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Im a new owner of 06' F-350 Lariat 6.0L PSD, Im trying to learn as much as I can about the motor and I have a buddy who is a big 6.0 junky that has been helping me out with any questions. So I started to notice some loss of coolant and minor white smoke with cold starts. Took the truck into the dealer for aftermarket warranty work and they tested and are replacing EGR cooler, Oil cooler, reprogramming FICM, Trans module and another that I cant remember at this time. My question is that I cant really swing the extra cash to have ARP studs done right now so am I shooting myself in the foot by not getting it done while they are in there? Im currently not running any tunes first thing when I get it back is EGR delete kit and early next year SCT flash tuner. So again am I risking big problems down the road by not having head studs done right now. BTW it has 74k miles on it.
I dont think it takes headstuds to have a reliable truck
Being its an 06 you might want to think about getting the STC fitting stand pipes and dummey plugs updated
or atleast check into it IIRC the 07s got the updated parts but not shure about an 06
those parts would Fail B4 the OEM headbolts will on a Stock truck IMO
But if your going to throw a race tune at it get the studs
Thanks Blade I did look into it and from what I can find I have a late 05 motor in 06 truck and I believe I have the updated STC parts but not sure about dummy plugs Ill take a look at it today and get back to you, this might be a stupid question but would a ford tech update those already if they are doing new oil and egr coolers or is that something I would have to do on my own and if so how difficult is it?
What makes you think you have the updated one-piece HPOP discharge fitting? Ford never installed it from the factory, it would have had to be a repair item after 2007.
As far as the dummy plugs and standpipes go, they would only be done if someone made the personal decision to do them. No shop would do them unless they were told by the customer that he wanted them.
As far as you doing them yourself, we really can't say right now - we don't know anything about your mechanical abilities. What kind of mechanic work have you done before?
I agree w/ most of what Benny said, however if the EGR cooler leaked much, that can cause extra cylinder pressure to develop and can lead to head bolt stretching and eventual gasket leaks (water is incompressible).
To answer your original question, "so am I shooting myself in the foot by not getting it done while they are in there?", probably not if you take some precautions. Many believe the Ford Gold coolant is the culprit that is causing these problems to begin with. As long as adequate back flushes were done before the repairs were started and when its buttoned back up you go with a good CAT ELC coolant you should be fine. I'd be monitoring it with real coolant temp and oil temp gauges to keep an eye on the temp spread too. JMO