Well, just got told today I need and oil and egr cooler for second time in 7 years (with proper maintenance). Curious of opinions of full bulletproof diesel oil cooler relocate and egr replacement coolers. Also, I am equipment diesel mechanic by trade, how are instructions and can I install kit without lifting the cab? Thanks

 

I was new to the 6L when I bought my Ex 4 years ago. Got the scangauge2, observed my oil to coolant temp difference on hiway trips and had a local former Ford diesel mech install mine. I love it, but it does mean you do your own oil changes to ensure things get done correctly, the filter change takes practice.

The BPD installation instructions were pretty good, the a/c lines scared me, in hindsight I would have learned a lot and probably routed the hoses better, which I have since done.

 

While I am not a big fan of remote oil coolers per say but Bulletproofs stuff is very good, well built and good customer service.
No hood removal or cab necessary.

As for r&r procedures it depends on the year.
03&04 with the back intake cross bar the turbo has to be removed.
05 and up the bar was deleted and the intake can be finnesed out without removing anything else. In this case bungie cords are your friend. Holding wireing and stuff out of the way.

Oil cooler then can easyly be removed as well as the EGR cooler.

 

BPD EGR cooler is a great unit.

 

Before going withthe BPD, take a look at the IPR remote oil cooker setup. If I have to replace mine again, I'm going with the ipr setup.

Are you running a coolant a filter?

 

Are you sure the oem cooler is bad or are you going on what the tech told you? A monitor will tell you the condition of the oil cooler.

The BPD oil cooler is a bandaid fix that doesn't address the real problem and can cause additional cooling issues. A clean cooling system will not clog a stock cooler if it is maintained. The stock system working properly does a much better job of maintaining consistent oil temperature over the range of outside air temps. The BPD system has problems in extreme heat and cold requiring cold weather kits and modified fan ops.

If you are thinking of installing a BPD system yourself, then why not replace the oem cooler yourself and save a large chunk of change.

 

I physically compared the IPR and BPD EGR cooler and the IPR cooler has nicer welds and is more cleanly put together. I also have the IPR remote oil cooler and coolant filtration, I have no complaints with it. If I ever decide to put a stock cooler back in the IPR oil cooler can be easily removed.

 

I have not seen an IPR EGR cooler, but I know the reliability history of the BPD EGR coolers. It is almost 100%. To me, that is the important factor. Clean/nice or not, the welds will hold for as long as you need them to with the BPD EGR cooler.

 

This doesn't need to become a BPD vs IPR thread but here is a picture to show you what I mean:

 

Those BPD welds are a bit rougher than the one I compared my BD EGR cooler to. Mine and the BPD were identical -- main difference was price and the warranty on the BD is only 5 years whereas BPD I believe is (or was) lifetime.

I got my BD through XDP on one of their sales -- no issues in a couple years so far and I don't expect any. Either one looked waaaay better than the stocker.

I think I've read of only one BPD failing, ever, and I'd bet that's who has the most out there... YMMV

 

Not to start a arguement but since I have never seen the IPR cooler I went to their website and had a look. The main page I looked at had 3 photos different angles.

Looks to me the IPR has the sloppy welds [the bottom picture] posted.

 

What a gyp! My BPD cooler wasn't polished! Welds looked good though, nothing like the picture above.

 

Neither did mine Eric ............

 

ok, sorry it took so long to get back. I talked with the tech (he is a friend of mine, and MOST of the time given good advice). He says he pulled the egr valve and the intake was wet and sticky with green tint. I watched a youtube video from Mastertech???, and it actually looks pretty simple aside from some turbo shoehorning. My tech said replace the oil cooler because he believes the oil cooler is plugged and that caused the heat to fail the egr cooler. I had the coolant system flushed and cleaned with VC9 right around 2 years ago. I have decided not to do the oil cooler relocate, but am on the fence with a delete kit, or go in with improved egr. I have heard that mileage MAY suffer with egr delete, also heard the check engine light will stay on. I have an SCT excal 3, not sure if it can shut that code off or not. I have also heard that the aftermarket coolers last longer, but they are less efficient. Just throwing out some of what I have heard and looking for experience with the aftermarket stuff. I change my oil and preform all maintenance as scheduled and always have. Live in SC Kansas highs can get to 110* in summer lows 0* in winter. Never had any performance issues with truck, just looking for best bang for the buck. The video on youtube also said to have bus connectors? handy, as they break 90% of the time when removing them. Thanks fellas.

 

I think the bus connectors he's talking about are on the glow plugs. No need to remove them for oil/EGR cooler job. Sounds like you got some good info and are on the right track. I would consider flushing the cooling system again before tear-down. If no one has mentioned, it's a great time to change out the Failure prone STC fitting (4C3Z-9B246-F. STC fitting kit (upgraded 1 piece w/seals and a new IPR screen if I remember right, about $70 from the dealer and cheaper online). There are other parts that have been updated, turbo oil lines come to mind, but you can get to those later if necessary. Be careful with the FICM plugs also, the trucks are getting older and the locks break pretty easy. You'll hear the "click" when they unlock/lock.

Good luck!