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Any info is appreciated guys. I have a 2006 f-250 bulletproofed, stock reman injectors, reman turbo.
I recently flushed my coolant system. After flushing it I have noticed a subtle decrease in coolant from my degas bottle.
I have checked for any and all leaks (had one but found it right away). I have been told this is my head gaskets again. I have heat, truck has no loss of power, coolant does not puke unless I really really keep my foot in it for long periods of time.
What could this be? I just ordered a new degas cap, is there anything other than head gaskets that this could be? Coolant is cat elc and oil cooler is good so no chocolate milk coming from degas.
I would wait until the new degas cap has been on for a few cycles.
If it did not use coolant before, then the odds are it has nothing to do with the HG's.....don't get too worked up just yet. What do you call subtle?
If we are talking a pint or so then that is likely just the fact you are still seeing the air pockets getting worked out, that can take a little time.
If it didn't puke before the flush then it's likely the degas.
Subtle as in I am adding 1/4 gallon of my 50/50 mix probably once every 3 weeks. It maybe goes down about 1/2 inch from min line over 3-4 week period sometimes longer. Every since I have had the work done is has always over time used about the same amount of coolant as it is now. I forgot to mention that. I have just payed more attention to it since the flush. I'm just wondering if my head gaskets have been bad for a long time and I am just now noticing it? I got the work done to my truck about two years ago. I appreciate your insight and help Navistarnut.
EGR deleted? ECT normal? Heater operating normally? Best HG test method is pressure guage T'd into radiator to degas bottle hose. Once pressure builds, pull over, relieve pressure by slowly unscrewing cap, tighten back up, then drive again. If pressure builds back up over a few psi, HG are leaking.
That is pretty significant then if you don't have any leaks.
Tell us the history of the truck when work was done?
Did the bulletproofing include studs and having the heads milled/block deck checked?
The fact it's been doing this since the work was done is a red flag that the shop perhaps did not address the head/block surfaces like they should have
That is pretty significant then if you don't have any leaks.
Tell us the history of the truck when work was done?
Did the bulletproofing include studs and having the heads milled/block deck checked?
The fact it's been doing this since the work was done is a red flag that the shop perhaps did not address the head/block surfaces like they should have
Receipts?
Bought truck 2 years ago in June with 180k. Month after I had the truck it started blowing blue smoke on start up. Took it to River city Diesel in Peoria, IL for a diagnostic. They then told me it was head gaskets and injectors. Offered me the "bulletProof" package which I went with. Egr deleted, oil cooler, arp head studs, blue spring kit, etc.. I know have 212 k on the truck.
The heads checked out to be fine (what they said) and they did not have to be milled. It saved me about $2K extra. Although money really wasn't an issue at the time.
ECT and EOT are running as normal. ECT stays about 184-186 and EOT stays consistently at 192.
I guess I need to pressure test the system. Maybe I can make a trip to lowe's to get the hose and fittings today.
So, the degas cap probably is not the culprit of this then?
Like I said, truck runs fine, has full heat, etcc...I just am scratching my head. Unless I have a leak somewhere I don't know about and it's so subtle that it's not dripping on the ground.
X2 on the air pockets needing to be worked out. If you did not did not use vacuum method to refill your coolant, it takes awhile to work out all the air. Another thing to consider is what level are you filling the degas bottle. If you are filling to the line on the degas bottle, that might be too much. IIRC, Ford came out with a fix for that. They put a sticker on the degas bottle with a lower max cold fill line because people were loosing coolant if they used the original fill line. Here is a link about that: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...all-05b32.html
Bought truck 2 years ago in June with 180k. Month after I had the truck it started blowing blue smoke on start up. Took it to
River city Diesel
in Peoria, IL for a diagnostic. They then told me it was head gaskets and injectors. Offered me the "bulletProof" package which I went with. Egr deleted, oil cooler, arp head studs, blue spring kit, etc.. I know have 212 k on the truck.
The heads checked out to be fine (what they said) and they did not have to be milled. It saved me about $2K extra. Although money really wasn't an issue at the time.
ECT and EOT are running as normal. ECT stays about 184-186 and EOT stays consistently at 192.
I guess I need to pressure test the system. Maybe I can make a trip to lowe's to get the hose and fittings today.
So, the degas cap probably is not the culprit of this then?
Like I said, truck runs fine, has full heat, etcc...I just am scratching my head. Unless I have a leak somewhere I don't know about and it's so subtle that it's not dripping on the ground.
Hmmmm...........did they use Ford remans or something else.
Too early to jump to conclusions without pressure testing as the others have suggested. I would check the degas bottle over really good as well, sometimes they will develop cracks that are about impossible to see but will allow coolant to burn off with no obvious leaks.
Is the EGR delete hose leaking... It could be a really slow leak and burning the coolant off, which leaves no evidence of a drip. What delete kit did they use?
X2 on the air pockets needing to be worked out. If you did not did not use vacuum method to refill your coolant, it takes awhile to work out all the air. Another thing to consider is what level are you filling the degas bottle. If you are filling to the line on the degas bottle, that might be too much. IIRC, Ford came out with a fix for that. They put a sticker on the degas bottle with a lower max cold fill line because people were loosing coolant if they used the original fill line. Here is a link about that: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...all-05b32.html
I am filling to the min line, which I believe is the new max line.
Is the EGR delete hose leaking... It could be a really slow leak and burning the coolant off, which leaves no evidence of a drip. What delete kit did they use?
How Do I check that it is or is not leaking? They used the RCD delete kit that they manufacture.
I live in central Illinois. $2k for the heads to be machined! Just wow!
Most it should have been is ~$1k and that's a full workup on the heads. 212k miles on the original unmachined heads is a lot imo especially after it's already been cracked open. I definitely would get yourself the pressure guage hooked up to test the HG. Just over 30k miles and to have HG fail would definitely mean they didn't do it properly or used cheap gaskets. Hopefully this isn't the case! If you have been driving it this long and are still adding coolant, it isn't air pockets. Coolant is going somewhere and if there's no leaks, it's going out the tailpipe. Let us know the pressure test results. Thanks for being specific about the shop/location. I live about 2 hours east of peoria btw.
I live in central Illinois. $2k for the heads to be machined! Just wow!
Most it should have been is ~$1k and that's a full workup on the heads. 212k miles on the original unmachined heads is a lot imo especially after it's already been cracked open. I definitely would get yourself the pressure guage hooked up to test the HG. Just over 30k miles and to have HG fail would definitely mean they didn't do it properly or used cheap gaskets. Hopefully this isn't the case! If you have been driving it this long and are still adding coolant, it isn't air pockets. Coolant is going somewhere and if there's no leaks, it's going out the tailpipe. Let us know the pressure test results. Thanks for being specific about the shop/location. I live about 2 hours east of peoria btw.
You are actually pretty close to me then. I commute from Bloomington to Decatur. Thanks for the input and advice. I will update as soon as I can do the pressure test. I hope that I don't have to dump a bunch of $$ into this again.
I'm with Navastarnut (Mike) I had a similar problem. Was under the hood and the sun was just right and saw a very fine mist out of the bottom of the degass bottle. Not enough to drip on the ground and really wasn't enough to wet anything enough to show. It was a very fine crack. I'd check there.
