got 100k on my gold coolant and still going. please fill your truck up with green coolant, we need another test case. the guy working on your truck seems to be an *** hat with no clue as to what he is doing.
you have over spent on repairs do to poor diag. thats your fault for finding a ill informed tech.
this is what bad diag will do for you. people claim venting coolant is haed gaskets all the time. and such is not always the case. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...9-08-03-a.html click this link and watch less then a 30 second video
next I have on page 3 taken the time to find the correct information on the cyclinder head cracks you are worried about.
but please continue your ramblings about being screwed over by everyone on everything about this truck but your own lack of knowledge.
Best of luck

 

The Ford tech (Class instructor) was the one who recommended the coolant change. Both head gaskets were blown along with the exhaust gaskets and one head was cracked between the valve and glow plug. Now just where did my mechanic go wrong.
Keep that gold in your truck and you can be the test case...
If you don't like my rantings, don't read or comment on my posts.
Have a nice day...
P.S. Your link doesn't work... and my mechanic reads my posts...

 

Hey sig40,

I'm sorry for the trouble you have been having with the truck. A lot of us have been there. I have. My most recent one is documented in this thread for all to see, and hopefully others will learn from it.

Looking forward the only thing I can suggest is you stay with this forum. There's a lot of great guys here, and a wealth of knowledge that keeps growing. A lot of guys here go out of their way to help others and we'll be willing to help you too.

You now know what is wrong with your engine and you know the value of having gauges - yes it would be nice if Ford hadn't left it up to owners to have to buy monitoring tools but that's where we are. If you fix her with the right parts and you or your mechanic use the correct methods you will be rewarded with a powerful engine. It will still require maintenance and monitoring.
If you want a truck with a diesel engine that doesn't require this level of attention I believe you'll have to step back to a Ford with the 7.3 or the Dodge with the 5.9. That's my opinion and it's because of the government regulations brought in in the early 2000's as to why we are here. (I also currently own a 2001 Dodge 5.9L with 200,000 miles so I have some experience there)

With this website you can save hundreds of dollars on parts as guys share where is the best place to buy them. If you are willing to work on the engine, and it sounds like you have a good background, then anything you need to know is here .... manuals, photos, videos. There's even a thread with a complete disassembly of the engine all the way down to the camshaft and then its full reassembly.

On the coolant, the guy might have been mistaken just a bit. Some do recommend getting rid of the Ford yellow coolant, but the alternative is the ELC coolant, which is strawberry color, not green. I'm using the Rotella ELC.

Take a load of photos of the engine or what ever else you want and post them here. We have spotted incorrect oil filter caps, wrong color coolant, studs or bolts on the engine and plenty of other things.

There's enough combined knowledge here that if you see this repair work through it could be the last major work you'll have to do for a very long time.
Best of luck.

 

Sig, I'm going through the same kind of pain as you are. Retired, fixed income and working part time jobs to fill in the holes until I can hopefully some day pay off my mortgage.

Bought my first new truck. First new vehicle of any kind ever purchased. No doubt the last one too as the new trucks are up around 65K!!! I found a cracked head (which I really can't quite wrap my head around, how something like this could be left for the suckers like us to be stuck with) and am faced with paying a mechanic to replace. Of course, while in there I should go ahead and do stand pipes and dummy plugs, STC fitting and ARP studs. The cost grows...

I don't know where the money is going to come from, probably pull out the plastic and go further into debt, but if something like this happens again I REALLY will not know what to do.

I bought this truck to tow my fifth wheel trailer (retirement plans) and felt confident that the "powerstroke" reputation (from the 7.3) would entail this being the last truck I would ever need to buy. Didn't know about all of the rhetoric on the 6.0 forums here on FTE until after I wrote the check for the down payment. Oh well. I was vigilant about maintenance, oil and filter changes, fuel filters, coolant filters, trans flushes, coolant flushes... etc.

If feel your pain... I am trying to figure out what to do. Not sure which way to go, fix or trade for a used Dodge, as much as I HATE that idea. Though I feel kind of let down by Ford. If I was still working in my career, which payed relatively well, I'd be in much better position. But due to an untimely death of a family member I hastily decided to retire. Now, well here I am. I have nothing to offer you, as far as guidance or advise, but figured it might help to know that you aren't the only one.

One thing I feel compelled to give advice for is to treat these guys here on FTE well. They volunteer their information and some of them have quite a bit to offer. One that comes to mind is Cheesit. He has helped a lot of folks out of trouble, and if I do decide to keep my truck I will be counting on him, as well as others to help me through the process.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. And don't worry, I don't call people "dude"
Regards

 

I agree with Piolet's last post. Make sure it is done right the first time and these are great motors. These motors need there due attention, oil and filter and such that has been posted many times before me, I am a true believer in that preaching, my 6.0 Ex had 215k before needing the head gaskets for the first time! My Edge scan tool saved me from more damage I think. I really didnt have a clear sign it blew other than all the signs adding up.

These guys have been great to me, helped me when I asked, as I am in a wheelchair, there has been some who have volunteered to come to my house and help me when needed!!!
At other times they have kept me from making foolish decisions by answering questions, and there is a gold mine of info if one searches it out! Purely great guys

 

I've been twisting wrenches off and on for the last 40 years, 5 of them was with Buick motor divison in the 80s. I've seen more screw ups from the factory than you can imagine, from Tango bottles in the door to thermosats left out.Ford has a great product, that's why I bought this truck ( plus the price was right ).I knew the 6.0 had problems that's why I am here to get great advise and make new friends.Some of these guys see this everyday, they know the deal, all I can say is listen read and get all the info you need to get back rolling as cheap as possible and enjoy the ride !

 

Speaking of coolant, I ran across this the other day. It's green and advertised as low silicate! Sure would be nice to have some consistency in manufacturing. It's getting more difficult to know what to use.
http://www.valvoline.com/products/co.../antifreeze/40

 

Mines green no sil and heavy duty elc forget the brand name , I'll see when I get home

 

Interseting, I would like to know what brand that is. I looked and could not find any ELC that was green, all where red.



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ProMaxx FOR85XN Replacement Cylinder Head