I am going to get a new 2005 diesel in about a week. I am wanting to think about fuel mileage mods on the truck. I heard about running propane (what does that do)? and also what programmer would that even improve fuel effiecency? also I don't want to put more stress on the engine. I am also going to be getting a egt guage to manage boost. what other guages do ou suggest?

 

Easy, void your warranty is what that does, but hey if you want to spend $40k on a new truck to void the warranty thats up to you.



The Edge Evolution is the usual programer that people go for with diesels. I would rank that higher than the SCMT and the Predator. As I recall (usually don't do much with 6.0L) but the Evolution should be compatible.



Wow you're going to measure Exhaust Gas Temperatures with a boost guage? The EGT guage will measure the exhaust temps which will be very critical (most critical thing to measure on a moded turbo diesel). When you do the EGT sensor make sure its mounted PRE turbo not post turbo. Post turbo will not give you consistant readings since you will have no idea how much temp drop you will have across the turbo. Each truck is different so all you can do is ballpark it and thats usually not good enough, especially when you hit higher temps. After the EGT guage should be a boost guage. I would go with a 30psi guage unless you're planning more mods down the road then you may want to consider a 40psi guage. A 60psi isn't required unless you're going to be swapping turbos out. Then if you have an auto trans a good temp guage for that is essential unless you want to rebuild it.


Overall you're not going to see any good mileage gains from a tuner. Each truck is different and its possible to see 2-3mpg but not guaranteed anywhere from any tuner. Some say it CAN increase mileage but I wouldn't be running to the bank with that just yet. Typically the best way to keep mileage up is to get your guages and try to keep the rpms below 2000 and the pyro below 600* pre turbo. If you do this then you're going to get the best mileage possible and not lose anything on your warranty. Though for the best money for mpg increases I'd reccommend finding a good sealing and flowing intake (Tymar or AFE stage II) and a 4" downpipe back exhaust. This will help keep EGTs lower so you get a colder denser air charge yielding a little more power and a slight increase in fuel economy. I would be VERY apprehensive about putting high HP stuff on a brand new truck like that with a relatively young engine. If you don't care about the warranty then I'd still wait till a minimum of 10k miles on it so the engine has had a chance to get broken in. Any sooner than that and you'll drastically reduce engine life.

 

no no no, what I meant with the egt guage and boost is that I don't want to fry the turbo with to much boost.

get what I mean?

 

and yes I do care about the warranty. So you can run close t0 60psi with a swapped out turbo? WOW. how much boost do they run from the factory?

 

You'll fry more than the turbo with too much boost. People like you who have absolutely no clue what they're doing nor the risks involved are why Ford is more aggressively voiding warranties. Fine by me too - maybe the diesel option will come down in price if i don't have to subsidize warranty claims from tools like you. For God's sake, people who don't even know what compression ratio is (https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...70#post1401270) shouldn't be messing around with this stuff, or at least not expecting to keep their factory warranty.

 

Redline is around 25psi from the factory. For the most part unless you're running major mods you won't ever have to worry about making too much boost to hurt the turbo. You WILL however cook the turbo with too much heat if you don't watch your pyro. That is by far the most important thing to watch given the mods you want to do. To be making 60psi of boost you're talking at least a ball bearing turbo, but most likely an H2E turbo. If you really want to see boost look at the guys running twins. They're seeing 80-100lb. Back to your turbo I would put money on you blowing a head gasket out long before you ever make too much boost to hurt the turbo. Guys that are running BB or H2E turbos are typically running upgraded head studs, and/or o-ringed heads. Bottom line on yours the boost guage will be used to help control EGTs while towing. When towing you need to keep your boost numbers up if your EGTs get too high while climbing grades. Ford has run into many problems with the 6.0L diesel since its introduction in 03 models. Then add in the fact that alot of people are wanting to hotrod their diesels now right off the lot. Any performance mods to the truck before 10k (thats even pushing it in my book) is playing with fire big time. The only mods to make an exception would be an intake, exhaust, and the prepump/intank mods for the 7.3L. The 6.0L shouldn't need the intank mod, but the prepump removes the quick disconnect lines to keep air out of the fuel lines. Aside from those mods you're going to hurt your engine until it fully breaks in. But with people running HOT chips and programmers on their trucks right after they buy them they blow something up, and Ford sometimes ends up footing the bill for a few of them that shouldn't be. Ford has issued statements to dealerships to inspect new trucks when they come in for service to see if any kind of computer chip or programmer has been installed or any other kind of mod. As I recall it says in the warranty stuff that anything like that will void your warranty. Propane will most definetly void your warranty since its got a very high potential for catasrophic engine failure (read broken blocks, rods, head gaskets, etc). If you are dead set on this stuff wait until at least 10k mi till you put on any kind of chip or programmer so the engine has a chance to break in. Then if you do add a chip or programmer you'll have to remove it before you go in for service each time. Now keep in mind that even if you do remove it there is a way for the dealership to see what has been done. It does take more digging than most techs are willing to do, but it can be seen. Anyway I still recommend my previous setup to you. Find a good sealing, high flowing intake and then a 4" DP and exhaust. Then after that I would change out the quick connect fuel fittings on the fuel sump. Also EGT, boost, and trans temp guages then after the truck has broken itself in then maybe think about any chips, tuners, or fuel mods. Regardless with this truck I'd stay away from propane since you have PMRs (powdered metal rods). Propane can be tricky to get the timing right and with PMRs if the timing gets a little bit too advanced then the rods will fail due to their brittleness. Do what you will to the truck, just giving you a little info to think over since this is a big purchase. I've heard of alot of people with voided warranties after they blew their engine on aftermarket goodies.

