Head gaskets?

[Term3]

Ok my buds '05 truck has his EGR valve removed and a machined plug in it's place. Still has his EGR cooler in place, his EOT / ECT difference is less then 15 degrees, has replaced his coolant cap several times, I'm pretty sure his thermostat is stuck open due to cooler then normal temps, never tows, never had a tune installed, but now he is burping up a little coolant everytime after he shuts down and it sits for a few minutes. He said he once saw a short, less then ten seconds worth, cloud of white smoke on a highway trip which disappeared right after backing off on the throttle. Coolant level was low but still visible then at times he says it's high. I'm thinking HG's but why the heck is it loosing it only after it's shut down. IDK, maybe a small hole in the EGR cooler, which still has it's exhaust inlet side open leading to a slug of coolant coming out and flashing through the turbo and out the exhaust. Scratching my head on this one as I've not seen these type of issues all at once.


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[bismic]

Are you sure his coolant is the proper strength?
Are you sure the coolant temp sensor is accurate?
Do you know what his oil temps are?

If all that is normal, then ........

I would bet on the EGR cooler, but the only way I know of to determine it for sure is to pull the EGR cooler and pressure test it (or vacuum test it). If the cooler holds, then it is most likely head gaskets.


A friend of mine approached me w/ some very low coolant temp numbers and it turned out that it was because he wasn't getting much coolant circulation - his oil cooler had failed and the coolant had sludged up. The ECT wasn't reading acurately. His oil was pretty darn hot though!

[Term3]

Originally Posted by bismic

Are you sure his coolant is the proper strength?
Are you sure the coolant temp sensor is accurate?
Do you know what his oil temps are?

If all that is normal, then ........

I would bet on the EGR cooler, but the only way I know of to determine it for sure is to pull the EGR cooler and pressure test it (or vacuum test it). If the cooler holds, then it is most likely head gaskets.


A friend of mine approached me w/ some very low coolant temp numbers and it turned out that it was because he wasn't getting much coolant circulation - his oil cooler had failed and the coolant had sludged up. The ECT wasn't reading acurately. His oil was pretty darn hot though!

1- coolant is around 55%
2- probably ok as his trans temp kind of follows his ECT and is also a little lower then I would expect, 140 - 180
3- lower then expected and also following his ECT
4- his coolant is changed every couple years and he gets fairly good heat from his cab heater, although he's said before the probable thermostat issue he had better cab heat which makes sence if the thermostat is failed open.

Guess he's looking at pulling his EGR cooler and crossing his fingers that is whats leaking.


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[06DZL]

Those trans temps are normal. What are the coolant temps? They should be around 195 depending on ambient temp.

[Term3]

He says he sometimes sees as high as 180 but usually a lot lower.

[WarChild]

I'm surprised no one has asked yet but here I go. Why in the world does he have the egr valve blocked off and he still have the egr cooler? Also what monitor are y'all using and please don't say the torque app. And as always please say when you list a problem if there are any codes or not. He can cross his fingers all he wants but if he has been driving with a blowen egr cooler its most likely bad head gaskets. There is a test kit online you can use to test the coolant for exhaust gasses. His thermostat is definatly bad if it's reading correctly.

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[Lilpooh]

Originally Posted by WarChild

I'm surprised no one has asked yet but here I go. Why in the world does he have the egr valve blocked off and he still have the egr cooler?

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He is using a EGR valve spool plug, then you use a blocker plate between the EGR cooler and up-pipe. Works the same as welding the EGR cooler on both ends, but no need to remove the cooler, just bolt ons.

[Term3]

Originally Posted by WarChild

I'm surprised no one has asked yet but here I go. Why in the world does he have the egr valve blocked off and he still have the egr cooler? Also what monitor are y'all using and please don't say the torque app. And as always please say when you list a problem if there are any codes or not. He can cross his fingers all he wants but if he has been driving with a blowen egr cooler its most likely bad head gaskets. There is a test kit online you can use to test the coolant for exhaust gasses. His thermostat is definatly bad if it's reading correctly.

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He had every intention of doing a full delete but ran out of time to even put in the blocking plate on the inlet end of the EGR cooler (I know it's a piss poor excuse). As for what's he using for monitoring, he has a full set of Autometer gauges. The only code he got was the low EGR flow. I just don't get why it waits to burp out coolant after its shut down and I checked it's strength and it's fine, 55%.


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[WarChild]

Ok I get the plug now but what is this 55%¿
If that's your coolant to water how are you testing it¿
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[wagner22]

Originally Posted by Term3

He had every intention of doing a full delete but ran out of time to even put in the blocking plate on the inlet end of the EGR cooler

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so he does still have a fully functional EGR Cooler ? since your saying he didnt put the blocking plate on right ?