Just bought an 06 250 PSD, 40K mi in may. After spending alot of time on the forums, I started a list of things to do on the truck. So far I have cleaned the egr (was pretty dirty), changed the oil and fuel filters, added a dieselsite coolant filter. I will be changing the tranny fluid next week since I dont know if it was changed at 30k. If the future, after the factory warranty expires I will probably do an egr delete.

My question is: Should I rebuild the oiler cooler as part of my preventative maintenance or should I leave it be since the truck only has 40,000 miles?

Any other suggestions? So far the truck is running fine. I do not have a tuner on it but the previous owner did put a Gibson cat back exhaust. This is my first diesel and am absolutely loving it so far. Thanks in advance.

 

I'm not a fan of just doing an EGR delete to be doing an EGR delete. I think people have gotten it in their head that the EGR delete is the way to go, kinda like how they think that getting rid of today's cats get you more HP like they did when getting ready of the cats back in the 70s. How one drives(I know people are probably sick and tired of my using that phrase, but it's true) the truck with the EGR valve working will determine a good deal about how reliable it is. It just takes a little bit more knowledge then just enough to say delete, delete, delete.

This is where gauges would come in handy. I'm not one for just hacking around the truck to be hacking around the truck. If it needs it, then yes by all means do it, but you can actually do more damage by going through everything with the best of intentions, but something might get missed and boom, you've got a problem. Maybe even the problem that you were trying to prevent. Not all trucks have the Oil Cooler issue. That's the irony of doing the coolant filter. You may not have needed that filter, because your oil cooler didn't have issues, but yet the credit goes to the filter for "saving" the oil cooler.

If you do the EGR delete, you are going to have to get a custom written tune to "tell" the computer not to look for the EGR sensor(s), otherwise, you will more then likely go into what is affectionately known as "EPA Limp Mode". Now you can just get an "EGR Delete Only" tune that doesn't change HP/TQ output of the truck, but you will more then likely need a tuner for either an EGR delete or EGR Bypass. Just keep that in mind. Only way around that would be to have your FICM flashed to an older strategy that wouldn't have that limp mode programmed into it. Which even then you might have to have tuning to match that strategy as well. This isn't as clear cut on the later 6.0s as people like to think.

EGR delete isn't as necessary as people like to think that it is.

 

I appreciate the honesty and good knowledge. As for the guages, is that where the EOT and ECT (15temp diff) will come into play? So If i understand correctly I can tell that my oil cooler is doing well as long as that temp spread does not exceed 15degrees right?

 

Pretty much correct. You also need to pay attention to the engine load and ambient conditions play a part as well.

I use the EOT, ECT, voltage, and fuel pressure gauges the most. I try to train myself to glance down and look ath the boost on hard accelerations.

Gauges are important IMO.

 

Yes, more times then not you will be able to determine if one or both is bad by using gauges. I wish I could be more definitive in my response then just "more times then not", but you are always going to have your exceptions, however, the odds will be in your favor with having gauges.

Even with gauges, you may not seen high temps, but it's how quickly your temps rise that can tell you if something is wrong to. You just have to know your truck, your driving habits, and terrain in order to help determine what is par for the course and what isn't. I say this, because when all that HP that I have was causing the tranny to go south, I never saw above 200*s on my TFT gauge, but it was rapidly getting to 170*s in very cold temps with very short drives one way(less then 10 miles). However, without the gauge, I wouldn't have known either way. This is especially why I do not like it when people say that stock gauges are "good enough", because they really aren't in a multitude of different ways. It's not just rather something hits a certain temp, it's how quickly temps raise, even if they never hit the "red line", when they do and it shows on a stock gauge, you more then likely have a significantly higher bill.

 

Bismic: "I use the EOT, ECT, voltage, and fuel pressure gauges the most. I try to train myself to glance down and look ath the boost on hard accelerations."

In ref to the "voltage" guage, what do you look for here? Is this voltage for a specific component or just a plain old voltage for the battery (12-14volts?) I do not remember reading much about issues with voltage. Thanks in advance

 

Low voltage will give you a heads up on the condition of your batteries and alternator. Low voltage has been linked as a direct cause for ficm failure and a few other gremlins.

 

I'd like to thank all on this forum for thier help and knowlage. I found adding an amp gage to the output of the alternator helps alot in showing amp draw and when the batteries need attention. Also when you have an excessive draw it's simpler to narrow down the draw. Takes a little while to find the "normal draw" with day driving and night driving. My 2 cents.