Hi there, new to this section (and to the 6.0). i was searching through some of the tech files to try to find insight on this issue but wasn't having much luck (smart phone internet is spotty...makes searching difficult)

my friend has a 2005 6.0l f350, it has been overheating pretty regularly on him. He knows nothing about diesels (is all stock) he took it to a local diesel shop and they quoted him for a new EGR cooler and head studs, at over 9,000$. He came to me asking if that sounds right....i have no idea.

my questions are;

1) is there any other common issues that cause these overheating symptoms?

2) price for a egr cooler, and head studs? maybe even head gaskets?

3) how realistic is it to perform the egr cooler and studs "at home"

i look forwards to hearing what you guys have to say!

thanks

 

You could do it in your driveway depending on mechanical ability, many have posted replacing stock TTY with arps one at a time. The price for headgaskets arp's and stock egr cooler would run around $1,400 , the labor would be the killer but exactly how much I do not know what is reasonable or not, if in fact it is the egr cooler, you could park the truck at an incline overnight nose down, pull egr valve and see if it is wet in there, if it is, the egr is indeed suspect. What head studs has to do with it is beyond me, unless they are telling him it needs headgaskets as a result of not repairing it due to it overheating then it is possible they are recommending studs to fix it, but a lot of owners are on TTY bolts and no issues with a lot of miles on them. Either way, if it does need new head gaskets, go OEM, do not let anyone steer him into anything but OEM

 

If it is overheating could have possible head warpage as well. I would be looking at the water pump, thermostat, and coolant fan before jumping to possible head problems.

 

Does it Puke Coolant out the Coolant Bottle???

Usually PUKE with BAD Headgaskets


But if just overheat could be

Thermostat
FanClutch
Plugged Oil Cooler
Bad EGR Cooler
Water Pump

just the shops estimate alone makes me wonder if they Did a Thuro Diagnostic or Just want to THROW Parts at it

Might be worth a Second Opinion IMO

 

I agree with Blade. I had Head gaskets studs, EGR cooler oil cooler fan clutch...just check my signature
The whole job cost 3,400 and some change. EVEN if you had to replace heads 5-6k would be as much as I would consider. More information is needed. 9K?! Hod the bus a second....

 

Agree. Shop time is 20.4 hrs. At $110 an hr. my shop would probably charge 25 hrs at customer pay. 9k seem way high.

 

And get a Scanguage, or Edge Insight or Torque App. Got to know what the truck is doing.

 

thanks for all the input! ill gather more info from him tomorrow when i see him, ill tell him we should run more tests like you guys suggested before jumping straight to the heads/gaskets/studs. ill post up every symptom he is having. The messed up part is that the diesel shop that quoted that is one of the most popular shops around here. they have been known to be over priced tho.

but at worst case scenario, if we do end up having to do the gaskets/heads, it sounds like it would be something we can perform in the garage?

thanks for all the help!

 

There are some 6.0 specific stuff to know but if you are comfortable pulling heads and have the tools it's definitely doable. The info is right here at FTE. most of it isn't too bad. There isn't room to just screw in the studs and drop the heads on if you do it in the truck. You do have to undo mounts and move the engine around a bit and/or disassemble part of the a/c air box.
The shop at 9k sounds high. I'd guess you could buy the necessary parts to fix it right for 2.5k if the heads aren't busted. Maybe that's part of the estimate being so high- they suspect the heads will be unusable. Word of mouth is important to a good shop, if they have a good rep they are doing something right. It's always nice to reduce an estimate after you have the job than to significantly raise it later, especially if you suspected that's the way it was gonna go to start with. Just for comparison though, I understand you can get a complete engine- from Ford- for 13k.
It takes a lot of heat to make the temp gauge read hot. If that's happened "pretty regularly" it's likely puking coolant out of the degas bottle and odds are good the head gaskets are leaking. Maybe it started when towing or on hills and has gotten worse (overheats easier/sooner) over time?

 

So I just got off the phone with him. And it has overheated 5 times. He opened the cap to see if it was low and said a lot came gushing out. He just filled it up with gas station coolant (doesn't know anything about diesels).

When he went to picked it up from the shop it would not turn over. They had to pop glow plugs out to get coolant out (it was hydro locked). Put glow plugs back in started it up to get it on a trailer then into the shop and hasn't started it since.

The first time it started over heating was after a very long period at idle, he said the fan clutch does engage but doesn't stay on long.

I think I'll start looking for a used engine for him and do the basic upgrades then just do an engine swap. Or should we do more tests? Or is coolant in the cylinder the icing on the cake....it's done.


Again, thanks for your help.

 

no icing yet but layers are set. headgaskeskets are in order. assuming the heads are not cracked (rare but pos.) get them checked out. as said befor OEM only on head gaskets. IMHO if you don't go with head studs pick up new bolts, possible the current ones are already streatched out.

just my 2c

Clayton

 

If regular coolant went into it...that's bad joojoo. Hydro-lock can be caused by bad heads, failed EGR cooler. Due to the wrong coolant being put in a coolant system flush is in order anyway. All of that stuff has got to get out of there.

Check exhaust for a sweet/coolant smell and the presence or white smoke/ steam. That with a T at the degas bottle with a pressure gauge, 0-50psi, to verify the degas bottle is being pressurized will give additional confirmation that there is a coolant leak at the head gaskets and or EGR Cooler.

If there is a putty like substance in the degas bottle, which can be caused by silicate drop out of the coolant and clogs the EGR cooler fins. That can cause the EGR cooler to fail dumping coolant into the exhaust (White Smoke show) and out the exhaust pipe OR into the engine causing a hydro-lock. There are other possibilities too, but the above is common especially if he was losing coolant and put the wrong coolant back in.

If the EGR cooler is toast replace BOTH the oil cooler and EGR cooler, or replace the oil cooler and go with an EGR delete kit.

To assist your friend, print out or have him log onto FTE, go to the tech folder and start reading. All the PM that needs to be done, fixes, and things to keep the truck healthy are there. It is invaluable.

He must get a gauge package. After repairs are done, that should be explored immediately if not right now.

Tousley Ford Parts Depot. THEY are your friend! Everything (except Studs) that you need cheap!

If he tows get studs! These trucks are like many women. They need care and attention. If he fails to do so she'll rip his heart out, stomp on it, and steal his wallet!

Eric

 

depends on which coolant he used.

mixing incorrect coolant all by itself can cause catastrophic
engine failure in this engine family. it can plug up oil cooler,
which fails the egr cooler, which dumps coolant into the
intake manifold, which can hydrolock the engine, lift the heads,
blow the headgaskets, and break stuff....

there is a very long thread on here about a rebuild by someone
with a lot of miles on their 6.0, and what the process was like.

i'd read ALL of it before committing to a course of action.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...oval-pics.html

that thread has currently 1,250 posts.

and as for the $9k, what are they gonna do for $9k? sounds like
a BS quote to me.

for $10k, i got everything done, and then some, including
the external oil cooler from BPD, and heads rebuilt with stellite
valve seats.... in a van, which is twice the labor on a truck,
i'm told... it's all gotta come out the front, not a cab lift like a
truck.

 

Sounds to me like a bad egr cooler

 

I agree fully. But "other stuff" could have been effected by the sounds of things. But! If we're talking just EGR/Oil Cooler...for 9k!?

Run Forest...Run!