2005 F250 warning light question

MAD Duo

Observer
Hey y'all, new to forum and gotta say love the posts and getting some great info on travel/gear and all the fun adventures everyone is experiencing.

My question is, I was recently bringing home our new Arctic Fox 811 and pulling a slighly uphill grade and my "limp home" wrench on my 2005 F250 diesel truck came on. I was cruising about 68 mph with cruise on. I took a look at gauges and all temps were within normal operating range. I pulled over and shut truck down, started back up after about 30 seconds and light was gone. Made it the rest of the way home with no problem.

Some details that may help:

truck is a 2005 Ford F250 diesel 4x4 SWB with about 102,000 miles on it. No aftermarket upgrades engine or tranny wise. oversized tires and airbags are it. I bought the truck new in 05 and have never had the light come on. I used to own a weekend warrior toyhauler and never experienced any problems related to warning lights coming on when towing the warrior.

grade was a slight uphill, nothing major. I can't remember my RPMs but I was going about 68 mph on cruise control.

elevation wise I was guessing around 5800' and headed home, which is just shy of 7,000', so with each mile I was going up.

Arctic Fox was empty, just bought and picked it up. Water level said about 1/3 filled, but dealer stated that it was probably not even 1/3 filled. just enough water to make sure everything was flowing properly.

Does anyone know why this light would of turned on? Would it have been because I was in cruise control hauling about 3000 lbs of camper?

Like I said, I am new to this forum so if I have missed any details please ask me? Sorry for the length of post, but this forum seems to be the place to get answers.

Thanks!
 

Rovertrader

Supporting Sponsor
May have been a fluke but with a 6.0 never assume. Dealer can scan it as it has a bit of memory.

Or the friendly "out of warranty" reminder, sorry, couldn't resist. Welcome aboard by the way!!
 

bfdiesel

Explorer
I would see if it happens again, or if you know someone who can check for DTC's and see if there is anything there. If you plan on taking it in to get it looked at I wouldn't delete the DTC's. Assuming you did a good look over of everything.

It is a computer and you were actually using the truck it may have just been something out of spec long enough to bring on the light.
 

ujoint

Supporting Sponsor
Get it scanned immediately!

Could be any # of things.... But since it's a 6.0, I would recommend the following: EGR cooler upgrade or delete, have the turbo cleaned, instal an EGT gauge, flush the coolant, and install a custom tuner to get everything in check.

Good luck & welcome to ExPo!
 

A7XJ

New member
I have worked on quite a few of those. If it is running fine then leave it alone. Getting it scanned to see if it stored a code is a good idea. If you are ever down in the east valley I would gladly do that for you. No charge. Those are good engines when they are taken care of and regularly maintained. If you don't already have a chip or a programmer on it then please refrain from doing so. The only thing worse than trying to diagnose a 6.0 is a 6.0 with a chip.
 

MAD Duo

Observer
I had my EGR cooler and oil cooler go out about 3 months ago. The dealer installed an new EGR cooler and oil cooler and supposedly flushed the system and added all new fluids. I have heard of doing an EGR delete, but does that effect emissions? And if i did install a programmer or chip, what would you guys recommend? I don't want my mileage to suffer anymore than it already does, but I do plan on doing PNW trips and want to head up to Idaho, Wyoming and Montana (lots of flyfishing trips in planning) with it. So i would want it to pull mtn passes with ease.

Thanks for all the hospitality on this site thus far.
 

MAD Duo

Observer
Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on that...it would be nice to get with like minded adventurers and especially one's with knowledge about my 6.0. I would just have to find the time and energy to bear the heat down there:Wow1:

Some of the posts say to get a programmer, and your saying not too. Can you tell me the disadvantages of one. And to anyone else out there, tell me the advantages of having one. I get the general idea of what they are suppose to do, but anyone out there with "real world" experience/advise would be great.

Thanks again.
 

bfdiesel

Explorer
Both my brothers have one. One babies his and so far has had no problems, but he uses it to drive not tow or go off highway more than down a well maintained gravel road. The other has done a fair amount of towing and working his rig. This one is getting rid of it for something else. He is starting to have more problems the latest being the loss of the IPR sensor and then later a broken boost tube clamp under load. Both have been well maintained, neither have a programmer or chip. My brother who uses his has talked to the mechanic at Ford (quite a bit now) and he says some of the same stuff good if maintained and kept stock, programmers and chips start to cause problems after a while and injectors are one of those problems bio diesel will also cause a lot of injector problems in any mix. Cab removal is required for service to about everything on this motor.

An egr delete will help with power and will eliminate most of the emissions equipment. If you do this you should also get rid of the cat as well. May not be what you want to do if you have to get inspections.

On a side note this last winter we had a very cold spell -40"s and all the diesel trucks in the family (cummins and duramax I didn't try the old burb because it still didn't have a transmission in it) started, except the babied Ford it had to be towed inside to be warmed up first. My other brothers Ford started , but only made it about 1/2 mile down the road before it died and had to be towed inside to warm up the filters. If you are going to spend a lot of time in cold country I would suggest a filter heater for a least the one hanging under the truck. The inline heater just doesn't cut it.
 

STANG302

Observer
I have an 04 F350 and had no problems till I hit 175K, after that it was all over. Nothing but proble after problem now.

I would look and keep an eye on your coolant overflow bottle. If it is low you may have popped the egr or oil cooler or both. Other than that get it scaned.
Best of luck to ya.
 

saltamontes

Observer
shot from the hip: P0299 (low boost) code.
turbo needs cleaning. code readers avail at most parts stores for 100-200 dollars

re making 6.0 reliable:
ford's oil cooler/egr are plumbed in series are susceptible to clogging from debris in coolant.
look at bulletproof diesel's oil cooler and egr cooler or a coolant filter at the minimum

reroute the pcv to a catch can (and back) and use synthetic (less oil burning going thru turbo)

disable the egr

install guages

========

ford-trucks.com is a good site

chipped motors risk stretching head bolts in u run a serious tune
 
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MAD Duo

Observer
Thanks for all the posts.

I got the engine scanned and it turned out to be an overboost code. The mechanic and I took the truck out on some grades and tried to duplicate it with the computer hooked up to truck. We could not duplicate the problem, of course the truck was unloaded and did not have any weight in the rear. He cleared it and told me if I wanted to load the camper and drive a few grades and see if it happens again. I may have to do that, better to have the problem happen at home that on the road.

I have looked at the bulletproof diesel kits, but they are pricey. Guess it may be better to spend the money now than be broke down 50 miles down a remote road.
 

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