2004 E350 6.0L Diesel EGR Valve, Secondary Fuel Filter, and Thermostat replacement - With Pictures
 

Here are some pictures I posted elsewhere but I thought perhaps some E350 van owners with the 6.0L diesel might find helpful. Certainly I had a hard time finding any pictures of how people did this before I dove in, so perhaps it might help someone who is on the fence about whether or not they want to attempt it themselves. It's actually not a terribly hard procedure, just a bit more work than those lucky fellows who get to do this on the pickup truck version.

The steps here started from eagledieselmedic's excellent EGR valve write-up for those of us unfortunate souls who get to tinker on the van version of this engine. I definitely followed those directions, as well as some of the diagrams from Alldatadiy to do this job. For those expecting to follow Alldatadiy or the service manual for this, I almost ignored it from the beginning as the very first step they told me was to remove the engine mounts so that the engine dropped down. As near as I can tell, this is only to allow access for the specialty Ford EGR Valve removal tool, as I didn't find it necessary in the slightest. Eagledieselmedic's suggestion to use two small pry bars worked perfectly for me!

Okay, first, the setup. For those who already own the van, this will look pretty familiar:

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2...1924medium.jpg

Mildly intimidating, but not as bad as you'd think once you get into it. Here's the front view:

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5...1925medium.jpg

The EGR valve is just to the right of the oil fill tube and behind the CAC elbow, which you can sort of see there. You can also just make out the secondary fuel filter cap back there in the darkness.

Here's a little bit into the job. The front plastic rad cover has been removed, the power steering bracket has been removed, and the coolant has been partially drained and the top coolant line has been disconnected and moved to the right:

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/4...1935medium.jpg

From the next picture, you can see I still have a little ways to go before I can access anything:

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1...1939medium.jpg

Here is the fancy bracket eagledieselmedic was referring to that needs to be removed before you can get at either the CAC elbow or the EGR valve:

http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/6...1942medium.jpg

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/5858/img1943medium.jpg

You'll notice that I've pulled out the entire CAC tube, but that's because I'm going to replace my thermostat at the same time and it's a bugger to get my hands in there otherwise. Even if I didn't have to do the thermostat, I've got the hands and finger dexterity of a silverback gorilla, so quite frankly I like to open up as much space as I possibly can.

Here's the bracket and CAC elbow removed:

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3...1944medium.jpg

Finally, I can see the top of the EGR valve! We're almost there.

Given that it's close to freezing outside, I learned two things here. First, a warm engine will keep your hands toasty for at least two hours so I was thankful I ran errands with it before I started, and second I needed even more space to reach in there so it's not a bad idea to move the wire harness from the top lip of the engine bay to give an extra inch and a half which is helpful when your fingers start going numb. You can see the harness moved here:

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8...1945medium.jpg

Given that I could only find one of my small prybars, I may or may not have attempted to use a small three-prong garden cultivator to pop out the EGR valve before I finally caved and bought a $9 set at Partsource.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2...947mediumx.jpg

Here's the dirty valve in all it's hideous glory:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/3...1948medium.jpg

And after copious amounts of carburetor cleaner:

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/8...1952medium.jpg

The intake was only mildly dirty, not great but not bad:

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/4...1950medium.jpg

And of course I replaced the secondary fuel filter while I was in there. It was a bugger to get out, and when the old one was removed I noticed it was all twisted up (which I didn't grab a picture of). Here's the new one back in there:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/9...951mediumf.jpg

As the temperature dropped below freezing, my toes forced me to give up for the evening, which was fine because I'm still waiting on the thermostat to show up from UPS tomorrow. However, here's how it was left for the evening:

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/4...1954medium.jpg

If I have time I'll update with a picture of the thermostat replacement, but you can basically see where it is at the bottom of that disconnected coolant hose.

Thanks for the excellent writeup, pl77. I've got to do this job myself on a 2006 E-450, and was looking for some info.

I've done the secondary fuel filter, so I have a little background on getting access. I removed the black plastic cowling when I did the filter - I see you left it on. I would think moving the cowling (and the wiring harness) might free up alot more room.

What symptoms were you experiencing that led you to go after the EGR valve? How many miles did that EGR valve have on it? Since the o rings changed color (what's up with that?), did you consider just buying a new valve? Did you check the IAT2 sensor too?

Added to the tech folder! :D

6.0L E-Series Fuel Filter Removal - DTS Articles - Articles - Articles - DTS

Here is the article I used for the removal of the shroud/cowling above the EGR valve (in my case it was to get to the fuel filter). There was enough room to get to the filter, and after looking around under the hood I think there just might be enough room to work the EGR valve out without removing the hoses. I'm just waiting for warmer weather to tackle this; I've got all winter since this RV isn't going anywhere.

OK, got the EGR valve pulled last night. I pulled up the wiring harness, but in the winter it doesn't move out of the way as willingly as it did in the summer. Access to the EGR then becomes a matter of having small hands, patience, and a 1/4" drive socket set.

I only have the latter, so out came the CAC elbow when I realized I'll never get the bolt out of the left side of the EGR nor can I pry up on it either. No throttle plate like pl77's van. I also took out the bracket that holds up the oil fill tube. My bracket had busted in the middle. One last hurdle was the electrical connection, which has to be taken off before the valve will clear out from under the oil fill tube.

The EGR valve itself was pretty clean. No where near the deposits of gunk pl77 had on his. Maybe the difference is just plain mileage, since I only have 40,000 on my van. I've got a new valve on order anyway (a Delphi from Rockauto). Even at $160 it's got to be a better deal than just cleaning up the old one. When I shake the old EGR valve, I hear a slight click. Same click as in the new EGR valve.

guess i shoulda done these last week when i replaced my alternator.

oh well, at least i know how to get back in there.

nice write up. I bought a used 2004 6.0 Powerstroke. Should I service my EGR? Any reason to touch it if it's not broke?

I saw the photo of the new top side fuel filter. I bought a new fuel filter and will install ASAP.

Hi there,
Any chance you could repost the pictures? I see you posted this over 6 years ago, but it never hurts to ask!