Head Gaskets
 

I was wondering what are the symptoms of head gasket issues? I have seen some "puking", but it seems to only have been when I put some coolant in there, and I was putting too much, or the dealer over filled it. Are there any other symptoms to look for or keep an eye on? The truck does not seem to over heat although I did reach a temp of 215 the other day (about 94 outside), briefly, then it went back down.

Thanks,

That could be a bad thermostat. As far as the gasket goes look for leaking around the heads obviously. Also look for oil in water and water in oil. The oil will start to sud or become sami white when there is water added. good luck man have a good one.

Gene,
I had to have my HG's replaced and while it was in the shop I asked the dealer install ARP studs. I had the dreaded degas bottle puking coolant. The first dealer replaced the oil cooler and EGR cooler under warranty and then claimed they couldnt find any other problem. Even one of their own master tech's told the Service manager and service writer that it was HG's leaking when under heavy use the TTY head bolts would stretch and allow the heads to lift. They claimed they had never heard of that happening and dismissed their tech! They purposely ran the warranty out by keeping my truck past the warranty period. I took it to another dealer who recognized the problem and replaced the HG's and FORD even payed all but 1000.00.
My truck would start puking coolant when under heavy tow up hills. It would start to whistle loudly and you could see coolant all over the side of my truck. It never affected performance and it did not create other problems. I was just pure LUCKY on that point. Could have done a lot more damage!

B/T/W Gene, at least on mine, I never had any other sign like an external leak at the heads or coolant in the oil (milky looking or foamy) or oil in the water. The head would lift as I described in my previous post and compressed cylinder gases would escape to the coolant passages over pressurizing the coolant system causing the degas bottle cap to lift and puke coolant.

I have head gaskets that need to be replaced.

Under sustained load, that is to say boost greater than 16 psi while towing my fifth wheel up a grade I see signs of coolant venting from the degass bottle cap. White chalky dots around the cap and surrounding components. It isn't alot but it is what it is. It will steadily get worse.

The coolant level should be maintained at 1/2" below the minimum mark. Filling the bottle to the maximum level or mid range mark can result in evidence of venting.

Also having a means to determine your coolant temperature and oil temperature while running is essential. Dash gauges are uselkess for the numbers you are kooking for.

Scan Guage, a guage package or other device such as Edge CTS will allow you to see these temepratures and make sure you are running properly.

A parially clogged EGR Cooler or Oil Cooler can also cause some of the venting you may have seen but more commonly it is a head gasket issue.

I have changed my Thermostat, which was bad, I was reading low temperatures. The thermostat was stuck in one position.

I had changed my cap for the degass bottle, it was an old cap. The new cap is a 16 psi cap but I saw the same spotting.

I inspected the lip of the degass bottle to make sure there were no gouges or other deformations and ensured that there was no leak from any coolant carrying hose in the vacinity of the bottle.

The failing gaskets are a known issue and caused by the TTY head bolts. Under heat, pressure and sustained load the "Stretch". This causes, eventually, an area or areas of the head gaskets to fail or allow pressure to blow by into the coolant system over pressurizing the system and causing venting from the degass bottle cap.

A bad failure will result in "puking" where a considerable quantity of coolant is pushed out when the cap is removed.

If you are having this sort of spotting issues than you are in the early stages and will more than likely have some time to prepare to defray the cost of the job. Average I think is about $2500.00, at least that is what i am preparing for.

My first symptoms began to show last August during a trip to Acadia. It has not gotten worse in regard to what sort of result I see, but I do watch temperature and boost closely while towing. In the course of towing the remaining year and into this year I have had to add 1 gallon of diluted coolant.

My heads will be done this fall, providing I do not see a more pronounced failure. Hope that helps you a bit.

Eric

I have the SG II and have been keeping an eye on everything. I am running good currently. As for as my puking, it only happened when I top off and topped off too much. For the longest I was overfilling it because I was ignorant to what is actually "full". It will vent out then and it doesn't do it anymore after that.

There you go. That may be all it is. Are you towing or were you towing when you saw 215 ECT?

I have only towed once since I have had the truck, and it was only a vehicle then, not something I do regularly. When I hit 215 I was not towing, I was on the highway going around 60 - 70,