I have a 2006 6.0 power stroke (F250) with 150,000 miles. I am ready to do the egr delete and I am curious if it is really critical to upgrade the head studs and gaskets? The only modification I have done to the truck is I deleted the cad converter. The only issue I have had to this point was around 90,000 miles, #5 injector needed replaced. I do not use the truck performance wise at all. I do pull a 11,000 lb. camper/trailer maybe 4 times a year. The main reason I am considering not doing the studs is purely economics.

 

The head studs can wait, she will let you know when or if the time ever comes that she needs head gaskets and that is when you would do the studs.

 

I just picked mine up yesterday from the shop for a HPOP replacement. Mine has almost 130k on it, still running all stock and on original head gaskets. The shop owner said nine has "excessive pressure in the coolant system and suspects head gaskets". But he went on to say that if I haven't had any puking and no other symptoms of head gaskets, then they may last another week or another 5 years, its just hit and miss. So I am waiting until I have any other signs of weakness. The important thing is to put gauges on it, get familiar with what to watch for, and always monitor what is going on

 

Thanks. What exactly do you mean by puking, is that like actually seeing a leak?

 

yep--puking is when the coolant is venting through the degas bottle cap. Could be caused by bad egr cooler, head gaskets, overfill, or bad cap. On the delete I'm waiting on mine to arrive as we speak. One thing to consider there are many many delete's out there and I would say don't get the cheapest you can find--but that's just me. I'm going with the IPR delete and up pipe which this delete is nice design because it does away with the j tube and hose (which can leak) just some thoughts.

oh--I'm still on factory tty bolts as well. Don't plan on doing studs as said above until the time comes. Although it may be sooner than later since I've had a bit of an issue this past week

 

Like kdavid said, it looks like coolant forced its way out around the cap, and because of the pressure it sprays pretty well all around the area. Step 1 is always to verify the correct fluid level and to replace the cap, as they get older they don't hold back the correct pressure as well and being even a little over-full can cause some venting.

Here's an average case. Notice how the new level sticker has been added to show the old min as the new max, and that coolant is at a roughly correct level that shouldn't induce puking simply by being over full: