superduty 6.0 smoking?

jangel · Jun 3, 2012

My superduty started smoking the other day? Black smoke at idle and when I take off it produces a nioce sized cloud that is party tan/steam looking? It happend a couple of time to mee and doesn't happen on startup, but instead it happens about 1/2 up on the temp gauge and then seems to stop once fully warm? Any ideas or suggestions? thanks

TreeClimber · Jun 3, 2012

my guess is stuck EGR valve. Google "ford 6.0 smoking" or "ford 6.0 stuck egr valve"

Have you chip'd the engine?

TrikeKid · Jun 3, 2012

Any recent service to the rig? Stuck EGR is a possibility.

jangel · Jun 3, 2012

no recent service and just a stock 6.0

It was low on coolant so I filled that up, but maybe I'll look into the EGR.

hiwater · Jun 3, 2012

jangel said:
no recent service and just a stock 6.0

It was low on coolant so I filled that up, but maybe I'll look into the EGR.[/QUOTE

low coolant and egr go hand in hand.

crash2 · Jun 4, 2012

I have heard the FICM will cause this. I know when my dads truck's ficm took a dump prior it would smoke at odd times..

t1h5ta3 · Jun 4, 2012

low ficm voltage coupled with stiction cause lazy injectors. retarded timing with a few extra ms duration.
the 6.0 uses a shuttle valve that needs to be powered to open, then powered to close.
smoke wouldbe all black

low coolant andsteam would indicater egr/egr cooler

jangel · Jun 4, 2012

So is there a way to test for a stuck EGR? Or is this just a take it out and replace it if it's stuck?

redrocket1 · Jun 4, 2012

jangel said:
no recent service and just a stock 6.0

It was low on coolant so I filled that up, but maybe I'll look into the EGR.

I had a similar issue with mine how low on coolant were you. Mine turned out to be a blown/leaking egr cooler. A stuck egr valve will not put coolant into the exhaust stream but it will cause some other weird symptoms.

Avanteone · Jun 4, 2012

It needs egr cooler, engine oil cooler, FICM, head gaskets, and studs. :fawkdancesmiley: If you're going to start fixing a 6.0, you might as well fix it ALL. :haha:

TreeClimber · Jun 4, 2012

Avanteone said:
It needs egr cooler, engine oil cooler, FICM, head gaskets, and studs. :fawkdancesmiley: If you're going to start fixing a 6.0, you might as well fix it ALL. :haha:

You forgot turbo replacement

TreeClimber · Jun 4, 2012

Avanteone said:
It needs egr cooler, engine oil cooler, FICM, head gaskets, and studs. :fawkdancesmiley: If you're going to start fixing a 6.0, you might as well fix it ALL. :haha:

You ever put studs in an engine that hadn't blown a head gasket? Was wondering if I can replace the bolts with studs, one at a time, without removing the head and replacing the gaskets?

Avanteone · Jun 4, 2012

TreeClimber said:
You ever put studs in an engine that hadn't blown a head gasket? Was wondering if I can replace the bolts with studs, one at a time, without removing the head and replacing the gaskets?

No. The torque sequence is very specific and different with studs vs stock bolts, this is not something I would even think about trying.

TreeClimber · Jun 4, 2012

Avanteone said:
No. The torque sequence is very specific and different with studs vs stock bolts, this is not something I would even think about trying.

Thanks. Didn't know the answer.

One of these days, probably sooner, I'm going to replace the bolts with studs and the EGR cooler, both as preventative maintenance.

Lucky Jeff · Jun 4, 2012

TreeClimber said:
You forgot turbo replacement

You must like to spend money. It only needs to be cleaned, not replaced. :corn:

hiwater · Jun 4, 2012

sticky injectors unless toasted will only smoke until warm, and is blue in color along with a rough idle and studder when accelerating. Sticky injectors can be cured with some http://revxoil.com/ stuff works awesome.

broken egr does leak water into the exhaust system, and can be checked by parking the truck on an incline. I can't remember which way but could easily be looked up on google.

And replacing studs for bolts in the 6.0 is a common practiced and can be done by an (experienced) back yard mechanic. But only recommended if you know your gaskets are good. And the best gaskets for the 6.0 are the factory gaskets, the black onyx gaskets are coming back in with a high failure rate.

And checking FICM voltage is an easy process that can be done by anyone with a voltmeter or a good diagnostic reader like autoenginuity. Once again a quick google will tell ya how.

2DoorRunner · Jun 4, 2012

Time to pull the cab!

hiwater said:
broken egr does leak water into the exhaust system, and can be checked by parking the truck on an incline. I can't remember which way but could easily be looked up on google.

To check the egr cooler for leaks, pull the egr valve, jack the rear of the truck up as high as it will go, and check for coolant.

jangel · Jun 5, 2012

So on the drive home yesterday it smoked/ steamed at startup and continued till fully warmed up. Then it only lightly smoked a nice blue smoke. Guess I'll ride the bike a couple more days and pull the EGR valve and see if this is my problem. Thanks

redrocket1 · Jun 5, 2012

hiwater said:
broken egr does leak water into the exhaust system

Like I said a bad valve will not leak coolant a bad egr cooler will as will head gaskets. Easy to tell which one you have with the loss of coolant and the steam out of the tail pipe. It's head gaskets if after a couple of hard pulls you get coolant puking from the degas bottle since leaking headgaskets pressurize the cooling system past the 16psi the cap is rated for. It's one or the other and my vote is on the egr since these are the exact same symptoms I had. Just delete it and be done with it.