[chad214]

I am a 5 day old 6.0 powerstroke owner and pretty much no nothing about a diesel unless I learned it on this forum. I have an 05 F250 4x4 lifted 80,000 miles. It has an edge on the door pillar w a sct prog.. It has egr delete already done from what I can see. Truck seems to run great and every now and then the temp gauge go's hot and then right back down. Ive tried to figure out some kind of pattern but cant. In the drive a minute ago I let it idle for ten min and no problems. Rev motor to 1200 rpms and watched it climb and then right back down. Did that again and nothing even at 1500 rpms. No smoke black or white. I dont know what the temps should be on the edge gauge ect.. I love the truck but will get rid of it as fast as I got it if need be.. Any advice??

 

[PowerstrokeTech82787]

Plugged oil cooler will cause the temp gauge to burry itself
Bad head gaskets the temp gauge will stay cold barely leave the C range and run like a bag of @ss the coolant will smell like diesel fuel and when you turn the heater on it wont have ANY heat and it will smell like diesel too....

 

[dazdillenger]

Get a scangauge (120 bucks at autozone) and get some detailed information-ECT (coolant temp) EOT (oil temp) are the most important. Record the delta (EOT-ECT=Delta) after driving for 20 minutes at 60-65 on the highway. If it exceeds 15 degrees, replace the oil cooler. The ECT should be in the low-mid 190's. If it is considerably higher, it could be a bad tensioner or thermostat, possibly the waterpump. The impellers can disintegrate over time.

 

[chad214]

after twenty minutes of driving on the highway this is what I have on my gauge 246.9 eot and 207 ect. Temp on truck looks normal. Then I come to an idle and after five min the temps quickly climbs and this is what I have 241.2 eot and 239 ect and falls right back to 239.0 eot and ect 225.... I would assume that they would be a little high because it is a 100 + outside. I have the sct programmer set to stock.

 

[dazdillenger]

If you have the factory egr cooler, you are in serious danger of rupturing it. The coolant flows first to the oil cooler, and from there to the EGR cooler. You have very little coolant flow to the EGR cooler, and as such the cooler will overheat and blow. If this happens, you stand a good chance of blowing the headgaskets as all the coolant will find its way into the cylinders and be forced out between the heads and block. Replace that oil cooler, and egr cooler IMMEDIATELY. I wouldn't drive it until you replace it.

also, your truck is running a bit hot-I'd replace the thermostat, and if that doesn't bring the ECT down, replace the waterpump as well. However, after the oil cooler and thermostat I bet temps are normal.

 

[chad214]

Thanks for the good advice. Going to change oil cooler. When I order the oil cooler do I need to get intake gaskets? Also I read a couple of days ago a thread about how to flush coolant prior to changing cooler and now I can find it. Does anyone know where that thread is?

 

[Bubba88]

i'm having a similar problem w/ my '04. I'm losing coolant but don't know where its going. The temps are about 210* once the truck gets warm and it idles a lil rough during cold startups for about 5 min or so. There's a "squeaking" sound coming from under the hood I heard this morning. Could a stretched belt be causing all of this? My trans temp and everything else is good.

 

[Bubba88]

don't mean to hijack....figured this would be easier than starting up another post. haha.

 

[NYC F-350]

Thanks for the good advice. Going to change oil cooler. When I order the oil cooler do I need to get intake gaskets? Also I read a couple of days ago a thread about how to flush coolant prior to changing cooler and now I can find it. Does anyone know where that thread is?

There are a few links that would interest you in my signature line.
The "basic info" link will give you some good background information about what you need for gauges, why and what to look for as well as a few other things that would add some longevity to your engine.
The second link is all about getting an effective flush of your cooling system. Disregard the "reverse flush" part of that document to achieve a regular flush. The revers flushing is for those that, for one reason or another, did not flush their cooling system prior to installing their oil cooler (or did not achieve a good flush). There is also a good flushing procedure written by PGreenSVT. Do a search for his member name and I believe he has a link posted in his signature.
The last link goes into the gory details of replacing the oil cooler/egr cooler (or deleting the egr cooler) with a few helpful notes. There are also a few suggested upgraded/updated parts listed with part numbers.

 

[chad214]

Thanks for the help Dazdillenger on the diagnostic and NYC-350 for the flush info. I did the flush and then changed the oil cooler. #'s are perfect now. Thanks again.