My 04 6.0 started leaking oil into the cooling system 2 weeks ago while on a trip through Wyoming. As soon as I found the problem, I had the vehicle towed to a Ford dealer for service. 10 days later I got it back with a new oil cooler, coolant reservoir, and several new hoses. The tech had the radiator flushed and did several flushes to the coolant system. I was advised to have the system flushed again as soon as I got back home in Arizona. I turned in the vehicle yesterday in Lake Havesu City. The tech said there was a lot of sludge in the coolant and would have to flush the system a lot in an attempt to clean it. The 1st dealership talked the possibility of a new short block if the contamination had spread too far.

Other than the obvious (oil in the coolant...coolant in the oil) what could happen to require a short block replacement?

 

My first thought would have been you had a head gasket failure.

 

Nope. The diesel tech confirmed it. The oil cooler failed. I just got the truck back from Bradley Ford in Lake Havesu City. The tech there had to flush the engine with Tide 5 separate times to get the sludge out. I an heading for Rapid City, S. D. this Friday with a 34 foot 5th wheel. I'll have the system checked again up there. Thank goodness for warranties.

 

A short block would have been needed if your oil got so contaminated that the cylinder walls got scored by the cylinders badly. These days a dealership will get a short block instead of machining the existing block and installing new oversize pistons, rings and bearing surfaces.

No doubt, your engine is clean now!

 

Thank goodness you had a diesel tech who has probably seen this before and knew what to do. When an oil cooler starts leaking the oil pressure is 40 psi and the coolant pressure is 12 psi. Guess which direction the leak goes.

 

One thing to keep in mind, having some oil in your coolant isn't a huge issue. It isn't really going to hurt anything and may even help lubricate the water pump a little.

It's a lot better than having coolant in your oil.

 

The dealer just diagnosed a failed oil cooler on my 2003 F-350 that leaked oil into the coolant and he's telling me it will cost approximately $5,200 to repair! That sounds like he want's to replace everything that the coolant touches. I think I should just be able to replace the oil cooler and then flush the engine with a water based degreaser until all the oil is gone. Am I missing something here? The symptom I was having was my heater slowly stopped blowing warm air (over about a 9 month time frame). When I originally reported this to the dealer the truck was still under the 100K warranty, but they couldn't figure out what the problem was (they were also trying to figure out why I wasn't getting the normal amount of power out of the engine). In retrospect I think the leaking oil cooler was causing both a drop in power output as well as the heat exchanger getting fouled with oil. Since I reported it before the warranty had expired I'm asking the dealer to contact Ford and request that this repair be covered. I'm still waiting to hear.....

 

Like Redford said, if the cylinder walls became scored, they will do a short block instead of honing. A new short block (6.0L) would run $9,000 to $10,000 with the labor at todays rates. You said "the dealer" so you should have received a printout showing what they anticiapate replacing along with the guesstimated labor. By the time you add up all the different pieces-parts that have coolant circulating through them (oil cooler, transmission oil cooler, radiator, heater, water pump,etc.), you can add up to $5,200 real quick. I would push very hard to track the problem back the full 9 months such that warranty will cover it. Lawyers (especially in 'Pre-Paid Legal') can really get a lot done for you. Good luck.