I'll go ahead and put in my "coolant gone from the bottle" story to see if anyone can help. This might be a little long, but after reading through 17 pages of "puking" threads last night I'm trying to be very specific. Its the 2004 in my sig. Bought it from used lot. One owner, local, 69,000 miles, carfax, got the Oasis. No head work or EGR done at the dealership. I got it just to pull my 5th wheel so it stays in storage. Fresh oil, fresh fuel filters, coolant flush and trans flush at the dealership. Runs great no problems. Took it on the first trip yesterday, about 350 miles on the interstate. Noticed a vey small amount of white on the degas bottle when I fueled it when I got back. Read the 17 pages of "puking" threads last night. Stopped and got coolant and new bottle cap and went down to check it. The bottle had no coolant visible in it. Loosened the cap, it still had pressure from 14 hours before. Someone posted that means the HG aren't leaking? Put about 1/2 gal coolant in just to bring it up to about an inch below the min mark. Put the new cap on, wiped off the minmal amount of white from the bottle, none on anything else. Ran it in idle for about 10 minutes, took it on the road, got to normal temp, ran it up to about 3000 rpm a few times. Came back. No sign of leakage, coolant had risen about a 1/8" in bottle(marked level with marker). Let it idle for 5 minutes, and came home. Heater is blowing hot, a/c cold. Trans gets to normal temp in idle before engine. Hope that wasn't too long, any help or questions welcome. Thanks.

 

How long between the coolant flush, and you noticing this? If it was flushed right before your trip, it might have had a bubble and never had enough coolant.

On the other hand, if you put a half gallon in it, that much did not come out the pressure cap or you would have had a much bigger mess than you described. I guess an EGR cooler failure is a possibility, in which case most of the coolant escapes out the exhaust.

"Puking" generally leaves little doubt about where the coolant went. It's all over the degas bottle. Not just a drop like you described. But we have to consider the time factor, which you did not state.

Lastly, I don't believe the fact that the cap held pressure means anything positive one way or the other.

 

I drove it several times since the coolant flush. As far as puking, I saw several pictures of puking on here, and you are right, nowhere near the mess of what I saw. I called the tech that worked on it for the previous owner. He said it had a new egr cooler about a year ago. That was his first thought also. He said he can check and if the temp differs from the engine temp by more than about 10 degrees it is the egr cooler. Then he went on to say something must be causing it to go bad so he said the oil cooler may be bad. He told me to take the egr cooler off and check for moisture but I have no idea how to do that. Quoted me about $1400 for egr cooler and $900 for oil cooler. I'll probably drive it some more and pray the lower level of coolant and new cap does the trick. But I am not optimistic.

 

I think he might have meant to pull the EGR valve and check for moisture in the intake. Maybe jack up the rear of the truck so any coolant would run toward the front.

He is also right that oil cooler plugging can cause EGR cooler failing. I'm not a tech, but I recognize some of what he said as good advice.

I would go for a tow again and look for a repeated problem before I got too worked up over it.

 

I forgot to mention, I wasn't pulling anything. That's what has me so worried. I've only pulled the 5th wheel from the shop to storage when I had the shop install the hitch. I will say, it pulls like I couldn't imagine. A huge improvement over my V10. Now if I can just get it reliable. I don't mind taking it to the dealer and getting it fixed, or how long it takes. I just don't want to be another one of the stories on here where some dealer throws 5 grand in parts at it and its still not fixed. Thanks for the input. It did line up with what the tech told me.

 

The temp differential test will tell the Tech if the oil cooler is clogged. That's a good place to start. A clogged oil cooler can cause the EGR cooler to overheat and fail. Many of us have installed a coolant filter for that reason. It should prevent the oil cooler from getting clogged.

Have you noticed the engine running hotter than usual? Is the engine fan coming on in normal driving?

 

I only have the stock temp gauge, but no, it has not run hot and the fan has never kicked on.

 

If it's not running hot and the fan is not kicking on too much then I doubt it's blown head gaskets. More likely a bad EGR cooler and/or oil cooler.

