HELP! Degas Bottle hose port melted for the second time????

[Dieselsoot]

My 2005 F250 is sick. Can anyone shed some light?
The plastic degas bottle port that returns coolant from the intake manifold melted on a trip pulling a trailer in the 102degree heat we had last week here in FL.
During the trip, coolant first started coming out of the cap so we replaced it. Then an hour later the hose port started to melt again.

Boiling coolant is coming from the intake, so I pulled the egr cooler thinking it must be it and tested it, but it pressure checks fine.
Checked ERG valve - OK - just soot. no white smoke and truck seeks to run just fine.

Completely stock 6.0 with 100K miles and no mods

Anybody help?

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

Your oil cooler is most likely plugged solid with the remnants of the good old Ford Gold coolant. You need an oil cooler and an EGR delete. Your plugged oil cooler is starving the EGR cooler for water flow and generating high tempature / pressure steam and that is what has melted your de-gass bottle. Make sure you flush your cooling system with Restore and Restore Plus BEFORE your change your cooler. Refill with Caterpillar EC-1 rated extended coolant. This is the most common problem with a 6.0.

Being an 05 you need to think about updating your STC fitting on the high pressure oil pump very soon as well. This update is cheap and it is easy to do if you are torn down that far already. BTW--- WELCOME TO THE .ORG

6.0 coolant flush write-up

Things to consider about owning a 6.0L

DTS Articles - New High Pressure Oil Connector

[PowerstrokeTech82787]

Originally Posted by HAM_RADIO_MAN

Your oil cooler is most likely plugged solid with the remnants of the good old Ford Gold coolant. You need an oil cooler and an EGR delete. Your plugged oil cooler is starving the EGR cooler for water flow and generating high tempature / pressure steam and that is what has melted your de-gass bottle. Make sure you flush your cooling system with Restore and Restore Plus BEFORE your change your cooler. Refill with Caterpillar EC-1 rated extended coolant. This is the most common problem with a 6.0.

Being an 05 you need to think about updating your STC fitting on the high pressure oil pump very soon as well. This update is cheap and it is easy to do if you are torn down that far already. BTW--- WELCOME TO THE .ORG

EHH wrong way too much over kill on that. IVE never seen that happen from a plugged oil cooler. Youd get oil in the coolant WAY before that degas nipple melted.
Not saying thats what it is or isnt but highly unlikely.

Simple fix-Fan clutch.
Ive had 1 05 repeat overheat boiling coolant. Found tstat stuck shut.. Replaced and also did head gaskets due to failure. Came back 2 days later boiling over again! Pulled cab back off inspected the heads and block for any blocked coolant ports. Still no. Egr cooler pressure tested and no leaks even when warmed up.

Fan clutches **** the bed alot especially in hotter temperatures. I dont know HOW many ive done with NO code for it either! If its boiling over and theres NO codes and you know your head gaskets are fine egr and oil cooler are fine, fan clutch. I also saw this in the winter time from snow plows being mounted and stuck in the air with no air getting to the radiator.

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

Originally Posted by Dieselsoot

The plastic degas bottle port that returns coolant from the intake manifold melted Boiling coolant is coming from the intake, so I pulled the egr cooler thinking it must be it and tested it, but it pressure checks fine.

The nipple the OP speaks of is feed from the intake right above the EGR cooler. This is the localized heat source that is producing the super heated steam and coolant that is melting that nipple on the de-gas bottle. If this were the fan clutch ALL of the coolant would be that hot not just the one nipple on the de-gass bottle. Please read the links in the my original post for a more complete idea .

Originally Posted by PowerstrokeTech82787

EHH wrong way too much over kill on that. IVE never seen that happen from a plugged oil cooler. Youd get oil in the coolant WAY before that degas nipple melted.
Not saying thats what it is or isnt but highly unlikely.



Simple fix-Fan clutch.
Ive had 1 05 repeat overheat boiling coolant. Found tstat stuck shut.. Replaced and also did head gaskets due to failure. Came back 2 days later boiling over again! Pulled cab back off inspected the heads and block for any blocked coolant ports. Still no. Egr cooler pressure tested and no leaks even when warmed up.

EGR coolers can pressure test fine,but this doesn't mean their not starved for coolant flow. This leads the exhaust gasses to over heat the EGR cooler and make steam, thus why 6.0's puke coolant.

Fan clutches **** the bed alot especially in hotter temperatures. I dont know HOW many ive done with NO code for it either! If its boiling over and theres NO codes and you know your head gaskets are fine egr and oil cooler are fine, fan clutch. I also saw this in the winter time from snow plows being mounted and stuck in the air with no air getting to the radiator.

Wow what else can I say thats a cool tale. BTW always use an OEM t-stat they are designed to fail open.

[Dieselsoot]

Thank you HRM and PST for your prompt responses. Also thanks for the welcome too!
I've got the intake out so I'm going to pull the oil cooler out tomorrow. Is there a way to test the oil cooler for restriction or for it being plugged?

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

With the conditions you described and if your truck was running the ford old coolant for the last 100k, I am 100% sure the coolant side is obstructed. You can test for this by checking the difference between your oil temp and coolant temp with a product like a scangauge 2 or Edge Insight. The diffrence should be less than 15 deg running down the highway at operating temp. You will need to flush your cooling system before replacing your oil cooler or else your will have a repeat performance sooner or later. When you are in there consider deleting the ERG cooler or upgrading to one from Bullet Proof Diesel and don't forget that STC fitting, When the STC fitting fails it will leave you on the side of the road. Please Please Please spend some time reading the links I put in my first post they will give you a lot of understanding, direction , peace of mind and save you big $.

[Dieselsoot]

Pulled the oil cooler out and tested it - Plugged!! Glad to finally find the issue! Thank you Ham Radio Man very much!! I appreciate your insight and knowledge. You were right on! I read the links you posted and started to educate myself on this 6.0 rascal. A lot to learn to warding off some future issues.
I bought a bulletproof egr cooler, a new oil cooler and the upgrade kit from bullet proof diesel . (semi bullet-proof)
Gonna run a coolant filter as well.

[Dieselsoot]

While replacing the coolers, I took the liberty to replace the branch tube adaptor on the HPOP. The instructions talk about checking for air leaks. I don't have an IDS or the ICP 303-765 adaptor to hook up air to test Will any harm come to the motor if I skip the air test, reassemble and attempt to run?
Thanks Gary

[PowerstrokeTech82787]

Originally Posted by Dieselsoot

While replacing the coolers, I took the liberty to replace the branch tube adaptor on the HPOP. The instructions talk about checking for air leaks. I don't have an IDS or the ICP 303-765 adaptor to hook up air to test Will any harm come to the motor if I skip the air test, reassemble and attempt to run?
Thanks Gary

i made my own out of brass fittings.

[RodeoPapaStroker]