My 2005 F-350 is showing no error codes; the diesel was going fine until three days into our trip (pulling a 12-13k lb trailer), then we start puking coolant from the degas bottle. The coolant smells like fuel, the temps and Delta ECT/EOT are fine (within 10 degrees). EOT runs fine, normally less than 210 unless we're on a steep hill. ECT is normally around 207 unless we're going up a steep hill, then it’ll sometimes go up to 220. We're losing water at a fairly high rate, sometimes up to about 2 gallons per hour depending on the terrain.


Mods we've had so far...

• · Bulletproof Oil Cooler
• · New FICM
• · Bulletproof EGR Cooler
• · New Turbo

So what we're getting at here, is can we nurse it back home (About 500 miles, from Whitehorse, YT to Anchorage, Alaska) safely, while still pulling the trailer, or will we have to get it fixed while we're still in town here?

Also, what's the likelihood of us causing damage to the truck, and what kind of damage can we expect if we do choose to drive back home?

And finally, what might be some of the possible causes to our problem?

 

Cracked heads are the most likely issues w/ fuel in the coolant. It could be bad injector cups also, but even then I believe you are very likely to ALSO have cracks in the head for the fuel contamination to occur.

Are you sure the degas bottle cap is not extremely weak?

If you are losing that much coolant, I would be hesitant to drive it, but maybe others can offer some personal experiences.

 

Sorry to hear about this messing with your vacation - assuming your EGR cooler really is bulletproof, this sounds just like head gasket failure.

When you bulletproofed the EGR cooler and the oil cooler - did you also install head studs ?

If the head gaskets have gone (like mine did) - I had exhaust gas channeling across the head surface and into the cooling system, blowing out the coolant. If this is the case, your biggest risk in driving it is probably loss of coolant - the pressures are such that you are unlikely to get coolant going the other way into the cylinders.

In my case I just drove carefully and stopped often to top up the lost coolant (try to use distilled water if you can find it so you are not loading your system up with contaminants for the future). Then get it repaired when you get home.

 

Wow.......I never would have expected that from your truck. It seemed to be in great shape motor wise and ran flawlessly. Did you check the oil level to make sure it's not rising or contaminated? 2 gallons/hr is a LOT of coolant especially with the load you're pulling. Does your fuel consumption seem to be higher than normal?

 

If there is fuel in the coolant it will make a marmalade looking jell.The fuel smell is likely exhaust in the coolant unless you have goo in the coolant bottle.Is the rad fan working?

 

Ncpartsman, it was running beautifully for the first few days pulling the camper, no problems at all with no load. I wish I would have had the money and time to do the studs as well when you did the Bullet Proof Kit...

Having said that, I did have some brutal passes to go over (one a 8%+ grade for 12 miles)

I'm about 98% sure the white milky substance in the degas bottle is fuel. I dipped a paper towel in the bottle to siphon off some of the "substance" and put a lighter to it. It lit right up and gave off a black smoke. That coupled with the smell are what I'm basing my assumption on.

Oil level is fine and looks / smells clean. Not sure if the cap is weak or not, but having a foreign substance in my coolant indicates that even if the cap is weak there is more of a problem then just that. The radiator fan is working. Hard to tell on gas consumption as I'm constantly dealing with hills and varying wind, which both play a huge part pulling the 5th wheel.

Having read the posts, my thoughts are to find a place to store the camper in Whitehorse and head home with just the truck. I'm hoping it will not have the same issues (or at least not as severe) without the load. In any case, if I did run into trouble then at least all I have to deal with is the truck & come back for the camper with a good rig.

When I get home I'll have 2 weeks off to deal with the truck and repairs (and of course I'll be coming back to the forum for that).

If anyone has any other suggestions I'm open...

Thanks...

Marty

 

By the sound of it you have a cracked head.If it were me I would ditch the fifth wheel drain the coolant fill it with fresh and limp her home.

 

fuel will be ornage in color when mixe din a degas tank. if its grey then its oil.

 

HUH?

Aaahhhh, if it's diesel fuel, it should NOT ignite. Are you sure this truck didn't get fueled up with gasoline by mistake, by any chance? If so, you had better drain ALL the fuel out, and refill with fresh DIESEL ASAP before you do more damage than has already been done.

And yes, if fuel is contaminating the cooling system, your cylinder head(s) are cracked without fail. Use your judgement. Continue to drive it in this state and you risk a lot of further damage.

 

I thought the same thing, I remember you saying that to someone else, diesel fuel should not ignite very easily

 

No it shouldn't Tyler. It will but it's not very easy to get it to light. Diesel takes high compresstion and heat to ignite.

 

Actually diesel fuel will light right up. I just took a paper towel and rolled it into a rope shape, dipped it into some diesel fuel and it lit right up with a lighter.

 

I'm no expert on diesel, or fire for that matter, but I think it is actualy the towel that lights on fire first. I know that if you take a can of diesel and try to light it on fire it will not light very easy. It takes quite a bit to get it to light. I could be wrong on all that. Like I said i'm no expert on this type of stuff, but I know I have lit rags after dipping them in diesel and they don't just go up in flames like gas does. It kind of burns real slow for a while then starts to get big. (I assume because the fire starts to get hot enough to actualy burn.)

 

Pour a sample of gasoline on the ground and light it up. It will ignite instantly. Now take a sample of diesel fuel and pour it on the ground and attempt to light it up.

 

I agree with you m-chan, but if you dip a paper towel in diesel, like the op said he did, it will light.