I have found a Ford Powerstroke shop here in S. Florida and will bring the truck there first of the week.
In the meantime and please keep in mind that I am a novice to say the least but let me throw this out to you all.. Over the last few days I have had several opinions from a rusty water pump, bad transmission cooler, EGR, Heater Core etc. Also keep in mind the only time this truck was ever driven in the cold was back 8 years ago and we never go on the interstate except for trips like to last one to Memphis and then over the KY and back.

a few months ago we noticed the driving on the interstate the A/c would get very cold even when you raised the temp, I never really gave it much thought as down here is very hot and i drive maybe 3-4 miles each way around town. Until this morning, I ran the car up to temperature and once again the A/C just got very cold, When I adjusted the control to heat and raised the temp up as far as it would go the heat never came on just cold air.. So what I'm asking it does appear there is an issue with the heater core and would this problem effect my coolant problem??? Many Thanks.

 

I would get a pressure gauge "teed" into one of the vent lines to the degas bottle. I think that you need to see if you are getting some combustion gasses into the coolant system.

Have you seen any "puking" of coolant out of the degas bottle (from the cap)?

 

Moving fast forward from my last post. I bought the truck to a shop here last Friday, they flushed the coolant system and did drain the passenger side block plug and radiator. They refilled with the recommended Rotorcraft gold coolant. They then let it run for about an hour , They plunged in their computer and took it for a ride, when they returned the coolant was red looking and the computer said coolant temp 193 and the oil cooler 223. They said the oil cooler and EGR and radiator needs to be replaced.

To the point was not happy with them and brought it to a Ford Dealership 20 miles from here. The service advisor owns a 6.0 and was very familiar with my issues, They want me to bring it on Wednesday and do a complete testing including compression test as he thinks beside what we know that oil cooler and egr will need replacing he wants to be sure we have it right as the head gasket could be bad as well. so I think there is light at the end of the tunnel and will not more latter in the week. any opinions on what we know so far with the oil cooler temp etc. Thanks

 

Those temperatures do warrant an oil cooler replacement.
You want the temperatures to be less than 15 degrees apart.
Sometimes the EGR valve can just be cleaned with good results.
Do you have any smoke while driving?
park the truck nose down overnight, then pull the EGR valve and look for coolant in the intake.
If it is wet with coolant then you have a ruptured EGR cooler.

 

No there is no smoke while driving, The truck is being brought to the dealership Wednesday morning and let's hope they get to the bottom of the problem once in for all.

 

Ok, I brought the truck in today instead of tomorrow. Received a call this afternoon from service manager. Here is what was said to me. The engine block is rusted, we took samples from your coolant and the rust sediment settles at the bottom of sample containers. No matter what we replace the rust will always be there. The only option is to replace the block. They said they could replace the complete engine minus the turbo, would use mine, includes new radiator and all new hoses as well, its a complete engine from Ford 3 yr warranty 16,700 installed including taxes. would appreciate any comments as well as price offered. Many Thanks

 

I am bumping this for you hoping that some techs can jump in and comment on your situation. I am surprised that they can tell that you need a new engine from coolant samples.

I know that the other shop flushed your system 4 times, but did they use chemicals all 4 times? Did this dealership do any flushing or did they remove the water pump?

Hopefully you can get some expert advice soon!

 

no they did not remove water pump or flush, prior flushing did not use chemical. or know is the oil cooler temp was/is 223 compared to coolant temp 193, that's more than the 15 degrees people say..

 

No doubt your oil cooler is plugged, but that is certainly not your main issue right now!

The main issue is that apparently the shop is saying the block is so rusted that it has to be replaced. That is what I hope to have comments on from the Techs/experienced-crowd that may have seen this situation before.

Just to "paste in" part of several emails from you (hope you don't mind):

"He took a sample from the radiator and coolant tank. Remember the photo I sent you of the coolant. Remember that I was from driving around here 2-3 miles, the trip to the shop was 20 and on the the Interstate where I had my foot into it.. After taking a sample, EXACT words were the looks like V8 Juice. He let the samples sit for 30 minutes and did not detect any oil or diesel in the sample. He is convinced the truck was never serviced right as to the coolant and suspects that over the years they just added water and that ‘s why there is so much rust... "

"Second up, they clarified, it looks like thick red coming out of block, asked me if anyone used a radiator sealer of some sought, in ten they used a can of 1.0 RF-12P in the coolant as on the receipt, what ever that is."

So the background is that the coolant system was THICK with rust! How long it has been this way is unknown. In addition, after the flushing, the engine appears to run with normal coolant temperatures, but (as said before), the oil cooler is plugged.

Unfortunately, since you had all the past routine maintenance done for you at a shop, you can't provide the detailed answers to questions on its history (like - when did the rust first begin to be visible, how long has it run this way, what coolant was used, did anyone add "stop leak", etc).

From what I read, one shop (an "indy shop") used chemical flushing (1 can of RF-12P) and then extensively flushed the system with water .......................... and there is still rust present (discolored coolant). You felt that they were no making much headway, so you took it to a Ford dealership, where it is now. They have looked at it, but have not flushed it, nor have they got into the engine.

http://www.goldeagle.com/product/gol...em-rapid-flush

So, the question to the Techs - is it reasonable for a shop to condemn the engine without some "tear-down"? Wouldn't it be helpful to at least pull the water pump and inspect it and the front cover? Maybe some Borescope inspections?

Please correct me if I have anything wrong in the "recap", and lets see what responses we get!!

 

i am off to the dealership shortly and will tell them i need some time to decide as they seem to be a little pushy on replacing the engine, I still find it strange not even being a mechanic how they can say i need a new engine just looking at the coolant ,there are no flakes of rust in it, just that it has turned dark brown shortly after the flush and new motor craft ford coolant was added.

 

Hope you find the problem. I doubt you need a motor. It runs fine other wise. But you for sure need a new oil cooler and egr cooler. I always change them together. For it to be that rusty you must of run water in there for a long time. Not knowing.

 

The truck was service by the same local oil change place since new every 3000 miles. Always asked them to check fluids under the hood. It is very possible that they used wrong coolant when adding coolant or when they did a radiator flush . Also the truck is parked 100FT from the Ocean in an open garage if that contributed as well . Just saying these are the facts. this morning i went back to the dealership this moring the diesel mechanic showed me the coolant reservoir had flakes of rust in it. I asked about changing out the radiator, erg, oil cooler water pump new hoses and adding a bypass coolant filter. He replied that yes you can do that, but the amount of rust the filter would need to be changed every week or two. so there you go all the facts.

 

This is after a complete flush last Friday to today with 60 local miles on it.

 

That is a lot of rust for sure. I definitely would have a filter on it. They are not that expensive and can be re-used if you actually need a new engine.

 

Tell ya what i would do if it was my truck,Delete the EGR cooler,go BD air to oil external cooler and flush the snot out of it with VC 9 and run CAT ELC coolant and your still ahead of the game with putting in a new mill. If you don't want to spend the money, sell it,I want another Excursion