Are head studs a must?

[norcalracer6]

Ok so my dad is wanting some more milage and definitely some more power out of his 06 6.0. He has a air raid and a 4 inch tb exhaust straight piped. My question is if it's necessary for him to do head studs he does not tow a lot it's mostly a daily driver for him. Will he be ok running a custom tune in a live wire?

I'm pretty useless when it comes to the power stroke motor because I own a cummins so any help will be much appreciated

[Big Angry Hillbilly]

You can toss a head gasket out of a 6.0 without a tuner, so I would think that studding even a STOCK motor would be beneficial.

I do a lot of studs in work trucks that will NEVER see a tuner, but get really, really worked hard, so it's almost a preventative maintenance thing.

[PGreenSVT]

Lots of folks have run tunes on their trucks without having head gasket problems. Like Big Angry says you can have head gaskets go on a stock truck. I ran extreme tunes for 35k miles before I did studs on my truck. My suggestion would be go ahead and tune it. If and when it needs head gaskets do the studs at that time.

Monitoring EOT and ECT will go a long way towards sparing the head gaskets. If they get more than 15* apart go get the oil cooler rebuilt before it takes out the egr cooler and the head gaskets.

[Bodi]

I had a cummins before this "Great Deal" 6.0. I have to say I like the truck and tranny. After all the BS, what I believe is the head gaskets go out on these truck due to "over boosting". This is either from added power allowing the truck to build more boost just like a cummins or an "over boost" on a stock or modified truck caused by the VGT sticking. I put a boost gauge in at 19K miles. I have not experienced an over boost but my VGT was sticking causing an "underboost" at 41K miles (last winter). I believe an EGR Delete and coolant filter are the two best/must preventative maintanence for the 6.0

[capcalvin]

overboosting is a possibility, but the biggest problem is the egr cooler allowing coolant into the cylinders. I would address the egr issue and wait on the hg's untill you need them. maybe never.

[Power2336]

Originally Posted by PGreenSVT

Lots of folks have run tunes on their trucks without having head gasket problems. Like Big Angry says you can have head gaskets go on a stock truck. I ran extreme tunes for 35k miles before I did studs on my truck. My suggestion would be go ahead and tune it. If and when it needs head gaskets do the studs at that time.

Monitoring EOT and ECT will go a long way towards sparing the head gaskets. If they get more than 15* apart go get the oil cooler rebuilt before it takes out the egr cooler and the head gaskets.

when you say 15* apart are you talking about them being that way for long periods or do short bursts,like during warm up, also warrant a concern?

[ctrow89]

I run the canned extreme tune on my truck and drive it kind of hard. I don't do any towing I just have a lead foot. I have not put studs on my truck yet simply because I don't have money, but if I had money to do so that would be number one on my list. I say this simply because of all the problems other people have experienced with their 6.0's and by doing it as a preventative thing could save money over having to do it as a needed fix....

[41ants]

Originally Posted by Bodi

I believe an EGR Delete and coolant filter are the two best/must preventative maintanence for the 6.0

To have these two items done at a shop, what could I expect to pay?

[Socc1718]

Prolly close to 750 bucks.

[PGreenSVT]

Originally Posted by Power2336

when you say 15* apart are you talking about them being that way for long periods or do short bursts,like during warm up, also warrant a concern?

During warm up doesn't count. I am talking about at operating temps. If your cruising along and your temps are 15* or more apart it is time to rebuild the oil cooler.

The sequence of events is that the oil cooler clogs restricting the flow of coolant to the egr cooler. When you put a load on it the reduced coolant in the egr cooler can't carry off the heat and flash boils. This results in the truck puking coolant and rupturing the egr cooler. When that happens you get coolant in the cylinders increasing cylinder pressure and resulting in blown head gaskets, warped heads, etc. In a serious egr rupture you may get enough coolant in the cylinder to hydrolock the motor, then you are really screwed.

The easiest way to see that this doesn't happen to you is to monitor Engine Coolant Temp and Engine Oil Temp. The Edge Insight makes this real easy to do but if you don't like that idea then get the individual gauges. Or you can wait for your truck to start puking and have bigger repair bills. You can also bet it will happen to you at the least convenient time. We all know that this is a known weakness of the 6.0. Not to monitor it is putting your head in the sand and pretending it isn't there.

I disagree with Bodi's post. Most head gaskets are not blown from over boost condition due to VGT vanes in the turbo sticking. This typically presents as an under boost issue. The above scenario is the typical chain of events, and is an issue of cylinder pressure which is not the same thing as boost. Yes boost results in cylinder pressure but it is not the only factor to consider.