My new (to me) Excursion

[ragnarbronco]

So as some of you already know, I decided to buy an 04 Eddie Baur Excursion with the 6.0L in it. Hard to beat the price and I need a reliable daily driver that I can pack my growing family (1 wife, 3 kids [plus 1 on the way] and 3 dogs) in and drive from Colorado Springs to Tucson, AZ comfortably a few times a year. It already has a K&N FIPK, upgraded exhaust and Edge CTS from the previous owner. I got the OASIS report prior to purchase and the PO took very good care of it. The only issue that was neglected was the Oil Cooler. At 108,000 miles he complained of it bogging down and black smoke coming out when the turbo engaged. The findings were he needed a new Oil Cooler (greater than 15* delta) and CAC tube. The CAC tube was replaced but not the cooler. There were no more complaints about it in the OASIS report in the following 7 entries. There is no smoke from the exhaust, passed emissions with flying colors (after the dealer had the cat reinstalled), pulls great, no stuttering or stumbling, tranny shifts great and runs cool. I'm going to post a few pics of it.

[ragnarbronco]

here it is at the dealership before being cleaned (due to missing the cats it was originally a wholesale piece).

[ragnarbronco]

here it is at my house....



engine

[Pulpit]

How many miles? Looks nice!

Hope you got a great deal! I am going to look at a black one on Friday.

Any advice for someone who is about to do what you just did-hopefully...

[ragnarbronco]

when i first got it the ECT/EOT difference was hovering in the low 20's at 65. so i panicked. knowing, after lots of research on here, that's a dead give away to the Oil Cooler being clogged. Combine that with the OASIS complaint at 108,000 miles and i was thinking "Oh, sh@%". I'm pretty mechanically inclined and after reading Fishermedic's write up on the the EGR and Oil Cooler Swap I know I can do that. Actually it looks easier than I thought initially as it's basically unbolting accessories that attach to the engine. No dealing with timing, clearances, valve lash, etc. So I started down the road of the coolant flush first. Pulled the lower radiator hose and the Allen bolt on the driver's side of the block to dump the fluid. Removed the T-stat, discovered the O-ring is bad and decided to spend the $30 and replace the whole thing. I put the T-stat housing back in with no T-stat. Reconnected everything, dumped in 1/2 a gallon of Restore and 5 1/2 gallons of distilled water. Then I drove it to Castle Rock (about 30-40 minutes away) and back. Pulled the lower radiator hose and the allen bolt again and drained it. Driving to Castle Rock I didnt get very high ECT temps due to the T-stat being removed but my deltas were still around 20*. I put the T-stat back in and filled the cooling system back up with distilled water only. After warming the truck up to 190* ECT I ran it at a high idle for 30 minutes. Then drained. Refilled with VC-9 and distilled water. And here's where my question lies.....

[ragnarbronco]

I loaded up the family and drove from my house in Colorado Springs to Florissant, CO which is up in the mountains somewhere around 9,000' and an hour away from my house. My highest delta, going at 7% grade was 12. on flat ground, at altitude I was at a delta of 5-8. On the 8 mile drive on the freeway back in The Springs, my delta on cruise at 65 was 6-7. Is it possible I've steamed cleaned the Oil Cooler and it's working right again?

[ragnarbronco]

Originally Posted by Pulpit

How many miles? Looks nice!

Hope you got a great deal! I am going to look at a black one on Friday.

Any advice for someone who is about to do what you just did-hopefully...

Thank you. 135,000 miles. Do lots of research. I'll post more after dinner.

[f350powerstroke]

If ur delta was low 20's and then 6-7 after flushing then your one lucky s.o.b.!! Most of the time flushing is too late. Most of us here run cat-ec1 rated elc coolant.

[Pulpit]

Ragnarbronco, I am trying hard to read, read, read. Post up after supper and educate me!

[ragnarbronco]

Ok to answer your question more in depth,
Lots of research as I said before. Make sure you know what the issues with the 6.0L's are. The main ones are: Ford's Gold Coolant (contains silicates which come out of suspension when it heats up), the Oil Cooler clogging (as a result of having small cooling passages and the silicates in the coolant, the EGR Cooler basically blowing up (it's downstream of the Oil Cooler on the Coolant River) due to lack of coolant and then the Head Gaskets going. All, or most of this, it seems, can be prevented by simply flushing the Gold Coolant out and replacing with Cat EC-1 ELC coolant. You can diagnose this by getting a monitoring system like the Edge CTS or something similar and watch your Coolant (ECT) and Oil (EOT) temps. any more than a 15* difference (known as a delta) at 65 mph on flat or relatively flat ground means you have a clogged Oil Cooler. Flush and swap fluids immediately. Otherwise, you'll want to replace the EGR and Oil cooler (they're basically right next to each other) you can get both from Bulletproofdiesel.com for $800. I talked to a diesel tech at the Kenworth store here in town. It's $800 very well spent and will make your 6.0L last a lot longer. Beyond that, keep up on the maintenance. All my research has shown, and i'm sure plenty of people on here will agree as well, the 6.0L's are actually very good engines. They're just tempermental. Instead of being a cheap date that'll give you want when you want it but isn't very good looking (my analogy for the 7.3's) the 6.0L's are that high maintenance model that when you take care of her, she gives you exactly what you want when you want but when you don't, will take everything you own. haha.