at at minimium a bigger fuel pump. With bigger injectors, I would also say that a Fuel Regulated Return is also mandatory as well to eliminate the dead-heading on these engines. I would also add something like a fluidampner as well since you will more then likely be seeing higher RPMs, that will reduce vibration at those higher RPMs.

One final thing. Even though I do believe you can have a reliable EGR system on a stock truck, you're going to at minimum need to do a bypass on yours. Those injectors are going to be flowing way more fuel over stock. Now way that the EGR system can handle that extra exhaust.

Now as far as to what injector/turbo combo is right for you, that's going to depend on what you use your truck for.

 

I still have the EGR System. Would a bypass be a no no if I get my Ford tech to do general maintenance? For the mods and tranny I have a specialty guy.

The truck seems to be running good. I was just researching mods and came across the "15 degree difference" warning. It doesn't always get more than 15 apart. But I though I should be prepared for another repair soon. I change the fluids in the truck according to the severe use schedue.

I recently had the FICM replaced. It was fried. Soldering connections were broken. The ony reason I noticed a probem leading to that was extremely poor mileage. Oh and the morning it wouldn't start . Batteries and voltage were checked and it's all good with new one.

I've noticed more black smoke than usual on moderate to hard acceleration. I'm guessing time to clean the egr. Truck doesn't feel like it's lost power or stutters. Runs good.

I wouldn't know what signs to look for indicating failing injectors, which is why I want the fuel pressure gauge to make sure they have enough supply.

But that's where the tuck is now.

 

DAMN!!!!!!!

 

I want to go fast

Seriously though, I will be using it mainly for street use. I tow a couple trailers once or twice a week so towing isn't a huge priority. The trailers are about 5,000-8,000 lbs. max. I have towed in extreme race and extreme street with no problems. I just take it real slow.

I'd like to maybe take it to the local drag strip once in a while but not to compete with 9 sec cars lol They have a category where even a school bus can go down the 1/4 mile. It's like that show Past Time. You guess what time you will do and the closest to their times continues on. I may even take my son's Power WHeels Jeep out. I'm guessing it would do the 1/4 mile in about 20 min. I wouldn't be sled pulling or anything like that. I don't want a truck where once you drive it hard you need to repair/maintain it, like a race car.

Are their turbos and injectors you'd recommend for a driveable power house and what other things do I need to install with them to make it work other than the fuel pump, return and dampener you've suggested. And what brands?

Thanks for your input I really appreciate it since I'm relatively new to diesels.

 

Your aren't going to want to go higher then then 175-180mm^3 injecters. As far as turbos go, 64mm will do right by you. Biggest thing you have to realize is that tuning is exceptionally more particular now then it was with a stock truck. If you don't have really good tuning, you can experience "dead spots" at certain speeds that you'll find the truck lacking when it comes to power until you either get above or below that "dead spot".

I use Casserly's 155mm^3 injectors and RCD's 64mm non-vgt turbo. I pull ~16k worth of horseflesh with it(including supplies that go along with the horses(saddles, feed, hay etc)) and that combo does exceptionally well.

EGR bypass or delete would be the only other thing I would suggest to do as far as mechanics goes. I would also install a fuel PSI gauge. Rather or not you go with bigger injectors, that'll help make sure that you know if your current injectors are getting enough fuel or know when they aren't.

One final note to all this though. Once you start doing things like the turbo and injectors, that's when the whole ball game changes. If you do have to go to a shop to get anything done, it's going to mean longer down times for you, especially if it's an aftermarket part and that's even assuming that the shop you are taking it to will even want to work on your truck in the first place. I wouldn't hesitate to do what I did all over again, it's a blast everytime I drive it, but it does come with it's price and I would make sure that "you" go into this whole thing with your eyes wide open.

 

You can go seriously fast with a stock injectored truck. Probably a lot faster than you want to drive it. Quick and fast are two different things. If you want to go fast down the 1/4 mile then do a bunch of mods. If you want to go fast on the street a little bigger turbo and the right tuning will put you right about 135 mph with no problems. Don't ask me how I know--LOL

 

I second what partsmans saying.
I can tell you that with stock sticks and turbo you can make not much of a daily driver. 700ftlbs is more then most people think it is.

 

Anyone tried the twin turbo for the 6.0L for Innovative? Is it as good as the RCD single turbo?

Is it better to do the EGR delete or by-pass? Would a Ford tech still work on the truck or be able to diagnose it for general maintenance with either the delete or the by-pass?

 

I would think you would have to go to a preformance shop after you do upgrades to the turbo and injectors

 

The innovative turbo kits are still relatively new, but when you put them on it's pretty much your baby to work on. I think the compounds would be a better way to go as far as streetability/driveability and overall performance vs. a big single charger, but you're looking at a very large outlay of cash OVER the cost of the kit. I have a friend of mine who put them on for Diesel Power Challenge and made 742rwhp without them being really dialed in. The potential for over 900 hp is there, but you better have DEEP pockets.

I wouldn't think that a compotent Ford diesel tech would have much of a problem working on a 6.0 with an EGR delete. That actually makes the system fairly "simple", although there can still be some quirks. I haven't had any problems with mine, but it goes back to the person doing the tuning, which in my case is Eric @ Innovative.

 

Ya working on a truck with a delete is sometimes a little easer to do some things.
It can mess with diag a little bit, not bad most of the time.

 

talk to matt.

 

me? what ? why?