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Very frustrated puking issue

3K views 35 replies 10 participants last post by  StrokeTillImBroke 
#1 ·
So my truck had been puking from the degas bottle for the last........see, 2 years. It has gradually gotten worse. Every time I take it into the dealer, they run a pressure test and a road test and they say no puking. Coolant holds the pressure test. Problem is, as soon as I tow something, I loose about 1-2 gals of coolant. It's to the point now, where I just got home from towing my commuter car home, and lost 2 gals of coolant.

I shouldn't be having problems by pulling 5k lbs. problem is, I take it in, and same thing. No puking, holds pressure.

Im tired of the back and forth. I even offered to take the truck in with a trailer, and maybe go for a ride, but they say they can't accommodate that.

Any ideas on how to attack this, or get resolved? I'm so tired of not being able to drive my truck the way it was intended to, because it won't hold the coolant.

Truck is stock 08 F450, 93k.
 
#2 ·
Just going through this myself, I'm almost certain it's a head gasket... best way to figure it out is hook up a pressure gauge to your coolant reservoir then tow it. see what kind of pressure you are getting in the tank. Under load the head bolts stretch and let combustion gas by... Mine I woke up in the morning and drove up a hill by my house, pressure immediately climbed while coolant temperature was still low.
 
#5 ·
As someone who just went through this, I'd say you probably have a head gasket issue. I went in 3 weeks ago for a oil cooler replacement. Well after the IDS system test, they confirmed a coolant system pressure of 25 psi.
So new:
oil cooler
head gasket and ARP studs
rocker arms
front cover
AND $8300 later problem solved.
See here's the thing. If you have a problem where they have to pull the cab, it's more financially prudent to do as much work as you can afford because the cab removal labor is so pricey.
 
#6 ·
They ran a block test and they say it's not the heads.

Tested the egr coolers and they say they are holding.

Purged and pressure tested the cooking system and they say it all holds.

Tested the radiAtor and it holds pressure to.

Final they say the fan clutch was malfunctioning, so they are replacing that.

I doubt that would cause puking........any thoughts????

While doing that, What maintenance items should I replace? Belt? Tensioner?
 
#9 ·
I have a ford extended warranty (esp) thru ford.

The local dealer was problematic. They told me bring it back when it blows up.

This one I'm dealing with is 30 miles away. No other ones close by. It's hard to look for others as they will be about an hour drive. To be going back and forth that far is rough.
 
#10 ·
that's just silly. i'd do 6.4 head jobs under warranty all day. even under warranty, they pay just fine.
go buy an exhaust gas coolant test kit and give them the results. tell them you'll be contacting ford motor company if they can't "accomidate" you
 
#11 ·
By block test I'm assuming you mean they tested for compression gases at the degas, these systems are so large that those tests rarely show anything. Although they pressure tested the coolant system... the problem with these Trucks is they only have compression gases escaping while under load (to start with). When you romp on it, or tow, or do something where the engine is actually working, the pressure from combustion lifts the head and allows combustion pressure into the coolant passages. This causes the coolant to pressurize and then burst from the cap. The only way to really test is to hook up the pressure gauge to the coolant system and then monitor while driving... if the pressure rises quickly while you are working the engine then your heads are lifting, and you know your problem. If the dealership that you are taking the truck to doesn't know this, then you DO NOT WANT THEM TO WORK ON YOUR TRUCK...they will screw it up worse than it is, almost guaranteed.
 
#12 ·
yup, tbh i don't trust those exhaust gas test strips really either myself.
it is easy enough to tee into the hose off the degas bottle yourself
 
#15 ·
I told the tech I approved the diagnosis charges up to 5k dollars for them to do a tear down to the head gaskets, and he declined to do so. He said he is certain it's not the head gaskets. So he has been throwing parts at it and it's been at the shop 4 weeks now. Tech contacted ford hotline, and they told him to replace the egr coolers. Picked it up today, hitched it to the 5th wheel, lost all the coolant and had to park it cause it over heated
 
#18 ·
That's insane, there is not much chance the EGR coolers could flash boil all your coolant out :doh: Find another dealer and get your HGs replaced, and buy a set of ARPs to have em put in when they do it. If it puked enough coolant to overheat, they have to be able to get a combustion gas reading out of the coolant even though that test isn't that reliable. And their pressure test is worthless, it'll hold 16 psi. But it won't hold the higher PSI of compression, that's why it's blowing out the cap. Plumb a pressure gauge into the small line going to the degas bottle, bet it spikes when you get on it.
 
#19 ·
Time to take it to a competent tech even if it takes a significant drive to get it there. I once drove over 12 hours to get my truck to a competent tech for puking/head gaskets. They are worth every dime. :thumb:
 
#22 ·
They're either going to run a manual compression test, or pressurize the cooling system after adding dye, and inspect the cylinders for coolant.
Either way I doubt it will show anything. Unfortunately, sometimes the tech needs to hit up ford engineering for the "go ahead" when it comes to a bigger warranty job. More unfortunate is that half the time the engineers couldn't diagnose their way out of a wet paper bag.
It's pretty clear cut if they would just install a pressure gauge teed into the degas outlet.
Did they ever do that? They have the rotunda magnahelic. Rediculous looking contraption. But that's what they usually use for pressure/vacuum
 
#21 ·
Compression test would be my guess.
 
#23 ·
They won't. After much fighting and debating the tech agreed to go on a road test with me. All he brought was a laptop to connect to the computer. I told him it does not overheat, that we needed to tee the degas bottle and he refused.

At some point something's gotta happen, right? They obviously see the 2-3 gallon puking. So they can't say there's nothing wrong, but at same time, they can come up with fix.

What would I do then? Dealers can't fix or diagnose the problem, I can't drive the truck.
 
#24 ·
Maybe you could take it to a shop that will diagnose it properly. Or do it yourself. video the the pressure gauge pegging as you climb a hill loaded. It might help if you show them that. If they still choose to dance around it and run ineffectual tests, either go to another dealer or get some legal advice
 
#25 ·
Update: so finally got a Ford engineer from the tech line to approve a head gasket replacement. The tear down begins tomorrow. Question is, if the head gaskets leak under pressure, it really could be 2 things, the studs are not holding a good clamp, or the hg are actually damaged.

Say it's the bolts. Would replacing the hg by itself be sufficient? Wouldn't the hg separate again even with new hg? I talked to the tech and service adviser about ARP studs, and they don't want to install non ford parts.

Any thoughts?
 
#26 ·
Update: hg being replaced. New bolts and studs ordered. Heads are being sent out to machine shop.

They will not install ARP studs. They say can only use Ford parts. Booooo!!!!!

Hopefully have it all back and ready before thanksgiving to head out to glamis.
 
#27 ·
Surprised they're machining the heads. Ford has a strict policy against that.
Or were you covering that?
 
#30 ·
Thing is they can't warranty that job if they don't install ford bolts.
And no. They technically shouldn't be machining them. Especially on a 6.4.
But hey, if they're footing the bill for that, and warranteeing it, go for it
 
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