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So off to South Carolina I went. Part of the route being 81 south through PA and VA. Many of you may be familiar with the grades on that route.

So, 90ish degrees out, towing an estimated 14.5k fifth wheel. I did not drop the transmission into "3" on the column. There were several incidents where coolant temp spiked as high as 243. My Edge coolant temp alarm is set to 230. Oil temp did not get more that 230 and that temp occurred once at the crest of a hill when some fool changed lanes, caused the group of trucks I was with to brake. I ended up doing 20 mph with a hot truck. The over heat warning came up on the dash, challenged the degas cap and I vented. I could hear and eventually smell the coolant.

The rest of the trip saw elevated Temps on hills and I was actively keeping engine revolutions up to help the fan do its job. The fan stepped up consistently at 218 a regularly knocked Temps down, stepping down at 216 ECT.

I needed to add a quart of coolant during a stop and we finished our trip arriving in SC.

On the way home I took 95 through SC and NC. 67 degrees outside for most of the trip, highest temp was 73 in PA.

A half dozen times, on level highway, doing about 70, coolant temp would spike high, ECT 224 - 228. Fan would step up and knock it down. Running Temps hovered around 204 - 208 ECT, EOT 210 - 214.

So after 2316 miles I am pretty certain I do not have a cooler issue.

It seems to me I have a circulation issue. It would almost SEEM that randomly (most apparent on the way back on the flats) circulation of coolant stopped.

My cousins husband owns a auto repair shop in Carlisle PA. We stayed overnight with them, and I talked to Scott about what was happening.

He is not a 6.0 tech. He has made some repairs to them, sold a few, but pulled no punches about his knowledge of them. But, what seemed to make sense to him was a water pump (157k miles on it) or possibly something as simple as the belt needing to be changed (50k or so on it).

After leaving Carlisle, I encountered a few hills, and when ECT got to 224, I would slip the truck into 3rd and rpms would go to about 3k and bleed coolant temp off much much faster than I would see at say 2.2K - 2.7K rpm.

I would like to put this one to bed. I am certain I do not have head gasket, EGR cooler, or Oil cooler issues. It REALLY seems that every now and again, the water pump impeller would stop for a short period of time.

Is that possible?

 

Sorry for the long post. But want to make sure I got all the particulars into the post.

So off to South Carolina I went. Part of the route being 81 south through PA and VA. Many of you may be familiar with the grades on that route.

So, 90ish degrees out, towing an estimated 14.5k fifth wheel. I did not drop the transmission into "3" on the column. There were several incidents where coolant temp spiked as high as 243. My Edge coolant temp alarm is set to 230. Oil temp did not get more that 230 and that temp occurred once at the crest of a hill when some fool changed lanes, caused the group of trucks I was with to brake. I ended up doing 20 mph with a hot truck. The over heat warning came up on the dash, challenged the degas cap and I vented. I could hear and eventually smell the coolant.

The rest of the trip saw elevated Temps on hills and I was actively keeping engine revolutions up to help the fan do its job. The fan stepped up consistently at 218 a regularly knocked Temps down, stepping down at 216 ECT.

I needed to add a quart of coolant during a stop and we finished our trip arriving in SC.

On the way home I took 95 through SC and NC. 67 degrees outside for most of the trip, highest temp was 73 in PA.

A half dozen times, on level highway, doing about 70, coolant temp would spike high, ECT 224 - 228. Fan would step up and knock it down. Running Temps hovered around 204 - 208 ECT, EOT 210 - 214.

So after 2316 miles I am pretty certain I do not have a cooler issue.

It seems to me I have a circulation issue. It would almost SEEM that randomly (most apparent on the way back on the flats) circulation of coolant stopped.

My cousins husband owns a auto repair shop in Carlisle PA. We stayed overnight with them, and I talked to Scott about what was happening.

He is not a 6.0 tech. He has made some repairs to them, sold a few, but pulled no punches about his knowledge of them. But, what seemed to make sense to him was a water pump (157k miles on it) or possibly something as simple as the belt needing to be changed (50k or so on it).

After leaving Carlisle, I encountered a few hills, and when ECT got to 224, I would slip the truck into 3rd and rpms would go to about 3k and bleed coolant temp off much much faster than I would see at say 2.2K - 2.7K rpm.

I would like to put this one to bed. I am certain I do not have head gasket, EGR cooler, or Oil cooler issues. It REALLY seems that every now and again, the water pump impeller would stop for a short period of time.

Is that even possible? I have no clue.

By the way, I can run this thing 3 ways to sunday, not towing and everything is perfect.

 

water pump is cheap, not extremely hard to do and provides a good bit of insurance (in the mind) that your system is operating correctly. Just did one myself recently, $120, belt around $20 and a t-stat just to be sure. You could flush with water only and replace with EC-1 rated coolant and be around $200 for the complete job.

Knowing it's done right and that none of those items should be the cause for a long period of time. The ECT/EOT temps on flat ground and that was pulling... those look good. I've driven 81 north to south and back, they are some pretty good hills.

Check the tensioner as well, my bet would be a slipping belt, especially if it was wet from coolant.

 

My vote goes to heads lifting.

 

put a gauge to check pressure on the degas return line to see if it's building pressure pretty fast. If it's building above 16psi, the degas cap should vent it making the truck puke coolant from the cap.

I had a bad pump and could see coolant dripping and smell coolant. Belt was slipping making my alternator charge less than normal, it was wet as was the underside of the hood making it easy to spot.

If your loosing coolant and its not coming from the cap. You have an EGR delete and it's not dripping off the pump.... I'd put a gauge on the line. Head gaskets are not cheap, $50 for a gauge and a t-fitting is a cheap check.

 

Heads lifting with studs?

 

What gaskets were used?
And yes its possible.
Look for a spike in temp, that follows a spike in pressure.

 

OEM, Motocraft.

 

even with studs, the head gaskets can go, especially if the heads weren't done right.

 

After 4 seasons of towing with no indication until this, it's a tough pill to swallow for me. And something that I am only seeing while towing. I have one trip left for this season.

If it is heads, I am not dropping anymore money into it, and frankly will be disgusted. A Senior Ford Diesel tech did the work. If I can't get it fixed right by the people who are trained to repair them, who work on these regularly, that I do not want the truck. Period.

 

I'd put a gauge on it to be sure. You could have the system pressurized as well to confirm before spending a dime on it for a repair your not sure of.
where in NH are you?

 

I'll Guage it, but I am not fixing it.

 

Exeter area.

 

Can you active commad pids?