My '08 F-450 6.4 had a radiator and hose O-ring leak. After $1800 for a new radiator, hose and O-ring replacements, I noticed the coolant level was well below the "cold fill mark" range the day after it came home from the dealer. I put about 150 miles on it and it was overheating and required 4 gallons (yes, GALLONS) of coolant/water. I then drove about 325 miles and the "reduced engine power" message came on and my cruise control would not work. There was no coolant spillage on ground when parked idling or turned off nor was there any coolant smell from under the hood. But my level was back down well below the fill mark. WHERE IS MY COOLANT GOING??

Thanks Guys, Y'all are the greatest. I wish I knew 1/10th of what you guys do.

 

Simple, they did not purge the air out of it when the radiator and hose were changed.

I think I would be talking to Ford corp now...not that dealer. I would be concerned of more damage and caviation around the water pump from air and no coolant.

Don't go back to that dealer.

 

Agreed.

Paying 90$/ hour for a mechanic is one thing, for an apprentice is BS.

Good mechanics are getting hard to find, the service bays are filled with learning kids.

 

90/hour is a cheep shop.
good techs are nowere to be found.
and the kids commin in are far and few between.

I would suggest that you may wish to check the oil level and make sure its not over full. seen lots of 6.4 front covers with pinholes.

 

How does one go about purging the cooling system and after what procedures does it need to be purged?

 

I completely agree with Scott on this one. After opening up the cooling system and replacing things it would be too easy to not properly bleed the system and leave the system dangerously underfilled.

Front cover cavitation from low coolant level is a common failure on these engines, and happens quickly when air makes it to the water pump. Make sure you get this checked out!

 

Your a pretty damn good tech

 

Not a 100% sure but I think there are some plugs on the block that can be taken out. I know they can be used to drain the block completely so I suppose one could use them to ensure that most or all the air is out as well.

I suppose if I was at home that is what I would attempt to do, as well as run it and fill as needed right on the spot.

 

Since getting my truck back from the dealer Monday afternoon, and adding the 4 gallons of coolant/water to return to the fill line on the degas bottle, I have added an ADDITIONAL 4-5 gallons of coolant/water since then. Maybe driven a total of 100 miles. And there are no leak marks on my driveway or any leakage while parked and idling. Nor is there any coolant smell. It is simply disappearing. With my system capacity of 30 qts (7 1/2 gallons) it would surely be full by now, even with no air left to be purged. It is now running in the "reduced engine power" mode with the little wrench icon on my message center. But once I fill it back to the fill line with coolant, it'll return to normal driving mode. I'm clueless. And my truck is my office. No truck, no income.....

Thanks, fellas. You guys help so much!!!!

 

So no white smoke either? Seems like you should be full now as well.

I really recommend a new dealer with the concern and symtoms.

 

6.4L has several external coolant leak points such as radiator, and where the upper and lower rad hoses meet the front cover. Forrd has came out with updated hose that now have two orings and a teflon insert, similar to a heater hose. Check oil level for possible front cover cavitation causing oil level to grow. Just like the 6.0L there are egr coolers that can leak coolat into exhaust. Note after radiator replacement vehicle only takes 4-5gallons of coolant, not all coolant drained from block. the process to purge/bleed cooling system would be to draw 25inches of vacumn and fill cooling system, process is usually performed with a rad-kit(snap-on).

 

Well, its official. After checking for water on dipstick, I did notice slight discoloration (gray) in the oil on a very small part of the dipstick. After bringing the truck in for further diagnosis with a pressure test, they said a leak was found in the front cover. After spending $2000 on a new radiator, hose, and O-ring replacements a week ago, now they're wanting $2700 for a front cover job. I still contend, (and believe me, I'm no mechanic) that the original radiator replacement when they only put three gallons of coolant coupled with three gallons of water, leaving it underfilled, caused the cavitation and front cover damage. Am I wrong? If not, what are my options for this dispute? Dealership gave me a phone # to call, but they merely said I was out of warranty (175,153 miles) and there was nothing else they could offer. Anybody have any advice on who I need to talk to? Oh, and dealer said when I repair the front cover problem, they have seen other problems pop up down the road, likening it to the coolant finding the next weakest link. ???WHAT???
P.S........Can I be one of you guys' neighbor? Ya'll are awesome!!!

 

Wow...sorry to hear about that, unfortunately it was expected when you mentioned running low on coolant.

Sounds like you are in a no-win situation at this point. They could have underfilled it and caused your front cover to cavitate, but they will argue that the cover failure caused the low coolant condition.

I'm very sorry to hear about this, as I think its likely they underfilled it and caised the condition.

 

I would call the ford cust svc number and explain all that happened. Have your paperwork with you so you can reference the work orders.

I personally think it happened due to low coolant.

You indicated at one point 100 miles..but how many did you drive under this condition?

As I said before, you need another competent dealer.

 

Another question here is had you been performing the specified coolant nitrite testing regularly? If this had been neglected and VC-8 additive not used to maintain the nitrite level you may well have had significant cavitation damage long before the dealer got their hands on the truck for the radiator work. The radiator and hose leaks could well have prevented pressure from building and this forcing coolant through the cavitation holes.

Also note that the front cover design was updated with an extra tab of material added, presumably to eliminate a low pressure area prone to cavitation. Make sure when the cover is replaced that the replacement is of the new design. The difference from the original design will be obvious when comparing them.