I took my truck in to get the VC9 flush to make sure I got all of the SCA additives out of the cooling system... ...Yup, I goofed and installed an SCA charged coolant filter on my truck.
Anyhoo, the mechanic doing the flush called me an told me that he thought he smelled diesel in the coolant filter and mentioned that the coolant looks kind of mucky. He said that could indicate a cracked head near injectors. But he doesn't see other tell tail signs normally associated with a cracked head at that location.
He said that typically he will find the degas bottle cap being difficult to remove when fuel is present in the coolant. We are hopeful that the smell is not diesel fuel but a chemical reaction of the SCA and Ford Gold Coolant.

Does anyone have experience with this? I am going to continue with the flush and keep an eye on it to see if any oil appears in the degas bottle over the next couple hundred miles after the flush. Don't really want to tear injectors out yet as that will get expensive, I think. Any advise?

Thanks guys

 

Oh yeah, the truck is an 05, EGR delete, SCT w/ SRL tune, stock exhaust, non studded. Truck runs great too!

 

Since you only suspect diesel add some simple green to your flush as a precaution and add a 1/2 hour min to the flush.

In reality your supposed to change all hoses also but I hate to recomend that on just a maybe. It can be kinda $$$$$

 

Thank you Dannyboy. I have the truck back now and will be watching to see if there any fuel appears in the coolant, now that it's been flushed. My mechanic did a VC9 flush. I don't think he used simple green. Wish I would have read your post before he got started as I could have brought some to him to add in...

Still not sure if it was diesel fuel in the coolant or just goo from the stupid SCA filter install that I did. The mechanic told me to watch the degas bottle over the next few hundred miles. My fingers are crossed tightly hoping that I don't have a cracked head.

 

Well, I've put a few hundred miles on the truck since its coolant flush. I think I do smell diesel in the degas bottle and can see a slight bit of what looks like an oily substance floating on top.
So I guess this means I have a crack in a head near an injector cup?
If so, what do you guys think the cause of this would be?
I am using SRL tune and have Sinister EGR delete. Did one of these have something to do with this development or did IH maybe just use poorly designed heads on the 6.0?
I don't get why this would have happened. I don't think I've ever abused my truck and I do my maintenance on schedule. Any ideas?

 

I would pull the degus off and give her a good cleaning use liquid goof off and clean and rince 4 or 5 times untill all the gunk runs out clean, then top it with 50/50 coolent and distilled water to level mark, then check level daily and see if things look a little better, keep uroldfingers crossed for no diesel.

 

Well, I've come to the conclusion that the head is in fact cracked. The coolant has risen and does smell like diesel. I'll start a new thread on the next decision step. Thanks to those who replied on this diagnosis.

 

Chances are it cracked between the injector and the glow plug. It is a very small area, seems to be where most crack. Mine did same thing. Heads are not cheap, also they switched heads in 05, so you need to figure out if you have new or old style and there is a difference.

 

Thanks for the reply justice. Sounds like another great engineering blunder. Great work international ! ! !