2006 F250 Super Duty 6.0L: Wondering what else is advantageous to replace/service while I am in there replacing teh EGR cooler (undecided between bulletproofdiesel cooler and a factory one) and oil cooler. Hoping to get some insight from folks that have tone through and done this before and any tips/tricks that are helpful to know before attacking this job. Also, what is the consensus on what the very best coolant is (the Ford Gold stuff?) for these sensitive systems? Thanks in advance.

 

spend about a week reading these forums first of all. Get a way to monitor your truck.

 

Good advice by Idahoser. There are many posts on these sujects.
Gold coolant "OUT" you want a good ElC coolant.
The rest of your questions can be answered by by doing some research. Me myself, i would get a code reader such as Torque Pro or Forscan with an ELM 327 Bluetooth dongle. That will let you read your temp variances between ect and eot. If you have good temps between the two you probably dont need to replace the oil cooler. You could do it as preventative maintenance, being as you will have top of the motor off. That would be your call.
I would also look into, going ahead and putting updated Dummy plugs and Standpipes in. If they haven't already been done. New oring kit and screen on ipr.
New thermastat. But that could have already been done.
So like Idahoser sugested you should do some research and see what you think about how your truck is. There are some very smart guys on this forum that will help all they can.
(me not one, I'm a novice comparatively)
But i have learned alot.

 

I think we could all empty your wallet for you without knowing the history of your truck. What can you provide us? Mileage, maintenance history, previous work done etc.

Definitely get something to monitor vitals, scan gauge at a minimum.

 

Welcome to FTE!

,All the above. You need to know whats broke before you fix it, or you will go broke/nuts. Every truck is different and needs certain things based off mileage, DTCs, PIDS, tests, etc. I have an edge insight to monitor PIDS while I'm driving and Forscan to troubleshoot. I got the BAFX wifi obii adapter for Forscan and it works with ios, android and windows. The Edge told me I had a 30* delta on EOT and ECT. Hence the oil cooler replacement. It is now telling me I need a new alternator. Forscan has told me #5 and sometimes #6 has stiction. Hence the Hot Shot treatment in hopes I dont have to replace injectors.

Also there is lots of maintenance needed on new to me trucks. Here's a tread from the tech folder if you have not seen it.

Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - View Single Post - Just bought 06 F350 FX4 6.0!!

Lets see whats wrong and go from there.

 

Now once all that is stuff you understand, and you know the condition of your own truck in these areas, then you'll be able to decide for yourself what else needs to be done. If they haven't already, here's a fairly good list of the things that you probably will want to do because you've already done the work to get to them and/or because they need to be done on every truck anyway. It has been years since I did this and it wasn't all at one time, so I may be forgetting things. A few of them are optional but recommended.

-flush and replace coolant with CAT EC-1 ELC (brand not important as long as it is marked CAT EC-1), preferably before starting to disassemble things, if your system is still intact. I did Restore and Restore Plus. I believe this is the only right way, but you will get differing opinions. Fumoto valves are great for this. You'll need ELC concentrate and a bunch of distilled water for initial fill but you can use pre-mix after that.
-COOLANT FILTER
-synthetic oil ONLY (Rotella T6 is what I use) (and another Fumoto valve)
-HFCM drain plug upgrade
-Blue Spring
-EGR cooler or delete (I did the BPD cooler. Deletes are highly popular but I worried about legality of resale - and I thought keeping it was better for the truck)
-Oil cooler (I did OEM)
-STC fitting (I had to do this a second time, the o-ring on the replacement fitting blew out. I have videos about that on youtube, idahoser11)
-stand pipes and dummy plugs (see injectors)
-injectors (I didn't do them at the same time as oil cooler but ended up doing them anyway, just go ahead while you're in there if you can, you won't have to fool with oil additives which help but really just delay)(get the proper bits and don't drop them in the oil passage. Get the bore brushes.)
-EGR valve (cheap enough)
-thermostat (you're there already)
-glow plugs and harness (cheap and easy now)
-power wash the inside of the intake manifold
-clean the turbo (I haven't but it's out anyway)
-CAC boots and metal cold pipe (get some alcohol wipes and hairspray)
-get a good torque wrench (Snap-on digital cheap enough on ebay)
-forget the zoodad and harpoon mods and I wouldn't worry about the PCV oil in the intake. I did buy a hornet mod but didn't use it.
-get a topside creeper or something similar
-consider having your FICM checked or 'solder reflowed' while it's out (I didn't but if it's cheap for you then it will save wondering)
-do something with trans fluid (my local dealerships don't know what I'm talking about with a heated flush, so another reason to leave them out of it. I'm replacing what I can drain every few thousand miles along with the external filter. Haven't dropped the pan but would replace the pan with the newer version if I did.
-take precautions to prevent anybody from adding coolant if you have it worked on. I couldn't stand it if I didn't see it myself.

now I have not removed the heads but if you have reason to suspect blown head gaskets, or if you plan to work it hard, you'll want to replace the head bolts with studs and have the heads machined and replace the exhaust manifold bolts, if not the manifolds too. You're practically now at a full Bulletproofing, might consider their external oil cooler too. Or just let them do it (not cheap but you'll be sure)

All of this would certainly be easier with the cab removed, but I did not. I did remove the bumper (recommended) and passenger wheel well liner (unneccessary) I GOT MY JOBS MIXED UP, THE BUMPER WAS FOR CAB BUSHINGS (DO THOSE IF YOU RAISE THE CAB), LINER WAS FOR GLOW PLUGS

 

I'm in the middle of this now. Just change anything feasible while you're in there if you have over 100k miles.

-Sensors (air charge, ect, oct, camshaft position, crankshaft)
-Hoses
-Standpipes (they've been updated)
-STC fitting (been updated)
-IPR valve if high mileage

I'm not doing the injectors since I don't want to drop another $1,500 given they are all working at 180k miles. I'll do those later once the first one starts to fail.

Keep the work area spotless so you don't contaminate the oiling system.

 

Without breaking the bank I would while the intake is out get it cleaned.
That way all of that soot and oil mix will be gone.

 

All the things I wish I could have done the FIRST time I pulled the intake...

I guess the most pertinent question here is, what's your budget?

 

I was thinking of things that don't cost an arm and a leg and are fairly easy to do.
That is where the clean the intake manifold came from. Would also be a good time
to get the valley cleaned of crud. Just keep in mind you will have open holes to the
inside of the engine. So it's a good idea to tape the head intake ports and the oil
drain return hold on the HPOP cover. Water down that drain would be a PITA for sure.

 

Well if low cost is what we're going for, then an STC fitting might be warranted if it hasn't been done already. But for all we know, the OP may have an arm and a leg to spend. He hasn't told us much of anything.

 

I don't know what happened to the original poster, but I sure appreciate all of the information that you all supplied. I plan on r and r my egr cooler on my 2006 F-250 (I'm tired of being scared that it will blow up).

 

Happens a lot, guys ask a question and disappear.

 

I've been looking at all the upgrades/mods and some of them are a little pricey, but they need to be done. I just got a scan guage 2 and just finished programing it. I need to drive around with it for awhile to see where to begin. I'm not sure about whether or not I need to do the banjo bolt mod.