F250 Super Duty Diesel Question

[Brantime]

My pu (2005 F250 SD Diesel w 6.0) would die at an intersection on occations, I took it in to a Ford dealership. They told me the fuel sending unit was bad and so 950.00 was sunk into that repair.

Drove back to Victoria with my DW that afternoon, towing my Flaggstaff Super Lite 5er, and it died in the intersection again.

Called the dealership the next morning, and drove the 45 minutes back to the dealership, to then have the EGR valve replaced, second on in 2 years! One in Colorado and one in South Texas.

Well, in the past 2 months, the pu has not died on me, but was hard to start. Always would start on the second or third time it turned over. After the repairs, it would take 8-10 turnovers to start. Yesterday, tried for a minute to start the pu and then it started to "click".

My question is this...Batteries (both of them) going bad? Or could they have adjusted the timeing when tring to make the pu not die, while at the dealership?

How do you even "jump" a diesel with two batteries...never needed to try, lol! Ah, for the simple days again with no computers, smog devices...just the simple old power houses that seemed to go forever!!!

Next step? Supposed to travel from East Texas back to Tennessee this coming week, after Thanksgiving, and don't see being able to get it in a shop until after the holidays due to the short work week!

Help guys...whats next, lol!

Thanks and have a Blessed Holiday!

Mark

[Brantime]

Hey Guys!

You guys are a great group! Thanks for all the imput...

I went this morning and bought 2 batteries and replaced them on the PU and it cranked without hesitation. Maybe the turnover speed made a diff as it seemed to spin faster than I ever rememberm lol!

Cranked up the second time it turned over!

Again, thanks for ypur help and have a Great Holiday Season!!!

Mark

[wittmeba]

Brantime wrote:
How do you even "jump" a diesel with two batteries...never needed to try, lol! Ah, for the simple days again with no computers, smog devices...just the simple old power houses that seemed to go forever!!!

Your dual batteries are wired in parallel. Positive to Positive and Negative to Negative. This maintains the 12V but doubles the available amps cranking power.

Your driver side battery is the Primary battery. If jump starting try to connect to this battery - it is most direct to your starter. Connect the same way you would if you only had 1 battery - Positive to Positive and Negative to Negative.

I was told by a mechanic that the PCM requires a certain level of voltage to operate correctly and as batteries age the voltage they are able to provide drops. It seems about 11.5 volts was the cutoff point. Mine (2001) did similar to what you are describing - just wouldn't fire even from a small jump box. Once connected to another running truck about 5 minutes and it fired right up. It was about 6 years old and I replaced both batteries and never again had the problem.

[rhagfo]

45Ricochet wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
EGR valves clogging wit soot is a common problem with these engines. Having said that it's a easy 30 minute job to remove them and clean them up with brake cleaner and reinstall. I my 6.0 psd it seamed they needed to be cleaned every 80k miles. Here's a video to view.

Also on the hard starting it sounds like your ficm (Fuel Injection Control Module) may need to be replaced. Running these trucks with weak batteries damages these ficm and that's why it's important to maintain good batteries.

X2
Weak batteries will kill the FICM in short time. Keep em fresh.
I've never jumped mine either but I believe the driver side would be the correct one to connect the cables to.

3X mostly

Replace the batteries (how old) also look at putting an updated Alternator on also.
Jumping need a decent size jump truck, before I could get the batteries replaced in my Ram I needed to park at airport a couple times. Second time I had them send two little Ford Rangers, connected one to each battery, just a couple minutes to get enough juice to start, rather than the 10 to 15 minutes the first time with just one. This is a second gen Cummins, takes about a half a revolution to start.

[45Ricochet]

FishOnOne wrote:
EGR valves clogging wit soot is a common problem with these engines. Having said that it's a easy 30 minute job to remove them and clean them up with brake cleaner and reinstall. I my 6.0 psd it seamed they needed to be cleaned every 80k miles. Here's a video to view.

Also on the hard starting it sounds like your ficm (Fuel Injection Control Module) may need to be replaced. Running these trucks with weak batteries damages these ficm and that's why it's important to maintain good batteries.

X2
Weak batteries will kill the FICM in short time. Keep em fresh.
I've never jumped mine either but I believe the driver side would be the correct one to connect the cables to.

[OH48Lt]

I also had a 2005 F250 with the 6.0. Just before I got rid of it, it started being hard to start. Turned out to be the FICM. Not cheap. Repair cost at a Ford dealer 3 years ago was $1100. The FICM voltage can be read on the dealer's computer, so they don't have to guess. Most dealers do not have a decent diesel wrench, I had to drive 40 miles to get to a good one, and there are probably 6-7 Ford dealers closer than that. There are aftermarket FICM's available a little cheaper and of better quality, if you can do the repair yourself.

[joegray]

AH gremlins in the 6.0 I have a 06 f350. Try to avoid having the dealer throw a bunch of parts at it.... it will cost you a fortune. Before someone disconects the batteries, see if there are any codes stored in the computer. Not all codes will set a CEL. As said have each of the batteries load tested,disconnect all the battery terminals and have someone with a load tester or hydrometer check the batteries. Do the cheap stuff first,,,,, change the fuel filters,I don't know if there is a pump in the tank but make sure it is pumping at the required rate, There is lots of stuff that could cause this,bad fuel, bad filters, low voltage on FICM,bad starter,,,, the list could go on and on. Good luck and let us know the final outcome.

[CurtisFamily]

As far as hard starting, I replaced the starter in mine, and the difference was like day and night.

[FishOnOne]

EGR valves clogging wit soot is a common problem with these engines. Having said that it's a easy 30 minute job to remove them and clean them up with brake cleaner and reinstall. I my 6.0 psd it seamed they needed to be cleaned every 80k miles. Here's a video to view.

Also on the hard starting it sounds like your ficm (Fuel Injection Control Module) may need to be replaced. Running these trucks with weak batteries damages these ficm and that's why it's important to maintain good batteries.

[Fishinghat]

My daughter has a Ford F-350 with the 6.0. As a preventive measure, I researched the cause of most engine problems and one of the most common causes is bad batteries. (The second was overheating caused by a bad radiator cap, a $9 repair. The third was "chipping" the engine to get more torque/power.)

She hasn't had any problems in the year she's owned it. She bought it to pull a horse trailer, so it see's very light duty.

[Brantime]

thanks guys!!! I know that sensors could be a problem, but with the problem not starting until it came out of the shop, well, that had me confused a little!

Guess I will check out getting 2 new bateries monday...

[tvman44]

Get your batteries load tested, sounds like it is new battery time. 😞

[shadows4]

Batteries if weak could definitely cause problems. You would most likely get more and better help at wwe.ford-trucks.com. Good luck, John

[ScottG]

They couldn't adjust the timing so don't worry about that.
The ECM looks for a minimum specific eng RPM while it's cranking and if it doesn't see it, it wont allow it to start. So batteries can cause an issue but it usually shows up in the winter when it's cold and the battery efficiency is taxed. It can also have a hard time starting for many other reasons including sensor rationality.
Longer crank times are often the result of leaking injectors but it's hard to tell without more testing.