6.0 I do have the updated sticker but I swear sometimes the degass bottle appears almost empty the next day its at the min on the sticker... So the other day I added since it appeared almost empty in the am cold.. Added to the min on sticker and headed home 400 miles... Pulled over (as I had a strange spike in temp 220 in like 30 seconds back down to 193 in like 3 seconds) and saw that it had puked a little.. drove home when I got home degas bottle was filled to the top... Checked hr later still filled.. took for a ride dropped down to Max on bottle... no mor puke now the coolant sits at min on bottle...

Still cant figure out what happened truck runs great no smoke no codes

 

Thanks for the post... Dealer is going to check it for me next visit

 

If it helps here's what has happened to me. I have had my gaskets go 3 times. I recently decided to stop crying about it and laugh it off. Roll with the punches, there's more important things in life than money. (if it happens again I will putting some dynamite under the hood )

The first time they blew I noticed loss of heat a couple winters ago. Didn't know much about the 6.0L then. Figured it was because it was so bloody cold (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada). But the heat seemed to come on once in awhile. A few days later the truck started running funny and seemed to lose power. Took to my ford and they said headgaskets.

Second time, brought truck in for oil change and to fix a wiper and some other minor repairs. I opened the hood to show tech something and noticed coolant freshly puked. I was towing a light load about 6,0000-7,000 lbs earlier in the day. But the coolant freaked me out. Tech saw my Edge Insight and asked about my delta between EOT and ECT. I said it's usually 20-22. He said well it's probably your oil cooler. So he did that tsb that was previously posted. Headgaskets, oil cooler were no good. EGR cooler wasn't plugged and tested ok. So I had them install an EGR delete. So that time there wasn't a lot of puking just a bit and I didn't notice any loss of power. It was summer so I didn't notice any heating problems. Maybe the plugged oil cooler cause it? Maybe I noticed it just at the start of the problem?

Third time (so recent it still is a fresh wound), truck runs fine but heat is on and off. Took it on a hard run to see if the heat would flow with more rpm and load. It did but then went cold again after a minute or so. I replaced thermostat first. No change. But it puked again after thermostat road test. I thought, hmm maybe I put to much coolant in. COnfirmed it was ok and took for another test drive. No heat again and coolant puking. Took to dealer and they did tests for headgaskets and said"Sorry it's the heads again, can you leave it with us for a few days to fix it." I said, um no give me my keys I'm going to a competent dealer. Three strikes and you are out!

So I noticed loss of proper heating. It was on and off. It seemed to blow nice hot air only under acceleration. Once idling, slowing down or cruising it went cold. Loss of power, poor running.

I understand your anxiety of seeing the puking. I'd say make sure you have no air in the cooling system by driving it for a bit before freakin' out. Then check it cold and make sure it's about 3/8"-1/2" below the old MIN. line. Check on level ground. If it's still puking I'd get it checked out. Just make sure they not only check the heads for flatness but get them sent out and machined. That includes checking the block itself. My tech said my heads were within the Ford specs and were good to go. So I can only blame poor installation for them blowing three times in less than 2 years. So I wouldn't trust it. Get them sent out to a machine shop, magnafluxed, pressure-test, and machine. There is lots of posts about that. Even if they say they are good. THe aftermarket gaskets need a perfectly flat surface, while the OEM ones are more tolerable (from what I read). THe first time I did ARP with OEM gasket, second time was ARP with black onyx.

I almost drove it off a cliff last week and bought a new 6.7L. But I like my 6.0L looks and it drives better. Plus it doesn't need urea or do regeneration cycles!

 

Very good advice caere!

The OP posted in a different thread asking for responses from anyone that had ARP studs installed and then had them fail. Even though yours were not installed one-at-a-time, your experiences speak to the importance of getting everything done correctly. Very helpful post - thank you.

 

Caere, 3 HG jobs! Wow I'm surprized your still able to drive it without checking for the pukes every other mile. I hope you get it figured out for good thid time. Btw were any of the HG jobs warrenty work? Or were all 3 out of pocket?

 

I have been told the same thing about that test, I tested my truck, with a kit I picked up and the fluid stayed blue but after talking to a couple other local guys they suggested that a small leak may not become apparent until the truck is under full boost and it has the incresed pressure on the heads.

My thinking on air in the coolant system is that with the improved Degas cap it takes 16psi to puke past the cap. So even if it was air working itself out I don't believe that it would cause puking because the volume of air and water inside the coolant system should not be changing significantly. I think that air would work itself to the degas bottle and stay there. So in order for the truck to puke I would think that it meant that there was/is a problem between EGR cooler or Head gaskets.

I seem to remember a post not long ago where Vloney (a respectable tech on this site) was talking about running a test of the pressure build up in the coolant system to test for head gaskets. this could be done at home by getting a spare cap and modifying it with an air pressure gauge hooked up to the Degas cap. If this was done with a gauge with a memory needle or a long peice of hose to view it in the cab. This would allow you to moniter the pressure build up in the coolant system under max boost which would help point you in the right direction. It would be a cheap reusable DIY tool that I have been thinking up for a while now. And I would think that a significant rise in coolant system pressure at max boost would definately point towards heads gaskets

 

Thanks Bismic! Not to hijack, but just a side note. Presently my truck is sitting. I'll be taking it the guy that installed my Suncoast tranny this Thursday. I really trust his work. He is gonna pull the motor out and test the whole thing, block, heads everything! If the motor needs any major repairs then I may just get a new longblock. I'm not sure if the OEM or a forged block is better. I'm running some good power. A Powermax, 190's, Airdog II, ITP RR Kit, and Banks Intercooler. I usually run Innovative Diesels Extreme Street or Race tune when not towing. Maybe those mods add to the stress, but I researched and it seems lots of people run trucks in that HP even on stock gaskets and have no problems. So that is why for a couple more thousand maybe a forged block is a good idea?

Best case scenario the heads and block just need machining and then a "proper" gasket install! But any thoughts on a forged block? Is it a good idea for my setup or is an OEM long block good enough?

 

All three out of pocket! First time was around $6500. Second time the dealer "helped me out" and it was $3,000 for headgaskets, oilcooler, egr delete and flush w/ VC9. THey were gonna give me the same "reduced" price a thirs time. But I figured my money would be better spend elsewhere. If you knew how much I have put into this truck you'd shoot me! I'm gonna try one more time. If it breaks down again I'm done with it. I figure if I have to put even up to $15,000 for the long block etc. and labour then it's better than $12,000 on payments for a new truck every year for 5 years. My truck is paid off. And I can use the repair as a business expense. I just wish I insisted on having them machined. But they assured me the heads were checked and fine.
I think maybe they discouraged me because they had the cab off and it was taking up a bay. It may have meant time down for the tech. if they had to wait for the heads to be done? I totally understand that if it was the case, but they could have said that was the issue. Heck, I would have paid the tech a days labour if that's what it took.

 

I think the tsb for checking the head gaskets is similar. Test coolant system pressure under WOT. I left my race tune on the truck so they knew what kinda HP I was running, I didn't want a lower HP tune to give inaccurate results. Besides tgey are mod friendly.

Man, what I would have given to be in the truck when they did the WOT test. The truck is so incredibly fast now. All my pens and stuff in the little dashboard tray were dumped out on the floor. THe only way to do that is to go VERY hard THe tech probably had a hard time keeping it straight!

Hmm maybe I should check and see if he left any studs in my winter tires? They may have been ripped out lol SHould have told him to test in 4x4 high!