I apologize for the long post, but bear with me.
Little bit about myself/mech background..
22 y/o
Not much diesel experience. Worked on John Deere 6410's for a year, but always had somebody more experienced around for questions, etc. Only major job I tackled thus far would be the clutch on my 08 cobalt in 15 degree cold. Had to drop sub-frame & use engine mount to lower motor & remove transmission. Completed job with minimal errors in 20 hours or so. I have a fair amount of knowledge regarding vehicle repair, however I've never tackled heads, let alone a diesel.
& about the truck
I bought my truck in New Orleans, LA back in December of 2014. It's a 2006 F250 6.0 Lariat FX4 with a 6" lift and 37" Toyo OC's (details below). The only other modification is a K&N Air Intake. Never had a tune or towed anything heavy. It seemed to be in phenomenal condition when bought; threw no codes for at least six months. I drove the truck for around 6,000 miles without any known issues (other than a leaking brake hose); however after six months, it began throwing a wrench light on the dash when traveling long distances. I did a small amount of research, and found mixed opinions regarding this light... so being young & dumb, I ignored it.. The wrench light would always go off, and wouldn't return after shutdown and restart. So fast forward another six months, I'm on my way out of Virginia headed toward Michigan at 70mph & my ABS light comes on. I stopped to take a look & noticed a leak under my driver-side coolant hose.. Thought it was coolant, so I pulled up a bit on the hose & snapped the hose's Y fitting & emptied my degas. Found another hose a mile away, so I fixed er up & threw a gallon of coolant (can't remember what kind) in it. Fast forward to Michigan.. This is where my real issues began.
My truck began having long hard starts, even after installing a block heater cord (wasn't supplied with truck) & keeping it plugged in at night to fight the harsh winter temps. After a couple months of driving it this way, it began leaking coolant under the passenger side of the block. Still unsure what the source of this leak was, however I suspect it was an egr cooler gasket or hose. Even though I knew it was leaking, I continued to drive it around because it was the only vehicle I had at the time & didn't have the $ for immediate repair. As days went on, it began leaking more and more, almost to the point where I couldn't drive for more than 20 miles on one full degas bottle before overheating. I bought a scanguage & monitored my oil/coolant temps to see if they were within 5 degrees of each other, & it began going out of range, upwards of a 20-25 degree difference. I stopped driving the truck, bought another vehicle, & began saving for repair on it. After letting it sit 5 months this past winter winter (not plugged in & exposed to elements), I got it to start & let er run for 10 minutes or so. Brought it to my new place a couple miles away, and began tear-down for repair.
Here's my plan, & I'll be asking questions every so often, so any input would be appreciated.
ARP Studs
OEM Head Gaskets 18mm dowel
OEM Oil Cooler w/gaskets
IPR Egr Delete
Coolant Filter (anybody recommend a certain type/brand?)
Intake Manifold Gaskets
Turbo Gaskets/O-rings
Egr Valve Gaskets
Injector O-rings
Glow Plugs
Glow Plug Harnesses
New Fuel Filters
New Oil Filter
Oil (5w-40 vs 15w-40?)
What else am I forgetting, or is there anything else y'all recommend I replace??
The truck is sitting in my gravel driveway three feet from my garage door. Couldn't fit in garage due to height, so my only option is to do the work outside. Unfortunately, this means it's exposed to rain; however the hood is always shut when I'm not working. So far, I've removed everything except for the valve covers & heads. (shown in pic below) Removed evap housing for ease of access to bottom rear head bolts on passenger side, & from what I understand, I'll have to dent the firewall on driver side to remove the bottom rear bolt. I won't have all the parts needed for another month or two, but during that lapsed time, I'll be working on cleaning as much as possible under the hood.
I have a guy just over the border in CA who's willing to inspect and machine both of my heads (if need be) for $900 USD. He's the only machine shop within 150 miles that's willing to do 6.0 heads. Is this a decent price?
Few more questions for y'all....
I plugged the intake holes with rags. Is there any chance they could begin rusting with 2-3 months even though they're plugged & hood is shut? Would a tarp over the hood make any difference?
Is there anything in the picture you recommend removing before tackling the heads?
