Fuel Filter Water Release

The problem I am having is during extended periods of idle after I have been driving. I warm up my truck every morning making sure its ready to go, then as I drive and come to stop lights the rpms rev up and down almost sounding like it is going to stall then shooting up high in rpms and kind of surging forward. I have also noticed in the lower gears it begins to surge right before it shifts and also has trouble gearing down when coming to a stop. The rpms stay high almost like it is stuck. It does not always do this sometimes it runs fine and other times it is a constant problem. I have put a injector cleaner called diesel kleen and seemed to help, but I want a permanent solution not a quick fix. What do you recommend?

There is truly nothing you can effectively and surely do without having a high quality, fully functional diagnostic tool to perform some solid testing on your truck with (I am only familiar with the Ford IDS with the 6.0L, that's the factory diagnostic tool). This is a complex engine with many, many possible faults that are well known to an experienced 6.0L technician. Even just an update of your Powertrain Control Module (PCM), Fuel Injector Control Module (FICM) and Transmission Control Module (TCM) will probably be a step in the right direction. The only way I'd be worried specifically about water in fuel is if your water in fuel indicator came on and stayed on, on the instrument cluster. Then, I would be looking at a repair or replacement of the HFCM, and again, a reprogramming of the PCM, FICM and TCM. Yes, you should consistently drain the water in futel from the HFCM on a regular basis, so that is indeed something to keep up on. I guarantee there are codes of some kind stored in the PCM for some recognized problem. That is one place to start seeking clues. The FICM has a known concern that could be causing your troubles. Internally, a power amplification converter can fail, and the half shells of the FICM could need replaced. Testing would be required to see if this is a problem on your truck. You could have an ICP problem (injection control pressure) that is causing erratic high pressure oil system issues, causing bucking and surging. You could have a problem with the EGR system - very common - the EGR valves coke up, along with the turbo vanes and the CHRA (center housing rotating assembly), and the unison ring inside the turbo. A new baffle kit can be installed to reduce EGR system coking. Adding cetane boost to your fuel regularly will reduce the coking. The EGR cooler may be leaking coolant, causing issues with the EGR system as well. This can also cause oil cooler failure, and all sorts of nasty cooling system issues. You could have a low pressure oil system issue causing a high pressure oil system issue. This kind of goes with ICP; there is a branch tube to the oil pump that can leak oil pressure. This can cause running issues and actually starting issues. For the sake of brevity, I'll keep it to that for now, but to be clear - you really need a pro to check the truck out. These trucks are very fixable and very strong runners, but can really bury you quickly if you don't keep ahead of them. Best of luck going forward.

Thank you very much for all the help that really helps I'm going to take in my truck asap.