Recommended:

Cooling system flush with CLR and distilled water
Refill cooling system with Final Charge ELC and distilled water (50/50 mix)
DFuser coolant filter kit
Motorcraft updated de-gas bottle
Motorcraft updated de-gas bottle cap
Motorcraft thermostat assembly
Fumoto block drain valves
Motorcraft block drain plug o-rings for Fumoto drain valves
IPR Research Gen 2 EGR delete kit
Motorcraft updated oil cooler
ARP head studs
Motorcraft headgaskets

Optional:
BPD billet aluminum water pump
BPD billet aluminum radiator
IPPR coolant filtration setup (100% filtration, not bypass)

I chose CLR over VC-9 or Restore or Restore+ simply because it's more readily available, cheaper, and I keep bottles of it at home for different uses (plumbing stuff, clearing clogged heater cores, etc.). I chose Final Charge ELC because it's stocked at O'Reilly Auto Parts and is readily available as well. The DFuser coolant kit was my choice out of all the units out there due to price, including 3 filters, and being easily rebuildable if needed. Some of you may have the updated de-gas bottle and cap. Easy way to tell is if your bottle has a sticker for the levels instead of the markings on the plastic and if your cap has the white sticker compared to being all black. Thermostat is replaced during a flush as it has to be removed anyways. The Fumotos are super handy, but you may have issues with the block drains stripping out and you will need to use o-rings instead of the flat washers they come with. I chose to delete the EGR because we have no emissions testing, plus I like the idea of not needing to worry about the cooler and I chose the IPR setup because it has a one-piece setup instead of the two-piece setup. We all know about the updated oil cooler, ARP head studs, and using OEM headgaskets, no need to go into that.

As far as the optional things - they are not things you should tear apart the engine just to install. More-so they are upgraded parts to replace parts that may eventually fail. The water pump and radiator are not known common failure items whereas everything else I listed is. The 05 and up had an updated water pump and they very rarely fail. If you do need to replace a water pump or radiator though these would be great items to install. I myself do not like the 100% filtration setup, but some do, so it's up to you if you want to do a by-pass filtration or inline.

With those things being said - I am debating giving the Platinum Racing head gaskets from River City Diesel a try. Here's a link to them:

20mm Platinum Head Gaskets

Also, I am thinking of using the River City Diesel EGR delete instead of the IPR Gen 2 setup. Here's a link to it as well:

http://www.rivercitydiesel.com/index...mart&Itemid=54

I am still unsure if there really is a "best" EGR delete kit out there as there seems to be a lot on conflicting opinions. Since I couldn't go back and edit my old thread I decided to try and make this the end-all thread for the cooling system.

 

Been doing some reading on the Platinum Racing headgaskets and they seem to be good. River City Diesel builds quite a few trucks and it seems like they know their stuff. Most likely I'll just end up using their headgaskets and EGR clooler.

 

Alright, so I've made up my mind here. I've decided to go with the Ford OEM headgaskets and the IPR Research Gen 2 EGR delete. I'm not gonna risk that little blue hose going bad and I would like to go with a headgasket that's known and trusted.

 

After much thought I've decided that I will pass on the BPD water pump when doing my head studs. For the money it costs it's not really one of those "cheap" things to just throw in while you're in there, especially for those of us with the updated water pump. I've decided I'll do the BPD radiator and water pump once those items fail or I simply run out of other things to do.

Also, if anyone is interested I have 2 brand new Fumoto block drain valves with new o-rings for sale for 45 dollars with free shipping. PM me if interested.

 

I guess I've got it pretty much covered. Anything else before the truck goes in?

 

Truck is getting started. Anything else I might want to do?

 

Any other common cooling system items that fail or should be replaced? Just making sure before the truck gets finished.

 

Got the truck back with all the new parts installed. I ended up getting the IPR up-pipe as well. At this point I will wait for the radiator and water pump to fail before I replace them with the BPD units as the truck only has 89,000 miles on it and I've got the updated water pump as well as a new radiator (truck was in an accident at one point). Is there anything else I should address performance or maintenance wise?

Also, if anyone is looking for a set of the Fumoto block drains with o-rings I have a pair for sale.

 

So you had head gaskets and ARP studs installed? Congrats on this, its a big job. Do you mind revealing the cost of having this done?



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Yea, it hasn't quite set in yet as I ended up having one of my old friends do it who works at a Ford dealership as a master diesel tech, so I took the easy road. I work as a VW/Audi technician, but I had no good way to pull the cab at work as I would have needed to push the chassis and cab in and out every night after work. I had thoughts of doing it through the front with cab on, but I didn't want to fight anything, especially because I would have been doing it by myself.

He ended up doing it for 2,500 dollars parts and labor which included studs, head gaskets, cylinder head cleaning and inspection, STC fitting kit, dummy plugs, stand pipes, oil cooler kit, IPR Gen 2 EGR delete and up pipe, turbo drain line, turbo feed line, turbo disassembly, inspection, and cleaning, intake manifold cleaning, injector balance test (before it was torn apart), FICM test (before it was torn apart), door code pull, and seat belt chime delete. Also, he installed the 4" MBRP exhaust (I paid ahead of time for that) during that time too and he drove it for a day before and after to ensure everything was taken care of.

The only extra parts I supplied was the exhaust, SCT tuner, oil and filter, coolant, and he hooked me up on 2 Ford injectors that needed replaced. Realistically I'm sure he could have re-used the oil and coolant if I wanted, but mine was due for an oil change soon. Also, my coolant that I had in there was the stuff that was put in after the coolant flush and filter install, so I figured it may be best to just get fresh stuff in it.

He did make mention that he would be willing to take on more of these jobs if anyone was wanting it done as I feel he gave me a great deal on it.

 

That sounds like a good deal to me, considering all the parts and the labor. He also took the time to drive it before and after the work was done. That's good piece of mind. Now you are ready to roll, congratulations .



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Thank you much!

At this point I guess I'm done with the cooling system. The BPD water pump and BPD radiator will get installed once my factory units die. It's not like installing them when I have perfectly good working parts is going to be any advantage as far as cooling performance or reliability, not to mention the truck only has 89,000 miles and has the updated water pump and the radiator had been replaced already.