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I smell coolant! wtf

2K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Tri County Motorsports 
#1 ·
When I get on it going up a hill, I smell coolant but its not hot and it does not seem to be leaking at all. Its been like that for a while. Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
When mine was doing that, it ended up being a ruptured EGR cooler. It was usually when I was towing up a hill and the coolant smell in the cab was VERY strong.

Yours sounds like mine did in that it may only have a hairline crack that only leaks under higher exhaust pressures. Since you are in California, I would suggest the Bulletproof EGR cooler. We also have emissions testing here in AZ and that's what I did.
 
#6 ·
Yep, thats what i figured
 
#3 ·
I have a feeling I have the same issue coming up:doh:
 
#5 ·
I just made a couple of hauls back and forth to Alabama and on the last trip back I had a real bad smell of antifreeze when climbing up hills. The clutch fan kept kicking in quite a bit. When I first noticed it I stopped over the next hill and check the engine and notice coolant blown all over driver side of compartment. I stopped at the next service area and filled the overflow tank back to the minimum level.

By time I was done trucking I was not able to do over 55 or else I was getting the engine too hot and blowing coolant all over. I added nearly 3 gallons of coolant to finish the trip.

Took it to Ford yesterday and they are 99% sure it popped a head gasket. They are awaiting approval to pull the heads and will hopefully have it done by this weekend. I asked about installing studs and they will only install what comes in the Ford repair kit. I just hope they use the right head bolts this time as I would like to add a programmer for hauling (and of course some fun times too).

BTW: Truck just rolled 50,700 miles.
 
#7 ·
Sounds just like my bro's 04 when his blew, it limited the truck to 50-55 and ran hot the whole time. I would honestly try and find another dealer that is mod friendly to do your repair, cause if you are gonna go all the way in there i would do studs if you plan on keeping the truck. It'll just save you a lot in the future.
 
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