hello all!
i have been reading thru forums and decided to make a new post...
my truck is a jan 2004 6.0 with 70 thousand miles.
6 speed, sct x3 ran in economy tune and running great for awhile now.
the truck recently overheated very rapidly, so i turned it off.
the needle went to H and just stuck there.
during this, the fan kicked in and never turned off..
the truck also lost power, felt like the turbo went out,
which was replaced at 30k.

now today, a day not looked forward to..
I started the truck, no problem.
the gauge went down to C after a few seconds.
In low gear i went forward 40 feet.
needle pegged back to H and fan kicked on.
it seemed to have some power tho..

soo, i was thinking maybe water pump? but it lost power also??
I have mostly worried about the coolant system cuz it seems
to need to be topped off once a month or more, which
i do with water... proly not good..

Is there a waterpump test? or are there any tell-tale
symptoms of something in there?
i own two 6.0s and now both are out of warranty and broke down.
any help is greatly appreciated. this forum rocks!

 

Sounds like you have HG problems.

 

hmm. i read that blown head gaskets affect diesels
less than gas. but i will be pouring over the forum
to figure how to diagnose that...
but first, water pump! or thermostat...
can i just pull a hose and start it up??

 

Since you are losing coolant, do you see any dripping under the truck? Do you see white chalky stains around the degas bottle (coolant reservoir), on the hood, or on the engine?

If your coolant temps went high your engine will defuel (PCM conrolled). Probably your oil temps were high also. This will also cause the engine to defuel.

Do you see any white smoke in the exhaust?

Pull the EGR valve and look for coolant under it in the intake. Park on a "decline" for the best chance of seeing it. I do not know of an easy test to see if the water pump is working unless you have a "real" coolant temperature gauge - and the OEM is not a "real" gauge.

 

Maybe I'm not reading his post the right way, but he makes it sound like the truck overheats soon after start-up. Unless you've had it plugged in for a LONG time...it shouldn't overheat right after start-up. Which I don't think is the issue...but I could be wrong. Maybe a chafed wire under the hood that's sending a false signal to the PCM & dash cluster?

A blown HG is a blown head-gasket not matter what fuel the engine burns. The engine is going to create more pressure in the cooling system than it's designed for. Thus it's going to force coolant out the weakest point....or it's going to leak into the cylinders overtime setting you up for a "hydro-lock" scenario.

As far as testing the water pump....I wonder if you remove the degas cap and start the truck. Look into the bottle to see if there's any water trickling in from one of the smaller lines if that will work? I know folks running coolant filters can do that, but we've created a by-pass loop and I'm not sure if it's there in the OEM set-up.

 

You are right - He did say he overheated very rapidly.

Hopefully the high temps are just a sensor issue. He did say he is losing coolant though.

 

This is just my "thinking out-loud" post. I think he's got two different issues. If the truck is rapidly overheating after a "stone cold" start. I'd put money on a wire or sensor issue....unless it's completely out of water. The coolant/water loose could be several different things that are somewhat common for the 6.0L as far as failures go.

 

I have to agree with you.

 

sounds good to me. thanks a lot, im definitely feeling
not as lost! plus a couple of beers to help form a
better synopsis.... hey its saturday!

a couple of things to clear up.
it doesnt seem to be loosing water
from anywhere, maybe around the heater core?
no white smoke, or white residues.
lots of rusty water all around the reservoir from
overfilling, which could be masking some other prob.
and it had plenty of h2o from the start.

sooo. im gonna try to find out why the temp gauge
is wigging out and maybe just maybe.... an easy fix!

thanks all!

 

rusty water??? do you not have any glycol in the system (ie only pure water as coolant)?

 

Can you help us clear this up a little more? Some of us are slow (cough, me) so I might be missing a couple of important details....

Are you saying the temperature gauge in the dash pegs out soon after starting the truck?

If it's loosing water/coolant at the heater core you'd have a haze on the windshield and the STRONG smell of coolant in the cab. I know the crew cab trucks have a shut-off valve in the heater line going to the core. If you have a 4-door/crew cab...turn the heater all the way to HOT and crank that fan up (with the truck running) to make sure you've got flow to the core. That will help you rule out a leaking core.

Are you sure that's rust and not emulsified oil in the coolant? If it's the later you could have an oil cooler issue. If it's rust, then you do have a coolant issue...lack of rust inhibitors is an issue. But lets figure out the over-heating part before you go through a coolant flush/proper refill procedure.

 

k. im getting deeper into my beer so excuse
my crappy spelling and or grammar

this morning, 45 degrees, cold outside but not really
considering... ok chilly.
the fricken temp gauge(stock) was still in the H
from the previous day!
i started it and it lit right up! smooth.
temp went to C.
20 seconds later, the temps jumped to H!
i put it into low, not an option anymore i hear,
and the fan kicked in as soon as i moved forward.
40 feet later mission aborted...

i have a single cab 4x4 6spd.
definetly no coolant smell..
much more water than coolant in there..
really in need of a good flush im sure.

 

dusted off the ohm meter today.
pulled the harness from ect,
set the meter to 20k,
@ cold 50 deg F, i came up with 18 ohms
then started truck for a few minutes.
testing again resulted in 8 ohms.
anyone know if these sound correct?

the fan seems to be on constantly and
goes higher with the more rpms.

also, can anyone point me to something about
sct x-3 diagnosing if possible?
i still have mine but not sure how much
its capable of scanning.. thanks

 

It's alright, I flunked sophomore English...I'm far from perfect when it comes to spelling & grammar. I'm thankful I'm married to a woman that knows how to spell.Then you shouldn't have the vacum powered shut-off in the heater hose. If you did have one...it would be on the passenger side, next to the valve cover between the Alt and turbo. I still wonder where your coolant is going if you don't smell it...and assuming there isn't a puddle under the truck. I wouldn't pass up doing the "nose down" EGR check just to make sure EGR cooler isn't leaking.That sounds like a bad sensor or crossed wire. If either is feeding bad information to the PCM then it's going to de-fuel and run the fan trying to cool it's self down. I doesn't know it's 45F outside...it just knows the coolant is past boiling. Below "C" is the normal rest location for the needle...and if the truck was started from stone cold...the needle shouldn't have been pointing at or past "H". I wonder if you unplug the sensor...but leave it installed on the engine; then start up the truck if the needle will remain at "zero". I know on the ICP if you unplug it the PCM goes to a default setting...and several folks have used that method to prove/disprove the status of the ICP.I went digging through the 6.0L forum to see if I could find that number for you...came up empty handed. Maybe someone like cheezit or m.chan will chime in on that one. But at $30 for a replacement (give or take a couple of bucks) I'd just about put money on the original (assuming it's original) sensor has measured it's last degree.

 

cool were on the same page.
none of the parts stores had it in
stock so i will go to ford tomorrow
or order one. kragens tried to sell me
the wrong one..
i unplugged the ect harness and the check
gauge light came on. the needle didnt budge
from the cold. no dtc or engine light.
truck still ran the same.
hopefully a positive update soon!
thanks!