 

I guess I will go get it out of storage and drive it to see what happens since I added coolant and marked the level and installed the new cap. I did read on here somewhere that a few people have to run a lower amount of coolant to keep it from puking. Problem is, most of the driving will be around town in traffic. Will that have any effect on what I will see. In other words, does if have to run long distances up and down hills and under a little strain for the egr cooler to expell the coolant, or will it do it under any condition? If I drive it for a week or so with out coolant loss does that mean it could have been an intermittent problem, or once the egr does that, is it shot? Plus, should I remove the performance module and see if it does it? Or can that have any effect on the egr cooler and oil cooler? Thanks.

 

I feel your pain! Here is what happens. Navistar does not clean the casting sand very well from the blocks. So when the motor is put in service, the sand is circulated through the motor's cooling system. The first place it goes is the oil cooler and if it makes it past the oil cooler then to the EGR cooler where it accumulates. If the oil cooler becomes blocked and restricts the coolant flow to the EGR cooler, then you will have flash boiling of the coolant and potential EGR cooler failure. In other words the EGR cooler overheats since it was designed for a specific coolant flow vs. exhaust gas flow. This flash steam then builds excess pressure in the coolant system and causes the degas cap to vent anything above 16 lbs. That's why there is minor puking.

I had minor puking but no exhaust gas in the coolant. I would check my degas bottle using a Combustion Gas Test Kit (about $45 off the net) for exhaust gases to verify it was not HGs or a failed EGR cooler. Then about 6 weeks ago, I got exhaust gas in my degas bottle so it was either HGs or a failed EGR cooler. I replaced the head bolts one at a time with ARP studs and did not change the HGs. I also sent my EGR cooler to Neal Technologies for an upgrade. Ken Neal sent me a picture of my cooler plugged with sand. Before I reassembled, I removed the oil cooler and back flushed the coolant side to verify there was no restriction and there was not. Since installing the ARP studs, back flushing the oil cooler and installing the upgraded EGR cooler, I have not had any puking issues.

Running a lower coolant level will also help. In fact the new coolant level per a Ford tech bulletin is actually about the normal MIN level. Even if you have a stock motor, filling the coolant to the MAX level and pulling a heavy load will probably cause some puking since there is a lot of heat being generated and soes not leave a lot of room for coolant expansion. Just my $.02.

Tuners only make the problem worse. By adding more boost and fuel that equals a lot more heat then the cooling system was designed for. Removing the tuner will help the puking problem but it will not cure it.

DSMMH

 

Good info there!

I would not tow while tuned. I believe that's asking for trouble and by that I mean blown head gaskets. Also, check the coolant level when the engine is cold so you'll get an accurate comparison.

BTW, have you installed an EGT gauge? That's mandatory when running a tuner.

 

I think I will remove the tuner regardless. I have been pulling this 5th wheel for 4 years with my '99 V10. In 9 years and 158k miles the V10 has never let me down. I just wanted more power, better mileage, and a better towing platform. I guess I will have it after I have to drop about $2,300 to get it right. In stock form the 6.0L should be more than enough power to pull it. I paid around $2,000 under book for the truck. So far, in a little over a month, I've had to spend about $600 in preventive maintenance, and and $967.00 on the new hitch. Now this deal. It does suck because my other truck has been paid for for 5 years and wasn't costing me anything to drive. Good thing its sitting in the drive and I didn't trade it. I hope it works out.

 

OK. I gave in and called the dealership. He quoted me about $2800 if it is the egr cooler and oil cooler. That's $500 more dollars than the indy to get a 12/12 warranty on the job. Its going tomorrow for the $88 diagnostic. He said they will check coolant system pressure, temp difference in oil cooler, egr cooler, and ...... he also mentioned that as of last year Ford is offering an extended warranty up to 200K on the 6.0. Has anybody done this. It won't cover this job but I may get it if it will cover the headgaskets when they go.

 

Some more info regarding the 6.0 and tuners: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...mer-users.html

Yes, this engine needs an extended warranty if you plan to keep the truck.

 

My module is the type that is plugged in to the pass side valve cover and into the harness. I assume I can just unplug it and plug the harness back into the original socket and be done with it. If not, will someone elaborate. Thanks.