high coolant psi

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Dec 31, 2014 | 02:25 PM

#16

fordf150guy

Thread Starter

Tuned

Joined: Jun 2006

Posts: 420

Likes: 3

thanks guys, yes egr deleted, and to me also doesn't seem like head gaskets (wanted to see what the pro's thought). is there anything i can monitor in regards to the cooling system then? my ect stays steady at 188 and i did notice that my fan does change rpm's on torque pro although i'm not sure what normal looks like compared to busted. i'll try driving around without AC on, and is there anyway i can lock the fan clutch with AE to see if that changes anything? what do you guys think about it holding 3-5psi overnight? again, is that normal or is it magnifying the problem? if i let that pressure out then i don't get quite as high on the pressure gauge until it builds back up to holding 3-5 overnight. the needle does seem to bounce (not sure if the cap is venting steam...again zero signs of puking) but i just have a 0-15psi gauge right now but do have a 0-30 to install soon when time permits. thanks for sticking with me threw this one! happy new year!

Apr 29, 2015 | 08:16 PM

#17

dredmond

Mountain Pass

Joined: Sep 2005

Posts: 120

Likes: 2

From: Alabama

Any update, I am now having very similar problems?

Apr 29, 2015 | 09:25 PM

#18

fordf150guy

Thread Starter

Tuned

Joined: Jun 2006

Posts: 420

Likes: 3

update is, my pressure seems to build quicker even when cold. still not showing any signs of puking but I'm fairly certain that my cap is venting off but just not pulling any coolant out with it. I did change my fan clutch and code has not come back however nothing changed as far as pressure is concerned. I've ordered everything to do the gaskets and studs and the parts are sitting in the garage. I'm planning on tackling it at the end of may (doing it outside so weather is a factor), and as it stands I just drive the truck when I have to but for the most part I'm stealing the Mrs car or I'm on my motorcycle to keep excess mileage off the truck until i can dig into it.

Apr 30, 2015 | 01:29 PM

#19

dredmond

Mountain Pass

Joined: Sep 2005

Posts: 120

Likes: 2

From: Alabama

Thought I may be losing coolant and decided to put in a pressure gauge.

Filled it a bit too high afterwards and kept seeing 15-16psi normal driving (4-5psi after sitting overnight), no puking. While hot, the level was at the top reservoir bottle mark instead of the bottom.

Took coolant level down (while cold) and was still seeing pressure at 14-15# with normal temps/driving.

On the way home last night while up to temp, I bled air out of the system and went on my way. Pressure remained 4-5#, maybe 6# after hammering it several times. This morning it was only 1-2# cold, ran 8-9# at temp, maybe 10# hammering it on the way to work.

Cold, you can barely see coolant in the bottom of the tank - hot at the bottom line. Keeping an eye on it, guess I'm just paranoid about HG & studs - 177K on the clock, Innovative Tow tune, regularly tow 10K# car hauler.

Jun 18, 2015 | 11:23 PM

#20

fordf150guy

Thread Starter

Tuned

Joined: Jun 2006

Posts: 420

Likes: 3

Well just to close this thread (will update if anything changes) it seems that new head gaskets/studs did the trick! Near the end there I was seeing the psi in the cooling system rise quicker and if after a week or so of driving I could see a bit of dried coolant collecting around the brim of the degas bottle where the cap covers. I still wasn't seeing any signs of coolant running down the outside of the bottle but I do think that I caught this in the early stages. I haven't taken it on any serious drives yet but I can report that that my max coolant psi that Ive seen is 6 where before on the same drive the poor little needle would have been jumping around at 16 long before. Thanks to all for the help and knowledge along the way. Let's hope that I don't get to see the tops of my Pistons anytime soon!

Jun 19, 2015 | 06:02 AM

#21

Reverend Jim

Mountain Pass

Joined: Aug 2010

Posts: 198

Likes: 49

From: NJ

Glad you got it fixed. I have the same situation now with my truck. Pulling the heads tomorrow to have them checked, then studding it. (Thanks for the final update, too. Many threads on here disappear into a black hole, never to be heard from again).

Jun 20, 2015 | 10:52 PM

#22

dredmond

Mountain Pass

Joined: Sep 2005

Posts: 120

Likes: 2

From: Alabama

Thanks also for the reply, ordered my FoMoCo heads, studs, oil cooler, glow plugs, gp harness, nipple cups, etc. yesterday.

Pulling the 10K tag a couple weeks ago I bled the coolant pressure off just before a 2 mile grade and by the top I was at 16# again maintaining 20psi+ boost on the way up.

Jul 26, 2015 | 11:01 AM

#23

dredmond

Mountain Pass

Joined: Sep 2005

Posts: 120

Likes: 2

From: Alabama

With new gaskets & ARP studs, now only building 6psi in the cooling system at temp when I was hitting 16-17psi while towing before.

Thanks for the great information on this forum!

By the way, one of the Reman Ford heads was warped. Thought we would check them before installation and glad we did. On a machinists surface plate the thing was twisted .015"! Also the gaskets were packed under the heads and damaged in shipping. Decided to rework my old heads after having them checked - surfacing, ck guides, new seals, new inj. cups and doing a valve job.

Also put new seals and nipple cups in the HP oil rail, oil cooler, all new hoses, belt, glow plugs & harnesses, and changed to Rotella ELC.

Hopefully good for another 180K...