Egr delete and coolant flush

[Mward128]

Have an 05 f250 6.0 113k on economy tune gets 18mpg. As far as aftermarket it's just cold air intake and straight pipe lifted on 37s. About a month ago my truck started puffing white smoke on start up only and losing coolant. So I researched and decided 2 clean the egr valve well when I did I matched up o-rings and put them in instead of getting them from ford. After I did that the truck was fine for a few days then all the sudden started pouring white smoke smelled like antifreeze. Well made it home and next day went 2 move the truck across the yard And it hydro locked. I pulled the egr and the intake was full of coolant and o-rings almost melted. About a week later I pulled the glow plugs and unlocked the truck. Now I'm getting ready to install full egr delete and wondering if replacing the oil cooler is an absolute have to. Also can I run the green coolant back in it like it had when I purchased the truck or do I have 2 do a flush and use red diesel coolant and distiller water. I don't pull or haul with the truck it is just used for daily driving. I've researched a lot and no ones story is the same as mine so just trying to get the facts and do it right without spending a fortune and I will be doing the work myself this weekend.

Oh yea the oil is fine not milky or have any debris and the coolant is still green not sludgy or colored different and also on the passenger side of the motor there is coolant running down the motor like where the egr cooler hooks to the down pipe. Before the hydrolock my gauges never went above or below normal besides the engine temp when I was low on coolant from it leaking somewhere so I would just stop and top it off and it was fine. This is my first diesel so I'm just going by what I research and talking to a few mechanics I know so any help is appreciated.

[mhatlen]

First: NO do NOT run green coolant in the truck, go with what is proven: Gold or ELC-1

Second: Do you have gauges to monitor live data ?? what is the oil cooler temp now??
I would invest in the oil cooler myself because you have had green coolant and it's so simple to do once in for egr delete.

Third: Better check head gaskets first if you have already hydrolocked it, no use doing this twice.

NO Dexcool or Green coolant just plain FOOLISH but it is your truck so do what you want with it.

[Mward128]

Can I use the fleet coolant from advance auto because on the back it says it meets CAT standards.

I have stock gauges and like I said they never went above normal besides the engine temp when id run low on coolant. The truck still ran grea even with the white smoke no skipping or anything it will burn the 37s no problem.

And I've looked all the way around the heads it is dry. The only wet spots on the motor is on the passenger side looks like its coming from the back of the egr cooler and looking down like on top I the oil cooler is nasty but that's it

[southend]

It needs to meet the CAT EC-1 standard. Your leak is coming from the egr "blue" hose connection. Unless it's the old "orange" hose, it would definetly be leaking there.

Sent from my phone that somebody didn't help me get.

[fuzzman]

I think Southend is right on. I also think that if you delete your egr cooler, you should check the health of your oil cooler first. To do that you need gauges or a monitoring system. I bought a Dashboss, which monitors Coolant and Oil temperature out of the box (you do need an ipod, iphone, or ipad with the dashboss app). My dashboss cost about $100.

Here's the thing, our stock gauges aren't accurate enough to reveal a problem with the oil cooler, and if your truck has been running the Ford stuff (not the red stuff) you probably have a partially clogged cooler which will need to be addressed. You may know already how to check the oil cooler. Run the truck on a flat road at about 70mph for 15 mins. That gives everything time to come up to temperature, but doesn't put such a load on it that things start really heating up. If engine oil temp (EOT) climbs to more than 15 degrees over Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) you have a failed (clogged) cooler. Most people agree that a temp 10 degrees over and your cooler is on its way out and needs to be addressed. Mine was 25 degrees over with no symptoms and all gauges were in the middle of thier ranges!

So, my suggestion is to spend some money and get gauges or a monitoring system. Then you can keep an eye on many issues that could take you out down the road. My dashboss paid for itself by letting me know I had a failed IPR.

Next, how to handle things if you do have a clogged cooler:

1. Spend a little more money and get a coolant filter and install it
2. Flush your cooling system with Restore and Restore Plus (try backflush described on the forum if you are close to acceptable range, some guys find that it cleans stuff out enough. I didn't) This is a several hour long project if done right.
3. Change your new coolant filter after flushing (my kit came with three)
4. Run several hundred miles with new coolant filter. Hopefully it isn't so cold where you are, then you can leave distilled water in for that short period of time. That gets the crap your flush broke loose out of your system. Skipping this step could lead to clogging your brand new oil cooler with sediment that is floating through your cooling system, it's happened to many guys here, and I think it happened to me. I had a 5 degree difference when I first installed the cooler, and now it is 9 degrees.
5. Change out your cooler and replace your coolant filter with a new one.
6. Run CAT-ELC1 Coolant, that's the red stuff. It won't clog stuff up!

If you live near me (Sacramento) I'll let you use my dashboss to see if you have a problem. (I'm pretty sure that's possible). I even have enough Restore and Restore Plus left over from my flush to give you.

Check out this video series:

6.0 Liter Powerstroke - Turbo, Intake & Oil Cooler Removal - YouTube

6.0 Liter Powerstroke - Turbo, Intake & Oil Cooler Removal - YouTube

It's posted by a Master Diesel Tech, and he walks you through the EGR and Oil Cooler R&R step by step down to torque specs! Took the mystery out of the job for me. He also has a great post on flushing the 6.0.

Best of Luck, I hope you are up and runnin soon!

[JustinOOO9]

alot of the times Oil coolers kill multiple EGR coolers. If you have the money and its not gonna hurt you too much do the oil cooler to. I did a flush on my 06 king ranch and it lossened up so much stuff it clogged my oil cooler and killed my EGR. now im in an 04 lariat that I ve been working on saving money to do the bulletproof oil cooler and egr delete

good luck and best wishes sir.