Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum banner

Replacing EGR cooler and oil cooler, wondering about head gaskets

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  jfoley 
#1 ·
2007 F-550 that runs at about 15k weight. 70,000 miles.

I know this subject has been covered a lot but please bear with me. I should have tested the head gaskets before I torn the motor down, but I didn't so I don't think I can check them now.

Truck kept having issues, after sitting for a couple of weeks it would start rough, purge white smoke and water would be pouring out the exhaust (not tail pipe but near muffler). After you ran it a bit the smoke would go away.
Once in a while it would lose all power barely able to move. If you let it sit, and drained the water out of the fuel it seemed to improve.

Lately it would run alright for a while until it came to full operating temp, but then it would lose power and start smoking again. Antifreeze would be disappearing quickly, and the truck would over heat. Not a gradual creep, but would spike all of the sudden and then fall back off after a couple of minutes. Last time we added antifreeze it was leaking some near the front passenger side exhaust manifold. Lots of stuff in there so its hard to see where its coming from.

We had it to the shop over the last two years and them replaced the turbo, a couple of injectors and the EGR value. Sympums would keep coming back and we kept getting huge repair bills.

We thought it might be a injector problem and wanted to take them out have them all bench tested and replace the EGR cooler, and oil cooler.

Injectors all tested fine. Got a new EGR cooler that has the tubes that run through it. EGR valve looks good. No water in the oil. Valve covers had a very little bit of water/oil residue on both sides.

I've been reading through a lot of posts and didn't realize how often the head gaskets go bad. I'm not opposed to replacing the gaskets and the head bolts with ARP, but its such a pain to work on the truck with how cramped it is in there and I don't want to remove my A/C box and purge the system which is working fine.

I'm just about to put it back together without doing the head gaskets, but wanted some opinions first. If they are bad now would be the time to do it.

Sorry for the long post and looking foward to your help.

Thanks
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Well here to begin first. The oil coolers are notorious for clogging up. In turn the coolant is restricted and can't cool the oil. This is why a lot of guys run a scan gauge of some type to monitor ECT's and EOT's. The only place where these temps are measured are next to the thermostat (ECT) and on top of the oil cooler itself in front of the oil filter housing (EOT). After the coolant leaves the oil cooler it is immediately introduced into the EGR cooler. If your oil cooler is clogged then the coolant is extra hot when it goes into the EGR cooler. That's where the problem arises. Your coolant is now Flash Boiling. The EGR cooler internally ruptures and now coolant is introduced into the intake along with the exhaust. This is where the fun begins. Cylinder head pressures increase. Head gaskets blow. So now that you have replaced both of your coolers, It is now time to replace your head gaskets. Everyone here on this site will recommend that you get the ARP head studs at the time of head gasket replacement. Also, if your tech is a responsible tech, the heads will need to be examined for cracks. This is due to the extra cylinder head pressures that they have seen. Because you have had coolant contaminated in your oil system, you should have at the very least, your injectors pulled and cleaned. Up to you on the injector deal. The white smoke and crappy running is indicative of head gasket failure along with everything else you are describing. And while you are at it. Put a coolant filtration kit in. It'll filter out all the gunk that clogs the cooling system. Most ppl here get rid of the gold coolant and go with an ELC EC-1 rating. I speak for everyone on here when I say I wish you the best of luck. It sucks. But once its right again, your rig will love you again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jfoley
#3 ·
Ditto to the above. One thing that should be added is to have your heads decked and checked for flatness. Ford's heads on the 6.0's are notorious for not being flat and this will aid in premature head gasket failure if not corrected.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jfoley
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top