i am planning to do some work on the top end. oil cooler, bulletproof egr cooler(or deleat), dummy plugs and stand pipes, stc fitting. I was thinking about going ahead and doing head gaskets and studs. my question is how do you know what size dowel pins? 18mm or 20mm?

any other things you think I should take care of.

my truck now has 225K miles on her and has developed a long crank and also smokes white sometimes. im thinking cooant from egr cooler leaking back into exhaust. only smokes when coolant temp is 175* to 185* and only when I stop at a light after sitting there a few seconds then smokes for 10 to 15 seconds then stops. so im thinking coolant is going back down the exhaust because the egr valve is always commanded closed by the tune (srl)

truck is a 2006 F-350 SRW

 

Depends on the build date, some where in the middle of january of 2006 they changed to 20mm before that was 18mm..

 

I think my build date is in January 06 I need to find the date. where is the build date on the engine. I cant remember?

 

I think I found mine one the inside of the drivers side door, the reason I know this is because I was sent the wrong dowel pins. Theys said if it's a 2006 then it needs 20mm, I got them and wrong!! mine was made like 2 weeks before they switched to 20mm, so I sent them back and got the 18mms..

 

I was under the impression that the early built 6.0 ( 2003-2004.5 ) used the 18mm dowells. And that the (2004.5 - 2007 ) used the 20mm dowells. I know that my May/2004 build date used the 18 mm.

 

Changes are being made to the 6.0L diesel cylinder head, head gasket, crankcase block, rocker
arm carrier and injector hold down clamps for the 2006 Super Duty and Econoline Program. The
action is taking place to facilitate/communize the International manufacturing process for the
upcoming 6.4L program. The 2006 6.0L used in Ford vehicle after January 11, 2006 are being
referred to as "Commonization Engines".
Part number details are provide on a separate excel spreadsheet.
Cylinder Head:
New cylinder head
1. Carrier boss bolt holes M10 x 1.5
2. Injector clamp bolt holes (relocated)
The new cylinder heads have several casting changes including a slight injector clamp bolt hole
relocation and the carrier boss bolt hole size and location changes . New
cylinder heads also use 32 mm cup plugs replacing the old 28 mm cup plugs.
The cylinder head gasket is also new to accommodate the new 20mm cylinder head location
dowels. Pre commonization head use 18mm dowels
Note: At this time the new cylinder head assembly is not interchangeable with the previously level
head.
Previous Level Cylinder Head
1. Carrier boss bolt holes M8 x 1.5
2. Injector clamp bolt holes (original locations)
Note: The previous level cylinder head assembly is not interchangeable with the new head.
Block Assembly:
New Block Assembly
The new crankcase (block) uses two 20mm cylinder head locating dowels per head.
The old crankcase (block) uses two 18mm cylinder head locating dowels per head.
Note: The new and old block assembly is not interchangeable. This affects replacement of all 6009
short blocks and the 6010 bare blocks.
Rocker Arm Carrier:
New Rocker Arm Carrier
Casting changes to the rocker carrier provide increased clearance for new injector hold down
clamps The new carrier also uses only 2 bolts and locating dowels to attach the carrier
to the head.
The new rocker carrier is serviced in a Rocker Arm Carrier Kit which includes the rocker carrier
cover, gasket and necessary dowels.
Note: The new and old rocker arm carrier kits are not interchangeable.
– Previous Level Rocker Arm Carrier Kit
The old rocker arm carrier uses 4 attaching bolts to hold the carrier to the old cylinder head
The previous rocker arm carrier is also serviced in a kit which includes the rocker carrier cover,
gasket and necessary dowels.
Note: The previous level rocker arm kit is not interchangeable with the new kit and will remain
available for service.
Injector Hold Down Clamp:
New Injector Hold Down Clamp Assembly
The tail end of the new injector hold down clamp is being reduced to avoid interference with the
rocker arm carrier wall. Injector hold down clamp bolt torque will increase from 24 lbf·ft to 25.8 lbf·ft
and bolt head size will increase from T40 to T45.
Note: The new and old injector hold down clamps are not in interchangeable.
– Previous Level Injector Hold Down Clamp Assembly
Note: The new and old injector hold down clamps are not in interchangeable. The old injector hold
down clamp will remain available for service.

A new service cylinder head kit that will work on the previously engine block will be released for
service in the near future. The new kit will include stepped dowels (20mm/18mm), the new cylinder
head (with the new carrier assembly), a cylinder head gasket kit, early level standpipe and an
instruction sheet.
The head will be available for dealer to purchase when the existing supply of earlier level new
heads are no longer available.

 

Also from TSB 07-10-4

CYLINDER HEAD IDENTIFICATION
A pre-commonized engine has an engine serial number from 6,000,000 to 6,723,721 (Indianapolis built engines have 7 digits beginning with 6) or 1 to 299,092 (Huntsville engines). The cylinder head, head gasket, head dowels, injector hold down clamps, rocker arm carrier, and rocker arm carrier mounting bolts differ between the “pre-commonized” engine and the commonized engine.
The commonized engine head dowels are 20 mm straight dowels. Previously released service kits allowed the use of a commonized head on a pre-commonized engine. If a pre-commonized engine has a commonized head installed, the head dowels will be 18 mm to 20 mm step dowels. You must take additional steps to determine the correct head kit to use for repair.

 

rusty you never fail to impress me with your knowledge.

where can I find my build date?

 

The engine build date in on a label next to (or on) the FICM. Driver's side top rear side of the engine.

Lou Braun

 

IIRC the engine build date is on a yellow sticker on the FICM (if you still have the original). And on a sticker on the back of the driver side cylinder head/block area (correction: it's engraved on the block-not a sticker). Both damn inconvenient to get to but FICM is easier.

For the truck build date you can try this in your browser address bar:
http://fordlabels.webview.biz/webviewhybrid/WindowSticker.aspx?vin="Your VIN without quotation marks"

Or this:
https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/vin-decoder/

I have used them both before but neither worked for me just now. I maybe putting my VIN in incorrectly.

Or you can call a Ford dealership parts man with the vin and he can tell you.

 

The truck build date is on the VIN tag in the drivers side door opening.

 

Mine has month and year on the door sticker but no "day" info.

 

The only way to get the specific day is have a dealer look. January 06 trucks are a toss up on dowel size by VIN tag.

 

my tag on the drivers door say January 2006 and the yellow tag on my FICM is scratched up from where I sent to ed in past.

 

An easier, and much simpler way of identifying whether your engine is equipped with the 20mm versus 18mm dowels, are as follows:

Look at your FICM mounting. Do you have the style that uses four "UFO shaped" nuts securing it to a bracket, or do you have another bracket that ties into the air intake? If you have the four "UFO" nuts, you have the 20mm dowel engine.

Look at your engine oil dipstick. Is it the yellow round handle style, or the brittle black "t handle" style? If it is the yellow round handle style, you have the 20mm dowel engine.

Hope this helps.