6.0 Power Loss

[Harry]

The other day while taking off for an 1800 mile trip my 2008 6.0 started coughing and smoking. Called my mechanic and while on the phone with him it cleared. He said he thought it was a stuck injector. Told me to put some Hot Shot in the oil to help clean the system. While driving I noticed on the hills the van ran very hot and did not seem to have regular power. Took it to a mechanic in MO who told me he could not find anything wrong but with the injector sticking previously I should take it to a muffler shop because my catalytic converter could be plugged. Anybody else have an injector stick causing a catalytic converter to plug?

[Twoxentrix]

Have you been using an oil additive at each change (like Hot Shot, Archoil, etc)? And, have you been using any fuel additives regularly?
Have you noticed smoke from tail pipe at all, especially when you give it gas from a stop.

[Harry]

I use Archoil oil and fuel additive every oil change and fuel fill up. I only get smoke if I put the pedal all the way to the floor I will get a short burst of black smoke

[Twoxentrix]

I would have a back-pressure test done to check the Cat, the symptoms you've outlined certainly fall in-line with a failing Cat... Someone here may be able to shed light on other possibilities that may produce the same symptoms, but (as your mechanic suggested) my first reaction would be a restricted Cat simply because the temps have gone up also.

[carringb]

Start with the basics...

On the 6.0, you should always be able to read the following:

-ECT vs EOT (because the ECT to EOT delta is a leading indicator of a failing oil cooler)
-Injection control pressure (ICP) and ICP duty cycle. Low ICP could be a plugged HPOP screen or bad HPOP.
-Battery voltage and FICM voltage. Low FICM voltage will wipe out the injectors. Low alternator voltage will cause low FICM voltage.
-Cylinder contribution aka balance test. This identifies any individual fuel injector issues.


The 6.0 does not need a cat except in CA because it came with one. It doesn't really make it any cleaner however, unlike a gas motor. It certainly wouldn't hurt to pull yours out to inspect it. It's pretty obvious when it's had a melt-down. If it did, you could punch out guts and put the housing back as a test. That said... something else likely caused that, if that's the case. Sticking injector could do this.