Very well could be diesel in the coolant. From a cracked head or heads.

Only you can determine that though ...... since we can't get a smell of it, you need to tell us what it smells like and if the degas bottle is distorting or pressuring up!

 

• It's not doing that white foam, it's going slimy green and getting thicker the longer I drive. I'm not sure if it's diesel or oil but it smells wrong.. I will try to see if I can get a more specific smell tomorrow !

 

Whether or not you buy new heads is a LARGE cost decision on a head stud job.

 

What do you mean by buy new heads? Isnt it just the gasket that needs to be changed or do I have to change the head studs and all these things I read online?

 

Heads could have cracks, could be too badly warped to re-use, could have already been machined to the limit, etc.

 

Fello Canadian to chime in here, youre looking at around $2000 in parts and materials. For just the headgasket job, nothing else. With headstuds. Machine shop bill will be roughly $400 to have them inspect, pressure and crack check heads, and re-surface at the minimum. Can spent upwards of $2500 to have heads completely rebuilt and o-ringed depending on your needs. Or a replacement set around that cost if needed. Add atleast $2000 for labour if your getting a shop to do it. Obviously any extra stuff like oil cooler, egr delete, high pressure oil system work, significantly raises the price.

But like mentioned above definitely need to identify the source of your mystery substance. If diesel, likely a cracked injector cup. If oil, likely an oil cooler related. Any info on the truck helps us help you, history of any work, egr delete, km's etc is all pertaining info to help diagnose.

Id like to add, I bought a '05 f250 yesterday as a project, cooling system is contaminated with oil. I will get a sample for you to compare.

 

Fello Canadian to chime in here, youre looking at around $2000 in parts and materials. For just the headgasket job, nothing else. With headstuds. Machine shop bill will be roughly $400 to have them inspect, pressure and crack check heads, and re-surface at the minimum. Can spent upwards of $2500 to have heads completely rebuilt and o-ringed depending on your needs. Or a replacement set around that cost if needed. Add atleast $2000 for labour if your getting a shop to do it. Obviously any extra stuff like oil cooler, egr delete, high pressure oil system work, significantly raises the price.

But like mentioned above definitely need to identify the source of your mystery substance. If diesel, likely a cracked injector cup. If oil, likely an oil cooler related. Any info on the truck helps us help you, history of any work, egr delete, km's etc is all pertaining info to help diagnose.

Id like to add, I bought a '05 f250 yesterday as a project, cooling system is contaminated with oil. I will get a sample for you to compare.

That would be great to have a sample to compare and I've owned the truck it's 2 weeks or so. The EGR seems to be removed and the truck has 191 000km which in my opinion is nothing for a f350 diesel... That's why this is so annoying ... But I got the truck checked by a speacialist and he believes that theirs a 90 percent chance it's the oil cooler

 

That's what I got quoted 5000-6000$ Canadian for a head gasket but I'm hoping it's not that ...

 

IMO you should plan on buying new (o-ringed) heads if you are going to the expense of all the work needed for reliability. Big money, but it is a gamble without new heads.

 

If I understand the o ring heads are 2300 usd ? That's really out of my budget

 

I found some pics in your other discussion, definitely oil. I wouldnt be concerned about headgaskets or cylinder heads at this point based on that alone. Once your oil cooler issue is resolved and cooling system is clean, then you can move onto further issues if any. Be suprised how much flushing it will take to completely clean the system, make sure you take it to a good shop that will do a good job!

As far as o-ringing heads my local machine shop charges $400 a set. At your 190,000km mark valve guides likely would be okay, unless its been run at >2500rpm its whole life. Check valve rescession and head thickness to determine how much room you have for resurfacing before you get into doing a valve job or under min. thickness.

BUT, thats all fun and games for future projects lol. Headgaskets do not allow oil into coolant at this extent as there are no pressurized oil passages through cyl head. Expect probably a $2000 bill for your oil cooler job based on the amount of time spent flushing and parts. Specify for an OEM ford oil cooler kit only. No aftermarket garbage or else you will re visit this all to soon! Do 2 or 3 oil changes rather quickly to eliminate any coolant that made its way into oil when engine off.

 

I found some pics in your other discussion, definitely oil. I wouldnt be concerned about headgaskets or cylinder heads at this point based on that alone. Once your oil cooler issue is resolved and cooling system is clean, then you can move onto further issues if any. Be suprised how much flushing it will take to completely clean the system, make sure you take it to a good shop that will do a good job!

As far as o-ringing heads my local machine shop charges $400 a set. At your 190,000km mark valve guides likely would be okay, unless its been run at >2500rpm its whole life. Check valve rescession and head thickness to determine how much room you have for resurfacing before you get into doing a valve job or under min. thickness.

BUT, thats all fun and games for future projects lol. Headgaskets do not allow oil into coolant at this extent as there are no pressurized oil passages through cyl head. Expect probably a $2000 bill for your oil cooler job based on the amount of time spent flushing and parts. Specify for an OEM ford oil cooler kit only. No aftermarket garbage or else you will re visit this all to soon! Do 2 or 3 oil changes rather quickly to eliminate any coolant that made its way into oil when engine off.

I will for sure be doing the oil cooler with all ford OEM parts and replace all gaskets that will be removed! Another issue is my EGR valve was removed on the truck and honestly speaking idk if the oil cooler is there or not? What is your opinion on this ?

 

Canadian here. If you drop it into a diesel shop that knows the 6.0, and you’re into heads etc, expect a bill in the range of $5-10k by the time you get it back. They will always find other stuff when they lift the cab off and go through everything.

Not too scare you but a $10k bill at the end of the day is what I’d budget for sending in a 6.0. Be happy if it’s less. Be prepared for the possibility of more.

 

You can remove the EGR valve but still keep the EGR cooler in place.

 

Why would someone do that ?

 

The EGR cooler can support the up-pipe and can help prevent its failure.

You can put a block-off plate/disc between the up-pipe and the EGR cooler as one option (pretty cheap option).
You can weld both of the EGR cooler ends w/ 1/4" plate (pretty cheap option)
You can install a plug in place of the EGR valve (pretty cheap option)

The problem with the plug option is that the EGR cooler can still leak and let combustion gas get into the coolant. If you have a tube style EGR cooler, it is quite a bit more reliable than the later (4.5 and up) style, so it might be worth the risk. This plug does allow for a quick return to stock.

 

Screwdriver on egr cooler delete pipe. Connects underneath that block off plate for egr valve, and other end loops around under turbo and connects to distribution block with that blue hose.

 

Thank you for the picture, I will take a look at my truck later today and get back to you! I really hope its deleted and I can just put the egr valve back to clear my check engine