And any more input would be greatly appreciated.
Little bit about myself/mech background..
22 y/o
Not much diesel experience. Worked on John Deere 6410's for a year, but always had somebody more experienced around for questions, etc. Only major job I tackled thus far would be the clutch on my 08 cobalt in 15 degree cold. Had to drop sub-frame & use engine mount to lower motor & remove transmission. Completed job with minimal errors in 20 hours or so. I have a fair amount of knowledge regarding vehicle repair, however I've never tackled heads, let alone a diesel.
& about the truck
I bought my truck in New Orleans, LA back in December of 2014. It's a 2006 F250 6.0 Lariat FX4 with a 6" lift and 37" Toyo OC's (details below). The only other modification is a K&N Air Intake. Never had a tune or towed anything heavy. It seemed to be in phenomenal condition when bought; threw no codes for at least six months. I drove the truck for around 6,000 miles without any known issues (other than a leaking brake hose); however after six months, it began throwing a wrench light on the dash when traveling long distances. I did a small amount of research, and found mixed opinions regarding this light... so being young & dumb, I ignored it.. The wrench light would always go off, and wouldn't return after shutdown and restart. So fast forward another six months, I'm on my way out of Virginia headed toward Michigan at 70mph & my ABS light comes on. I stopped to take a look & noticed a leak under my driver-side coolant hose.. Thought it was coolant, so I pulled up a bit on the hose & snapped the hose's Y fitting & emptied my degas. Found another hose a mile away, so I fixed er up & threw a gallon of coolant (can't remember what kind) in it. Fast forward to Michigan.. This is where my real issues began.
My truck began having long hard starts, even after installing a block heater cord (wasn't supplied with truck) & keeping it plugged in at night to fight the harsh winter temps. After a couple months of driving it this way, it began leaking coolant under the passenger side of the block. Still unsure what the source of this leak was, however I suspect it was an egr cooler gasket or hose. Even though I knew it was leaking, I continued to drive it around because it was the only vehicle I had at the time & didn't have the $ for immediate repair. As days went on, it began leaking more and more, almost to the point where I couldn't drive for more than 20 miles on one full degas bottle before overheating. I bought a scanguage & monitored my oil/coolant temps to see if they were within 5 degrees of each other, & it began going out of range, upwards of a 20-25 degree difference. I stopped driving the truck, bought another vehicle, & began saving for repair on it. After letting it sit 5 months this past winter winter (not plugged in & exposed to elements), I got it to start & let er run for 10 minutes or so. Brought it to my new place a couple miles away, and began tear-down for repair.
Here's my plan, & I'll be asking questions every so often, so any input would be appreciated.
ARP Studs
OEM Head Gaskets 18mm dowel
OEM Oil Cooler w/gaskets
IPR Egr Delete
Coolant Filter (anybody recommend a certain type/brand?)
Intake Manifold Gaskets
Turbo Gaskets/O-rings
Egr Valve Gaskets
Injector O-rings
Glow Plugs
Glow Plug Harnesses
New Fuel Filters
New Oil Filter
Oil (5w-40 vs 15w-40?)
What else am I forgetting, or is there anything else y'all recommend I replace??
The truck is sitting in my gravel driveway three feet from my garage door. Couldn't fit in garage due to height, so my only option is to do the work outside. Unfortunately, this means it's exposed to rain; however the hood is always shut when I'm not working. So far, I've removed everything except for the valve covers & heads. (shown in pic below) Removed evap housing for ease of access to bottom rear head bolts on passenger side, & from what I understand, I'll have to dent the firewall on driver side to remove the bottom rear bolt. I won't have all the parts needed for another month or two, but during that lapsed time, I'll be working on cleaning as much as possible under the hood.
I have a guy just over the border in CA who's willing to inspect and machine both of my heads (if need be) for $900 USD. He's the only machine shop within 150 miles that's willing to do 6.0 heads. Is this a decent price?
Few more questions for y'all....
I plugged the intake holes with rags. Is there any chance they could begin rusting with 2-3 months even though they're plugged & hood is shut? Would a tarp over the hood make any difference?
Is there anything in the picture you recommend removing before tackling the heads?
And any more input would be greatly appreciated.