1st Diesel - some rookie questions
 

Hello all - this is a great forum for a new diesel owner like me... But the more I read , the more questions I have. Maybe you guys can help - many thanks in advance for your input.

07 F350 6.0 crew cab LB 4x4
6" Skyjacker lift w/ 37 x 13.5's
3700 miles (I bought it new about 5 weeks ago... lift & tires came with the truck)

I would like to put a tune on the truck. Other than potential warranty issues, what can go wrong when running a super economy tune? (I spoke with a guy at LIPD this morning, but I was a little rushed.) Can the oversize tires be programmed so the speedometer is correct?

My truck has a boost guage, Trans fluid temp guage, and engine coolant guage (all stock.) Are there any other guages, other than EGT, that are real important?

How important is it to set up one of the outfitter switches for "High Idle" function?

I'm not a big speed guy (Not that I don't like going fast, I just hate buying fuel and paying tickets). Are there any mods other than a programmer that will make noticeable performance improvements?

What kind of oil do I need to use when changing (I live in Scottsdale, AZ) and what is the big benefit to the Racon filters?

Any other advice for a long time Ford owner with a new diesel and very limited knowledge?

Thanks... you guys have a great forum going here.

AZhunter,

First off welcome to FTE lots of good people and info around here.
What do you like to hunt?

The SCT XcalII with custom tunes from Matt(PSD 60L Fx4) at LIPD www.lidiesel.com is the way to go. When you are less rushed call and talk to Matt about all the pros and cons, he is the leading 6.0 performance guru around here.

As far as problems with the Econo tune, first off understand you can have mechanical failures running the stock FMC tune. The nice thing about the SCT XcalII with custom tunes, Matt can adjust not only the engine to perform well for your specific truck, load and driving style but also the transmission. In addition the EGR valve can be turned off eliminating all the problems it causes.

Yes oversized tires can be programmed for, i don't know if there is an upper limit ask Matt.

As for the factory gauages, the only ones that are accurate are Boost and Fuel. Add A/M EGT and Trans Temp as minimums. You may want to also consider a voltage gauge since your truck did not come with one.

The high idle mod is a 5-minute hook up and is nice to have if you ever need to idle your truck for more than 10 minutes. Use the BCP wire, here is the link to the write up
www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/Q108.pdf

For longevity other nice mods are
Coolant filter www.dieselsite.com
Cross over fuel line kit LIPD
MBRP Cat back or turbo back(may cause warranty issues) exhaust LIPD
Fluidampr harmonic balancer LIPD
EGR delete up pipe LIPD
By-pass oil filtration www.Oilguard.com

Do not use A/M "will fit" filters only use OEM Racor filters. The A/M filters can cause damage to you engine.

As far as oil goes, run dino CJ-4 15W-40 or Syn 5W-40 in your choice of brand and change every 5K miles. Use only OEM Racor filters (Motorcraft or Fram) Walmart sells Fram $15 or Pep Boys with coupon $3.50.

Buy your OEM Racor fuel filters at the local IH dealer $36 and also pick up the updated HFCM water seperator drain plug $15
2589259C91 - replacement HFCM drain plug

Stick with the OEM Donaldson air intake system, if offers the best filtration on the market and flows more air than the engine can use until you get to 500+Hp.
Change the OEM Donaldson air filter based on the "filter minder" (these filters can go 80k miles fairly easily) www.filterminder.com

Change the bypass transmission filter every 15K miles and flush the transmission every 30K.

Put layered security features on your truck:
Jimmi Jammers (all doors) www.jimmijammer.com
Film window tint
Ravelco kill switch (or similar) www.Ravelco.com
Noise making alarm

Read the tech folder at the top of the page, lots of good info in there.

Hope this helps

Great info Blackhat.

Blackhat I was going to jump in with some of the same info, but I think you covered it all. Great job!

[QUOTE=blackhat620]AZhunter,


Yes oversized tires can be programmed for, i don't know if there is an upper limit ask Matt.


blackhat620,

are you sure about this..? i just changed tire size and contacted SCT directly after not finding an answer here and they told me the XCAL II can't change the speedo reading for new size tires on ford diesel trucks.

it that's incorrect i'll be contacting matt to have mine changed....

its not changing the speedo, its adjusts shift points and what not.

superdudey,

thanks...that's what i thought

As far as I know the PCM will not take accept a value lower than 600 revs/mile for tire size. So for a 37" tire you have to go to something like the Superlift TruSpeed in order to get the speedometer to read correctly anyway.

Welcome to the site and congrats on your new truck. You came to the right place for info

Just got back from a week in South Padre Island, TX and this was the first time I could check on this thread - Great information and very much appreciated. I will be calling LIPD this week to get the SCT on oreder, and possobly more. After spending a little time on their website, it would appear that Matt is a dangerous guy to get to know too well... That could get expensive!

Thanks again for the info.

That is a Big Understatement. :-missingt :-missingt

blackhat sumed it up............

Well you do get what you pay for, and Matt and Jermey are just about the best in the business, so any money spent with them is money well spent. You may not think so up fornt, but if you ever have a problem, they are 100% customer oriented and will make things right for the customer, be it a $200 set of gauges, or $7000 compound turbo setup, they back what they sell.

Great Information And Great Questions. I Am Learning A Great Deal Also.

Thanks Gentlemen

AZH,
Your right about LIPD. Those guys know how to make your 6.0 go and are pretty good at helping you spend your cash (or credit depending on how "bad" it gets...)

You can look at my signature and see that I'm a real sucker for a good sales pitch and no, I don't want to buy any land in FL!

Rest assured they'll take good care of you.