EGR, Oil Cooler or Head Gasket Help

[scottsimm]

Looking for some help ....... I have a 04 F-350 with the 6.0 psd, entirely stock. The truck has not been run hard (limited light towing & snowplowing) but has gone through long periods of idling. A few weeks ago it started blowing black smoke out the exhaust and would not go over 10 miles per hour. Towed to local shop and they replaced Cam Shaft sensor and cleaned up a disgustingly clogged EGR valve. I have since disconnected the valve.

Now, the truck is blowing white smoke and is burning anti-freeze. It actually was down on anti-freeze before the break down too. So ....

After lots of research and educating myself, this would appear to the EGR cooler, Oil Cooler or head gaskets or some combination thereof. I am considering buying an EGR delete from Gillett Diesel and replacing the Oil cooler while I'm there. BUT ... I'm worried that maybe the head gaskets are blown and I'm not sure I want to try those on my own.

So I am looking for some advice:
Is there any way to check and see if the head gaskets are blown? Any symptoms I can look for?
Is anyone aware of an aftermarket oil cooler?
Anyone tried the kit and install from Gillett and can share experience?

My truck is out of warranty and the dealer's best estimate without actually diagnosing is $3600 for EGR cooler replace and Oil Cooler replace. I think I can get the delete kit and new oil cooler (at least from Ford) for about $1000. If I new going in that the head gaskets were blown, I would probably just take this to a shop and let them go to town since at that point its probably worth it. On the other hand if I had some confidence that the EGR delete and new oil cooler would solve my issue, then I'm willing to give up a weekend to becoming a psd mechanic.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Scott

[Lazy_C_Ranch]

When my head gaskets went, before I noticed them blown, I had a coolant leak coming from the back of the block among other places, including coolant getting out of the overflow tank.
I had the egr and oil cooler replaced while at the same time having the egr block off plate installed off of the up pipe and coolant re-reouted. A home-brew EGR delete performed by a powerstroke mechanic and this was the method they use on all of their ambulances.
ANYWAY, got the truck back and noticed the coolant was way below the cold minimum line. I filled it up and while driving, it would literally SOAK the engine bay and all down the side of the truck.
I took it back to the mechanic and he found the head gaskets blown causing the tank to over-pressurize and push out the coolant. He replaced the head gaskets and all has been fine ever since. I didn't have traces of coolant or water in the oil but a quick inspection of one or two of the new injectors in the block showed they were "wet", which meant blown head gaskets. At least that is how it was explained to me.
Might be worth a shot to check one and see if you don't have evidence in the oil

[scottsimm]

Thanks for the info Lazy C. It doesn't appear that any coolant has been forced through the coolant overflow bottle and the oil does not seem milky on the dipstick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I caught this in time before blowing the head gaskets.

Scott

[TorqueMasterG]

I know that we are going to have a kit out soon that will address these issues. Its going to upgrade the oil cooler AND the egr cooler. It will also have all sorts of other upgrades that will make your 6.0L a lot more reliable than it has been with stock Ford parts. Soon, you might even be able to forget the location of your neighborhood Ford dealer.....