oil cooler question

[gdog05]

Hi everyone i am new to this forum and just purchased a 2005 f350 lariat cc lb with 94k miles it is completley stock except for 4" exhaust, i have been reading all the info i can to become familiar with the 6.0 and it sounds like the oil cooler is one of the main culprits with this engine, i have noticed that the engine oil heats up much faster than the coolant i can drive less than a mile and the oil temp gauge is in the normal range and the coolant temp gauge hasnt moved yet and doesnt for at least a few more miles is this a sign that my oil cooler isnt working as efficiantly as it should and may need replacing soon or is this normal?

[Lilpooh]

The stock oil gauge is a pressure gauge, not temp.

[amdriven2liv]

Order your self something to read your temps with:

Scangauge II = $160 reads info from PCM

Edge Insight = $280 or so w/out EGT probe. Reads from PCM

Edge Insight = $350 or so with EGT probe.

Both can scan for DTC codes and clear them.

[WLDHRSE]

Lilpooh, on 06 (and probably 05 & 07) the oil gage is temp.

gdog05, your factory gages are not even remotely accurate. My oil temp gage always climbs faster than the coolant temp, but with my Edge Insight I can clearly see that the coolant is actually faster to operating temps. Get real gages of some sort and you will have a better idea of what's happening on the inside.

[jtk27]

My 05 KR doesn't show EOT. Just pressure like Lilpooh said. I'm not saying you're not correct, just that all that I've seen is pressure not temp.

[npccpartsman]

Originally Posted by WLDHRSE

Lilpooh, on 06 (and probably 05 & 07) the oil gage is temp.

gdog05, your factory gages are not even remotely accurate. My oil temp gage always climbs faster than the coolant temp, but with my Edge Insight I can clearly see that the coolant is actually faster to operating temps. Get real gages of some sort and you will have a better idea of what's happening on the inside.

You don't have a factory engine oil temp gauge. You have a trans. temp gauge that climbs very fast, which is normal, but it takes a LONG time for it to get to operating temp. The oil pressure gauge is an idiot light with a needle. It only takes 7.5 psi for it to read in the normal range. The coolant temp gauge reads cold-normal-hot, so it's basically an idiot light with a needle too.

On 05-07 models the only gauges that are even remotely accurate are boost and tach.

[npccpartsman]

Originally Posted by gdog05

Hi everyone i am new to this forum and just purchased a 2005 f350 lariat cc lb with 94k miles it is completley stock except for 4" exhaust, i have been reading all the info i can to become familiar with the 6.0 and it sounds like the oil cooler is one of the main culprits with this engine, i have noticed that the engine oil heats up much faster than the coolant i can drive less than a mile and the oil temp gauge is in the normal range and the coolant temp gauge hasnt moved yet and doesnt for at least a few more miles is this a sign that my oil cooler isnt working as efficiantly as it should and may need replacing soon or is this normal?

To your original question. As has been advised above, you need to get something to monitor the difference in the engine oil temperature and the engine coolant temperature. The newest Ford programming will do that to a point. If you want some preventative maintenance add a coolant filter that will help prevent your oil cooler stopping up from various cooling system contaminants--casting sand, coolant precipitants, etc. If you find that you have a SUSTAINED temperature DIFFERENCE of over 15* then you possibly have an obstructed oil cooler which can also cause your EGR cooler to fail.

[PGreenSVT]

Yes the oil pressure gauge is not even a pressure gauge. There is no oil pressure sender on our trucks. There is just a simple pressure switch and as npccpartsman says it only takes 7.5 psi to say you have oil pressure.

If you really want to know your oil pressure you have to add a gauge and the sender.

The Edge Insight makes it real easy to read your oil temp, coolant temp, and trans temp right from the PCM though. You need to monitor the oil temp and coolant temp if you want to know when your oil cooler is clogging and prevent more damage from happening. A coolant filter is a great addition and I recommend it but the real culprit here is the Ford Gold coolant. It contains silicates and the high temps seen as it passes through the egr cooler cause the silicates to gell and fall out of suspension. This is largely what clogs the oil cooler. Do yourself a favor and flush the cooling system and switch to an ELC coolant from Cat, Rotella, Fleetrite, Zerex. They contain no silicates and are good for 300k miles with no additives. That will nip most of the clogging cooler problem at its source.

[jd4010]

Originally Posted by PGreenSVT

The Edge Insight makes it real easy to read your oil temp, coolant temp, and trans temp right from the PCM though. You need to monitor the oil temp and coolant temp if you want to know when your oil cooler is clogging and prevent more damage from happening. A coolant filter is a great addition and I recommend it but the real culprit here is the Ford Gold coolant. It contains silicates and the high temps seen as it passes through the egr cooler cause the silicates to gell and fall out of suspension. This is largely what clogs the oil cooler. Do yourself a favor and flush the cooling system and switch to an ELC coolant from Cat, Rotella, Fleetrite, Zerex. They contain no silicates and are good for 300k miles with no additives. That will nip most of the clogging cooler problem at its source.

In regards to the ELC, is the ELC more efficient at cooling than the Ford Gold? Meaning, if replacing the coolant (I just had a new EGR cooler and Oil cooler installed at Ford to the tune of $1800) with ELC, will we see better heat transfer and as such lower EGTs and EOTs?

[PGreenSVT]

I don't know if it's any more efficient than the Gold but it gets the silicates that cause the problems out of your engine. I didn't notice any changes in operating temps on my truck in either direction when I switched it over. Having just replaced your oil cooler and egr cooler now would be an excellent time to switch it over. It is really a piece of mind thing. There are plenty of guys who have been through more than one oil/egr cooler even with a coolant filter. Your odds of having problems with your oil cooler, egr cooler, and head gaskets swings way in your favor without the Gold coolant in there. I still monitor my temps but have never seen them get over 202/208 on the hottest of days and that was only for a few minutes.