Head Gaskets and EGR Cooler FAIL

[lawman349]

Well guys, it finally happpened -

I pulled the ATV trailer through the mountains of West Virginia with 5 4-wheelers on it. Noticed on the way up the road that EGTs were climbing really high going up the hills...1300+.

Got to where I was going and raised the hood and found the dried residue of coolant on the degas bottle. Found a cold leak the next morning- coolant on the ground. Not 100% sure where it came from.

Used about 1.5 gallons of coolant on the way home - about 350 miles. Took it to the shop - they are saying head gaskets and EGR cooler. I am pretty sure they are correct, and even if they are not, I am sure it is at least the EGR cooler, so I am going to stud the motor while I have to money.

The shop is letting me buy my own parts to save some cash. So here's what I am buying:

Ford OEM head gaskets
ARP stud kit
Sinister Diesel EGR Cooler
OEM oil cooler
Cat ELC Coolant
HPOP STC conncetion rebuild kit (since the truck will be apart anyway)
Fuel Pressure spring (blue spring) upgrade


Can y'all think of anything else? I want to get this right while it's apart...

[lawman349]

bump to the top ...

Is there anything else I should do while the truck is apart?

[colo_dually]

If you haven't taken care of the turbo feed and return lines, you might as well address those now, along with the other '03 trouble spots.
With the '03 you shouldn't have to worry about the STC fitting on the HPOP, it wasn't an issue with the '03-'04 trucks.

You have the right starting point, don't forget to have them flush your coolant system before replacing the Stock oil cooler.

I have those items outlined in the following thread:
Write Up: Bullet-Proofing the 6.0L PSD.

[Snake]

It's not cheap, but IMO you should get a BPD oil cooler if you want to do it right. I've seen and read too many cases of people doing everything they can think of to keep the oil cooler from clogging again and still had to replace several more oil coolers in the future.

[lawman349]

Thanks guys...

Colo - the big reason I'm doing the STC fitting is because my friend's just failed on his truck. He has a 04. So I figured for the extra $50-$60 it's worth doing. And I will make sure they do flush the system before they install the new oil cooler. Good advice!

Snake - I want to do the BPD oil cooler kit, but I just cant spend the extra $$ right now. If the OEM one lasts as long as the one on there now, I should be ok. I have 142,000 on the odometer and this is the first oil/egr cooler. I have been pretty lucky.

[colo_dually]

Originally Posted by Snake

It's not cheap, but IMO you should get a BPD oil cooler if you want to do it right. I've seen and read too many cases of people doing everything they can think of to keep the oil cooler from clogging again and still had to replace several more oil coolers in the future.

Now, not to start an argument here, but the BPD external oil cooler is not something every 6.0L owner needs to do. And depending on how you use the truck, it may actually have an adverse effect on things. *Note* this is not a bash on BPD in any way, they make a great product, it simply doesn't fit every build.

Two particular conditions where the external air-to-oil cooler comes up short.
-First, cold starts, with the coolant-to-oil heat exchange your oil temps will come up to OT much quicker than they will with the external cooler, even with the cold weather package installed. The truck will start and operate well, but it will be delayed comeing to full OT.
-Second, heavy towing, where oil temps will climb higher relying on the air-to-oil cooler. Remember that stock Ford programming has the fan clutch engage at 230* of coolant temp, so while the oil temps are going up toward the 254* that trigger de-fueling, that coolant temp may not warrant the fan to engage. This is overcome somewhat with aftermarket custom tuning, but if you are running slow on the grade, with a heavy load, there is only so much air that is going to pass through that external cooler, vise the heat exchange that occurs with the OEM unit.

Not a shot against you Snake, or BPD, but it is simply not a modification that fits every build out there. I just want to ensure the OP has all the info to make an informed decision for his build.

With silicate-free ELC in the system, there shouldn't be anything in the system to clog the stock unit, with a good coolant filter installed.

[Snake]

No worries! I didn't take it that way at all, and I agree with the information you provided. Again, its JMO but I think that the BPD solution is a better one for 75% of us 6.0 owners.

[lawman349]

Ok. Got all my parts together and called the shop today to let them know I will bring the parts by tomorrow.

In casual conversation I asked how much the machine shop costs would be. Their answer seriously disturbs me. They said "we never machine the heads if we check them and they are flat."

Told them not to touch the truck and yanking it outa there in the morning! If they dont have enough sense to send the heads to a machine shop to check them, they shouldn't be working on a 6.0 at all.

Am I wrong here??

[jmast]

just a quick question (although I see its to late to change your mind lol) but why did you go egr cooler vs delete?

[Snake]

If they're flat, there's no need to machine them. But I would ask how they check.