Yes, oil cooler was done as well. ECT and EOT readings are not 'jumpy' and seem to rise and drop fairly close to each other. Both temps read preeeeetty close to ambient temp after sitting all night. I wish it was as easy as a goofed up sensor plug, but I think this goes deeper.

Water pump is one possible thing, especially being an 03. Heater has always worked awesome and got hot very quick as ECT rises... And that sort of indicates coolant is flowing well, right? There isnt much else left in the cooling system at this point other than the water pump amd radiator. I hate to think about dropping MORE cash in this damn truck, but at this point I am considering having them pull and inspect/clean the radiator and just changing the damn water pump since they are that far in anyway. Wife is tired of spending money on it already, and I'm getting tired of not being able to drive it. Cutting into valuable camping time! On top of that, this truck is to take us to Disney this year, so we really just need the damn thing to run right.

The truck went in for 'open heart' really due to this same reason. I mean... Head gaskets were toast for sure before all the work, but my primary complaint was how warm the truck was running. I, apparently mistakenly, thought the truck was running hot simply due to the toasted head gaskets.

 

Headed back to RCD right now to have them take a look. Everyone please cross your fingers for us!

 

Don't know when you'll read this or if it will help... But I went back to the very beginning of your thread here and something stuck out: You disconnected the heater hose and got about a gallon of water out before it stopped. And you did it twice (after filling the degas again), but the flow was strong.

Sorry I didn't think this through before, but I think this points to a clogged radiator. Your external temps you shot with the IR gun don't have that much of a drop, and your should get a lot more than a gallon (I think) before running dry.

What do the rest of you think?

 

How about when you rev up watch hoses as you increase speed?

 

I'm still not with you on the lower hose being the issue, but if he were to rev it and see it suck in some, I'm even more thinking restricted radiator...

 

The water pump if it is known to be good can have so much suction that it could suck the hose and close it causing no water to flow? This may not be your problom but it has happend to me. How is the thermostat? Check belts for propor tension, could be slipping.

 

I just had a thought, maybe the anti freeze to water ratio is too high and not allowing it to transfer cooling.... just a thought

 

I have a basic question, what were all the symptoms and what lead you to replace head gaskets? There are some basic steps to take to conclude and start replacing parts that may not be at fault to begin with.

 

Dan,
Not just our trucks (and it many not apply to them) but many vehicles have a spring in the lower hose to support it and keep it from collapsing at higher RPM's. if it corrodes and fails the hose can collapse enough to restrict coolant flow and cause engine overheating even on a cooling system in otherwise good shape.

 

Unfortunately our trucks don't have a spring in the lower hose. I talked to an army engineer about the govt's 6.0's a few years back. They did a study on the cooling systems of these trucks and found the lower hoses collapsed quite regularly. I found that very interesting and also found a spring for my lower hose. I've never seen it be an issue anywhere else with a 6.0 though......

 

So you put a spring in the lower hose? Cool. Of course I know overheating can be a problem on our trucks but mine has always seemed to run a bit too cool. Even now with the ambient temps coming up I'm seeing 177-180* on my 30 min commute everyday and I've put 2 thermostats in it (Stant and Motorcraft), so I haven't given much thought to the hoses.

 

Hope you get good news.... Glad you got the Ex back up and running. Havent seen on the IL board for a bit.

-The Great

 

Sorry for the lack of updates folks. Working from home this week and I had a busy day today (worked from RCD actually!)

It was almost 10am before I got there. Levi got me in almost immediately. They scanned the truck and it had a stored FICM code so they started there (sorry... Did not write down the code!). Truck has always had what felt like a very slight 'miss' at warm idle as well, so they did a reprogram or whatever to a new FICM strategy. The 'miss' is gone, but truck still got hot.

By this time, it was lunch, so lost an hour there. They were checking things and really have it narrowed to either water pump not flowing enough (due to the relatively common cracked 03-04 impeller) or radiator issue, or possibly both. RCD is an hour away and they had a shop full of trucks, so I was given the option of driving the truck home and bringing it back first thing tomorrow. the plan is to pull and check the water pump and go from there. I COULD have left it, but kids were still at daycare and wife was still at work, and I didn't want to go through the fiasco of having my wife leave work early, get kids from daycare, and be at RCD to pick me up before 5pm. So, I drove home. Then finished working. Then cooked supper. Then went on a 14 mile golf cart ride around town. Then we gave the kids baths. Then I decided the yard needed mowed, so i did that and finished right around 9pm. FULL DAY! Enjoyed a few frosty beverages and hit the hay. Now I'm up because our 2 year old woke up crying. Hah!

Will reply to a few posts here quick then get back to sleeping. Need to be at RCD around 8:30am tomorrow. Will update again as I get time.

Thanks all!
Zach

 

Sorry... This thread was a conglomeration of crap!

Here is the order of how things have gone down on this adventure:

I notice that cooling fan seems to be running often (bud stupidly continue to drive it thousands of miles because I didnt know jack about the 6.0.)

Considered doing water pump since they were common, but i noticed the truck seemed to be a bit down on power as well, so I scheduled time at the dealership for some more exact diagnosis. Few days go by.

Finally get it checked out at dealership. Cooling system pressure spiked immediately upon throttle input. Failed head gaskets. Presumed the hot running was due to head gaskets. Tech indicated he thought the coolant had a diesel smell to it and guessed heads may be cracked as well. Dealership quotes me for the heads themselves, wife drops the proverbial hammer and freaks. I decide to do things right and pay the wraith later. At this point, I called RCD.

Decided on head gaskets/studs/oil cooler rebuild/EGR delete/4"turboback, SCT with RCD tunes/blue spring&banjo bolts/and all needed gaskets, fluids, and labor.

Heads were pulled. Magnafluxed. Both heads were cracked. Got two new heads as well.

Drove the truck home, noticed it still was getting hot. Emailed RCD, Levi responded FIRST thing monday and asked me to bring it back.

They did some checks. Reprogrammed FICM. Looks like water pump is next step since I never did replace it.

Truck goes in first thing tomorrow to have water pump pulled and I'm crossing my fingers that is it.



The question in the back of my head is... What came first... Chicken or the egg? Was water pump toast, and due to my ignorance, cause overheating which caused heads to crack and head gaskets to say bye bye? Will find out tomorrow I guess!

 

Thanks buddy. Will hop back on IL board tomorrow... Life is kicking my rear the past few weeks!