Looking for some expert advice on this. Not sure if it's head gaskets or egr coolers? I've mounted a pressure gauge off my degas tank and consistently reads 16 psi, new cap and the pressure will hold all night. I can run the crap out of it on the H&S Hot Damn tune and no issues. The puking happens after I've been at highway speeds and I stop for a bit idling, but again, not all the time. What appears to happen is the coolant level rises significantly in the degas tank and spews out the cap (but not every time). I have no issues with heat. If it was head gaskets, would I see a significant spike in coolant system pressure? Would the gauge help me narrow down which it could be - head gaskets or EGR? Are there specific symptoms between head gaskets and egr coolers? Not sure how to narrow this down ? Thanks

 

I would think a egr cooler would let it bleed back down. On a 6.0 you can tee in a piece of hose and put it in a small Mason jar about 3/4 full of water. Now you will see some air bubbles idling. We then unplug our vgt solenoid to open the vanes and reduce back pressure. If the air bubbles stop at this point it is your cooler. If the keep coming it's your hg.

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Thanks I'll try that

 

Have you tried a new cap.

 

Been there done that, same tuner. have you towed in anything above "stock" tune? Anyway I think this is how you find out the head gasket. Plumb a water pressure gauge into the degas return hose, run a rubber tube with the pressure gauge attached to some place where you can see it. i ran mine out to the mirror and attached with duct tape. Proving once more that I am a red neck at heart. Drive to somewhere where you can hammer it and watch the pressure guage. If it soars past 16 PSI you have a blown HG. You can see this demonstrated if you will look under "powerstrokehelp/headgasket test" Bill Hewitt has a you tube on it. You can also find it and a couple other threads under my signature last fall. Began about september and concluded december 23 with a $5600 bill. Good luck BTW, it's not easy to tell. I towed my 5er which is pretty heavy all over the Rockies and put about 2500 miles on the truck after the HG was blown. And, just like you say it only puked some of the time.

 

Thanks, I did try that and what happened with mine is the pressure always built normally to around 15-16 psi. It would never spike. I've towed on the hd300 with no power and same results. I've tried a couple of new degas tank caps as well. I've just ordered the combustion gas tester and will see what happens.

Thanks for the input

 

It took me a long time too. Including two ford dealers who could not figure it out. I also bought the gas tester and tried it three times with the same results, no problem. I changed to the updated degas tank also. If I left the level in the degas well below the cold fill level I could do almost everything with the truck and the coolant would not puke. As I recall it, if I filled to the cold fill line it would not puke under routine use. But, on the hard pulls it would puke. So, when you tested it with the water pressure gauge did you really get on it? I found a couple long steep hills on the interstate and wound it up hard, from a dead stop, that's when the pressure would spike. I can't remember what it went to but it went right by 16 PSI and up in to the 20s I think. I'm not sure but it seems that I recall that EGR failure gets coolant in to the exhaust and it disappears or makes white smoke, HG failure gets exhaust gas into the coolant and increases coolant pressure to a point where it pukes. I'm not 100% on that. Also, FWIW techs at Powerstroke help said they only see 6.4L HGs blown with H&S tuners. I know exactly when I did mine. It was 100 percent my fault. I towed over mount eagle tn in a tune above "stock". I just forgot I was in it. When they did the HGs I had the EGR blocked off and Head studs upgraded. When I got it back it was sweet. 2000 miles later I got hit and they totaled it. Sucked big time.

 

If it is a constant 16 lbs then your cap is probably relieving pressure. Anything over 14 or 15 is not good. I would say hg's.

 

Hey BTS, don't leave us hanging here, what did you figure out? Fix it, sell it, trade it? Drive it?

 

It's only puked a couple of times so I'm waiting until it gets worse (6 months apart). Thanks all for the input. I'll update once it gets worse and I take it in to get fixed.

 

Don't blame you. I think I could have continued to drive mine with no ill effects. Heck, I did drive it 3500 miles or so after the event and a lot of that was towing my 17,000 lb. trailer.

 

I'm in the same boat with an intermittent puking. Only on long trips too. I have a Spartan 210 horse tune, and it does it with the the tow tune as well. I'm thinking head gaskets as well.

 

If you want to know for sure there is a clear test you can do. Not sure I remember it all but you can google "power stroke help headgasket test" and you should find it. As I recall you plumb a water pressure guage into the coolant system, hang the guage on the mirror or tape to the windshield and take the truck out and do some full power zero to 70 MPH runs. If the guage goes right on past 16 PSI the HG has blown. It is hard to tell without the test, I towed my 5er from KY to MT and yellowstone and back to Ga and the only problem was the puking on the real hard climbs. I could probably have driven it that way for years. As it turned out I should have. had it fixed ($5400) worth, added head studs and a coupe other things, drove it down to Florida and got hit by a drunk old woman and totaled the truck. Hope t"his helps you.

 

Going in for head gaskets and studs of course next week.

 

Mines doing the same thing, puking water, white smoke some times, in shop now, egr and exhaust filter clogged.