6.0 coolant loss?

[mackdog]

got a friend with a 2005 6.0 F 250, its been losing coolant lately. I dont think it has head gasket or head problems because there is no loss of power or white smoke. There are no visible leaks in the engine compartment, Im all out of ideas and need some advice......

[galaxie641]

I have an '05 that ate a good 2qts and the dealer couldn't find anything. It'll be interesting to see what others come up with.

[WesHoffman49]

is it blowin whitesmoke, it could be a egr problem

[351crules]

Originally Posted by mackdog

got a friend with a 2005 6.0 F 250, its been losing coolant lately. I dont think it has head gasket or head problems because there is no loss of power or white smoke. There are no visible leaks in the engine compartment, Im all out of ideas and need some advice......

mine was doing the same thing, dealer said head gaskets but i questioned that diagnoses..so i looked at it myself and the radiator cap was defective. i held no pressure..so i replaced it with an aftermarket one and haven't had a problem since..knock on wood

[glafond]

you guys are flirting with one of the dark demons of the 6.0
if you have coolant sprayed around the inside of the engine compartment, chances are fairly good it is because the coolant system is being pressurized by the heads lifting during heavy loads.
ford has a tsb for this. but the dealers have to be beaten severely about the 'noggin before they will admit it.

[Super Steve]

I went through this.
Couldn't find any coolant leaks or stains anywhere to indicate where 1 gallon a week was going.
The exhaust did sound different under hard acceleration with a load (gurgling sound). No other symptoms such as power loss or white smoke.
It turned out to be a bad EGR cooler and head gaskets(so the dealer said, I think they pulled the heads to check the pistons for fuel spray patterns).

[mackdog]

so ive done some more trouble shooting on this truck, drove it to south florida and then back to mississippi this week. It went through more water than diesel fuel....i dont think it is the cap. it holds pressure...I have a notion that it is the egr cooler. When going up a hill, there is a wooshing sound under the hood like a cooling fan kicking on, but the fan runs off of the serpentine belt, so i don think that is what is making the sound. I thought the turbo waste gate was blowin open, but the boost pressure does not drop when it makes this sound. and the tempreture gauge goes way up. This only occoured during the day when it was 85 degrees outside. I read that the warranty covers emmissions crap like the egr, so we might take it to the dealer this week...

[doubledee715]

what you hear is the fan turning on. It's probably overheating. the 6.0 vvt does not have a wastegte like a conventional turbo. Is it drinking coolant but no white smoke and no white residue around the cap??

[tex25025]

Originally Posted by mackdog

I thought the turbo waste gate was blowin open, but the boost pressure does not drop when it makes this sound.

I can tell you now that you can eliminate that from the list of suspects as there is no wastegate on the 6.0.

[badbrad60]

Wooosh Wooosh ...... Check all your intercooler boots. You could have a clamp or boot coming loose, causing this to only happen under load. The fan does plenty of Wooshing.

I was losing coolant only when towing or railing up a grade. I have a digital temp gauge and started to notice that the temp was all over the place. It would start climbing rapidly from 190 to 230 and the fan had a hell of time catching up.

I told the dealer of my issue. The test drove it. Head gaskets were shot. I now have stock gasket's and ARP studs. My temp issues are gone. The temp increases are very gradual going up and cools down fast.

If you are blowing coolant and have erratic Engine temps.....Chances are your gaskets are done.

~Brad

[3000 FPS]

Originally Posted by mackdog

so ive done some more trouble shooting on this truck, drove it to south florida and then back to mississippi this week. It went through more water than diesel fuel....i dont think it is the cap. it holds pressure...I have a notion that it is the egr cooler. When going up a hill, there is a wooshing sound under the hood like a cooling fan kicking on, but the fan runs off of the serpentine belt, so i don think that is what is making the sound. I thought the turbo waste gate was blowin open, but the boost pressure does not drop when it makes this sound. and the tempreture gauge goes way up. This only occoured during the day when it was 85 degrees outside. I read that the warranty covers emmissions crap like the egr, so we might take it to the dealer this week...

You mention that it could be the egr cooler. With that kind of coolant loss you should be able to pull the egr and see some moisture in the intake and maybe on the egr itself. Take a look it should be dry.

[hrdtail]

I'm going through this now. I was blowing coolant out of the overflow reservoir while I was pulling my boat up the grade. The dealer said It's the EGR cooler, and has had the truck since Tuesday. I am still waiting for the call back to see if its covered under warranty as I bought the truck with a BANKS and exhaust.

[69cj]

Hopefully you bought it from the same dealer that's working on it.

[hrdtail]

No, used private party but the service guy keeps telling me "dont worry, shouldn't be a problem, just waiting on a purchase order.........."

[69cj]

Good luck, hope everything works out.