Advice on buying 6.0 after Ford inspection

[daehawc]

Ok, I've been researching and looking for a new truck for the past few months. I've been considering the 6.0L fords due to the better condition the rest of the trucks tend to be and that I cant find decent priced 7.3L trucks around me.

I found a 2005 F-250 lariat with about 113K miles on it. Looking it over, everything seemed good. I test drove it for about 25 min and hooked up my dash boss. Delta was no higher than 8 degrees once everything seemed warmed up. Turbo seemed to respond properly, no abnormal exhaust. All around seemed good.

I took it into the ford dealership and had them do an inspection. Standard hits on brakes and tires that I new would need work. The big one though was they pulled the EGR valve and it was caked in debris with a small (less than dime sized) moisture segment. This, according to my readings and the tech, seems to indicate the EGR cooler is about to go out right?

With all else being equal, would you buy a truck that may have a EGR / possible oil cooler problem? I intend to eventually do the bulletproof oil/egr cooler upgrade but wasnt planning on doing that until the summer if I bought a 6.0L now. I was initially surprised due to the EOT/ECT being close during my test drive. I really didnt expect to see any problems.

How quickly do the cooler issues progress and turn into a serious problem? Also, with catching it now is there any worry that additional damage is already done or have we caught the problem before its an issue?

Thanks for the help. I'm still relatively new to diesels and besides the reading I've done, I'm completely new to the PSD.

Bill

[Karls03]

Kinda in a tough spot there, Bill. If I were going to buy another 6.0, EGR cooler delete and coolant filter would be on the top of my list. My NEW oil cooler has shown an 8* split, but I can see the ECT warm up faster than it did before indicating better flow, so I don't sweat it. The problem on 05 and up is that an EGR cooler delete will trigger the check engine light w/out an SCT to turn it off.

Bottomline, the snowball effect that I see here is the coolant on the EGR valve and wanting to wait until summer. A leaking cooler can fill a cylinder full of fluid then pop a head gasket. Fix it now as mentioned and it's all good. Wait, who knows?

You could always use this as a bargaining chip to cut the price to cover your new EGR cooler or cooler delete. Some ECM stategies need to see the EGR valve to properly cycle the VGT. So don't toss the valve if you do a delete, you may need it, I did.

sent from a dumb guy with a smart phone

[daehawc]

Thanks for the advice Karls. i ended up buying the truck and talking him down an additional 3k. I am going to drop the truck off Friday and get the BPD oil cooler and EGR cooler installed, switch it to amsoil, reflash all 3 computers, and do a coolant flush while they are there.

On that note, I'm having a hard time digging through these threads and finding a consistent recommendation on coolant. I'm trying to find something locally as I dont think I'll be able to get anything in before Friday morning at this point. I keep reading i need something EC-1 rated but does any one know of any brands carried by Autozone, Advanced, etc that are well respected? With doing the BPD oil cooler install the coolant becomes much less of a factor correct?

[Super Diesel]

Bill, for coolant you're going to want to go with an EC-1 regulated ELC. One of the most popular ELCs is Zerex. You can find it from your local NAPA dealer. I'm working on getting a P/N for you now, because more than likely... your NAPA employees aren't going to know what the hell you're talking about.

I've also got some advice for you about the truck too. Give me a few to track some info down for ya. Welcome to the ORG too!

You should be looking for this... it'll say "CAT EC-1" on it and it'll be red in color (the coolant). P/N ZXED1 is the concentrate. ZXEDRU1 is the 50/50 mix. I recommend getting the concentrate, mainly because you won't be paying for half distilled water.

[Super Diesel]

Bill, before you do a coolant flush - check your delta again. The only reason I'm saying this, is because once you do a flush, you run the risk of clogging the oil cooler. And the risk is high. Be prepared to do a headgasket job almost immediately afterwards.

If you do the flush, and your deltas skyrocket (which they might) then you've successfully clogged your oil cooler. In that case, DO NOT continue to drive it. You can cause a lot of damage to the heads should you continue driving around with a clogged oil cooler. A clogged OC causes the EGR valve to fail (which you're already seeing), which will then leak coolant into the cylinder heads, then there's the combustion (or lack of) that causes pressure to lift the heads, stretching the bolts, and blowing the gaskets. Continued driving in this situation can cause irreversible damage to the heads (cracked heads, replacement).

What I would do for right now, is get an EGR delete kit (you can find them for around $150) and an SCT Programmer (or whatever of your choosing) to remove the check engine light. Hang tight until you get the funds squared away for the job that may, or may not, be at hand. Until your deltas get in the "danger zone" I wouldn't sweat anything right now.

This, of course, is just my opinion. Do your research - and if you have any questions... feel free to ask.

[daehawc]

Good info. Thanks for taking the time to look those part numbers up for me.

I have a dash boss hooked up and have been monitoring the delta for the past week. I see a consistent 190-192 ECT and about 196-200 EOT.

To be clear, I have already purchased and should be receiving my bulletproof diesel oil cooler and egr cooler today. With getting those installed that should preclude me from really worrying about the chain reaction leading to head gasket failure right? I'm not looking to chip the truck or try to get more horsepower out of her. I really just want to make sure she goes 300k.

Thanks again.
Bill