 

Instead of slamming for what he doesn't know how about helping to educate?? After all isn't that one of the purposes of a board like this?

People use all sorts of things everyday that they have no clue how it works, if they are doing something wrong that will cause damage then HELP them with info not with criticism,

Thanks, FM

 

Ignoring some of the replies that don't desire the time it takes to read them, I'll reposnd to what you've said here.

Something stands out in what you said; you don't want to put more stress on the engine and you want to increase MPG. Solution, don't add power mods. The diesel will run great stock, get good MPG and last a long time. Are you towing heavy (10k or more)or under extreme conditions? If no, then leave it stock, and even if you are, most likely you'd be better off leaving it stock anyway.

As for gauges, EGT (Exhaust Gas Temp) is very good to have. It measures the exhaust tempurature. Some measure in the exhaust manifold, some in the up-pipe just after. Either way, pre-turbo is what counts. A stock motor can get hot under the right conditions. A guy posted on TDS that in his stock truck, towing and pulling a long grade at a high altitude he hit 1325*. That's pretty warm and he knew to back off a little and it cooled down quickly. I've never gotne past 1150* at my altitude including towing and running a programmer.

Next, a turbo boost gauge is fine, but I think has limited use, although I do have one. If you run a programmer or module, you can watch the boost and make sure you're not making too much. That shouldn't be the case, but it'd fun to watch. Stock it'll make what it makes (about 26 psi max) and you generally don't have to worry about it. The most useful thing it's done for me is to let me see what my programmer increased boost to and it also let me know what a funky noise was that I heard and felt while towing. I found out it dumps boost once it gets over about 20 psi at lower RPM's pulling a hill and towing. It dumps boost that it's not going to use, unless I kick the RPM's up so it can use it. It's a normal function but I wouldn't have known if I couldn't watch the boost gauge drop. The 6.0 does not have a waste gate which would manage that boost; it "burps" is out the intake. Critical? No. But it was nice to have then.

Some like tranny temp gauges. The factory gauge is very limited. If you're not towing heavy, I wouldn't worry about it; the factory gauge is fine. I've never been able to get mine hot enough to worry about including when towing in the heat. Max of about 195* in over 100* outside temps while towing.

Oil Temp is one that I may add. I think it's more important that water temp with a diesel. Water temp may be up to operating temps, but the engine still isn't warm. When the oil it up to temp, the engine is now warm. A diesel take longer to warm up thus should be driven more gently when cold.. It runs much better when it's up to temp. Do you need it? No. But I'd like to add to my gauges for some reason.

Ask questions. Those that think they are stupid questions and think you shouldn't be asking them must know everything and aren't at all threatened by your courage to take a risk and learn. They must be very important people, so avoid them before their endless knowledge wear off on you and learning is no longer fun and enjoyable.

 

Familyride,
You are a class act.

I wish more people would take the time to try and educate others instead of bashing them.

 

FamilyRide: Great post. Very educational.

Can a gas engine guy join your site?

Bottom line: There is no way I'd mod a $40K+ truck until the warranty ran out!