so today i noticed some white smoke puff out my exhaust on my way to work then shortly after that i smelled coolant coming from my vents. so upon my arrival to work i checked under the hood did not see coolant coming from the degas bottle nor did i smell it either under the hood. now i have been losing coolant before and have checking and refilling it but i still have no idea where is the missing coolant goes. could my heater core be cause? i do have a heating issue as well during the winter. also this the only time i have smelled coolant in cab. any techs on that could give their input or anyone else who has had similar experience.
loosing coolant
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Could very well be a heater core leak. Check the floor boards for coolant and see if any is comeing out the air box drain, where your a/c normally drains.
With it smokeing white smoke there is a possibility of an EGR cooler leak. You can check this by jacking up the rear of the truck remove the EGR valve and see if the intake has coolant in it. Altho when the EGR cooler goes the white smoke/steam is pretty heavy and thick.
With it smokeing white smoke there is a possibility of an EGR cooler leak. You can check this by jacking up the rear of the truck remove the EGR valve and see if the intake has coolant in it. Altho when the EGR cooler goes the white smoke/steam is pretty heavy and thick.
the floorboards were the one of the places i checked i didn't see or feel wet spots on the floor. if i don't see any wet spots where else should be looking? this past winter i did check and clean the egr valve the valve didn't look to have any wet soot on it so i cleaned it and reinstalled.
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This must be a very small leak and I still suspect the heater core more than anything else. Heating problems in winter, coolant smell in cab thru the vents. Pretty much points to heater core. May be time to pull the covers and look at it. I have often found systems that no external signs showed on the top of the floor mats but were trickleing down the fire wall and going under the mat between the mat and the floor pan.
What year truck?
What year truck?
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I don't want to freak you out, but the symptoms you are describing are exactly some of those for bad head gaskets. The "no" heat or loss of heat in the winter is almost a sure fire sign. The head gaskets will pressurize the cooling system with exhaust and cause air bubbles that block coolant flow. You could also have an egr cooler issue along with the hg's. Try pulling your egr valve out and check it for signs of coolant. If you are blowing white smoke out the pipe, then that has nothing to do with the heater core. Another thing you could try is to see if there are excess bubbles in the degas bottle. I would test the cooling system for signs of exhaust gases too.
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Dan I had considered that but he reported it had only today had a puff of smoke,nothing continueous and he had checked the EGR valve for coolant and he had no pukeing or overheating issues reported so I kinda went with the core.
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No i hear ya. Still with any white smoke out the pipe you should still at least check your egr cooler and hg's. Get the system pressure tested and test for the exhaust gases. A lot of times the egr coolers will only leak a little say when you climb a hill and the motor works a little harder then it will cause higher boost pressures and make her leak a little until you back out of it.
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Yup yer right I shoulda told him to keep checking just in case.
last october i had the cooling system flushed and pressured check as well. the ford dealer said the system was good and after that i had actual heat for a couple of weeks then is slowly went away. is a pressure test for exhaust gases different from a cooling system pressure test? is there a way to check the egr cooler?
EDIT: if the hg's were going bad would be signs or coolant leaking from around the heads themselves?
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The heads on a 6.0 won't leak coolant externally. I have never heard or seen that happen, but nothing is impossible. They leak compression from inside the cylinder. There is some other test that people can do to check for exhaust gases in the cooling system. I believe it is a different test than a standard pressure test. The only way that i know of to really see if the egr cooler is leaking is to do a pressure test or to pull the valve out and check for any signs of coolant on the valve or in the intake.
figured i'd bump this thread. i have been told that its raw unburned fuel coming from my exhaust. so i ran some injector cleaner though it the white smoke went away until this morning i noticed that it was bogging under acceleration from a dead stop at. i would say from about 500rpm to 2000rpms its real boggy when leaving from a dead stop. also i noticed black smoke followed by white smoke coming from the exhaust. i did some searching and did a voltage test on my FICM that checks out being good. from my searching i am guessing that its either a injector(s) or icp sensor? is there a way to test the icp sensor and injectors? or is this something i have to take to the dealership to them check and see whats wrong?
could a oil cooler cause these symptoms?
could a oil cooler cause these symptoms?
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It could be a bad injector or 2. You can pull the wire off the icp sensor and see if there is oil in it. If so, its bad. The oil cooler generally won't cause these symptoms. Try and get your truck on a good scan tool like an auto enginuity, but the AE must have the pro link connector for the 6.0 to properly test it. Do an injector buzz test and a cyl contribution test.
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Hate to be the bearer of bad news...but its your oil cooler/EGR cooler/and valve.
My symptoms:
-strong coolant smell...white smoke out exhaust...loud "howling" and loss of power.
-Dealer informs me EGR cooler is shot. Replaces it and valve..$2,000
-Three weeks later...still smell of coolant, loss of power again and loud "howling". Back to dealer.
-They now inform me: "Looks like oil cooler is restricted, resulting in overheating to the turbo which is now shot. Also head gaskets are leaking. another $5,000"
I lost it on him...the first time I asked him SPECIFICALLY about the oil cooler, as Ford's TSB 09-8-3 mandates that the oil cooler HAS to be changed when the EGR system is failing and you're losing coolant. I even quoted him the TSB before they started working on it. Mechanic says he checked all that the first time...but now its shot. BS!!!!!!!! Im thinking the next call is to a lawyer.
My symptoms:
-strong coolant smell...white smoke out exhaust...loud "howling" and loss of power.
-Dealer informs me EGR cooler is shot. Replaces it and valve..$2,000
-Three weeks later...still smell of coolant, loss of power again and loud "howling". Back to dealer.
-They now inform me: "Looks like oil cooler is restricted, resulting in overheating to the turbo which is now shot. Also head gaskets are leaking. another $5,000"
I lost it on him...the first time I asked him SPECIFICALLY about the oil cooler, as Ford's TSB 09-8-3 mandates that the oil cooler HAS to be changed when the EGR system is failing and you're losing coolant. I even quoted him the TSB before they started working on it. Mechanic says he checked all that the first time...but now its shot. BS!!!!!!!! Im thinking the next call is to a lawyer.
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I kinda forgot about the whole thread when i posted my last one, but did you ever pull out the egr valve to check for coolant and have you been losing any coolant? Like calgarydave said, i still think its your egr cooler, but you could still have an injector issue with some of the smoke. Ford didn't use to replace the oil cooler with the egr cooler, but now they are supposed to. And to calgary dave, can you just delete your egr cooler? Or do you have emissions testing?
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Yes I can...we don't have emissions testing here. Unfortunately I learned all about the whole process, what goes wrong and why, and the best way to resolve the issue only AFTER Ford did the first repair, about $2,000. That drained me dry. To do a "delete" here, is about another 2 g's. But now since my whole cooler, turbo and head gaskets are shot...its all moot.
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Well why would it cost you 2k for the delete? You can get the RCD delete kit on ebay for $200 shipped and put it in yourself. I did one on my 03 and it took 10hrs but i did it and saved a ton of money in labor.
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What year was yours again OP?
its a 04 6.0
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