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John – if you can add this to the Tech Folder that would be great.
Disclaimer – I do not endorse any parts, tools, etc. This is what I used and how I did it. Only you can be your own guide on ability and judgment. I hope this will give you more confidence in proceeding, but proceed at your own risk. My truck is a 2011. There may be some differences in 2015+ model years - they use different gaskets at least.
Please see the end of the post for additional resources/threads.
Below is a list of tools and supplies that I feel are required for the job:
Code reader and way to clear codes. I use a ScanGauge.
New EGR core and gasket kits (may be separate)
I used the Dorman kit:
11-15 Ford 6.7L DIESEL DORMAN EGR COOLER KIT. #14272539919 - this is both the core and install kit
The OEM kits are:
Core - BC3Z-9V425-A
Gasket/install kit - BC3Z-9P455-B
Shop air – 20gal or better air compressor. A small pancake style will not work very well and even a 20gal will have to work to keep up with drawing vacuum.
Impact wrench – doesn't need to be very heavy, 3/8 or 1/2” with adapter
Air ratchet, 3/8”
Drill or electric 1/4” driver with 5/16” driver, or adapter to 1/4” or 3/8” drive with 5/16” socket
Impact grade standard socket – 3/8” drive – I used a 5/16” for most of the bolts under the hood
SAE size sockets were used, specifically 5/16", as it fits tighter than any metric I had = less prone to rounding off.
Standard grade/chrome sockets are OK here – deep well 7/64”, 5/16”, 10mm, and 13mm. I used mostly 1/4” drive deep wells and was OK.
Extensions – you want 18” or so combined – just make sure the extensions hold together well
Universal joints, 3/8” and 1/2”, impact grade
9/16” hex bit, 1/2” drive – engine block drain plug if you have it, otherwise a wrench to take the block heater out
5/16” combination wrench – ratcheting even better
Torque wrench capable of 106 in-lbs (not ft-lbs)
Permanent marker
Penetrating oil
Large pair of Vice Grips or other locking pliers
1/2” drive 21mm socket for lug nuts
1/2" drive 18mm and 13mm deep well impact sockets for bumper bolts
1/2” drive breaker bar
Shop table to lay tools and parts on
Mat, rug, etc to lay on top of radiators/grille to kneel on
Ladder, steps, platform to stand on
Oil – to lubricate O-rings
Drain pans – I used a large cat box pan from Walmart – works OK, but would be better if it was bigger.
Shop towels – paper towels may work, just know they will fall apart much easier and you'll likely go through a lot more.
Drop cloth or tarp as a ground cover if desired – that extends beyond the track width of the front tires and covers from in front of the front bumper to half way down the front doors
Floor jack and wood blocks
AirLift 550000 – vacuum tool for cooling system
5gal buckets with lids – at least 3
A bag of some type of Oil Dry/absorbent litter
2x pipes about 1.25” outside diameter and 12-18” long (I used 1” PVC)
Large pair of channel-locks (3” jaw opening or better – pipe wrench will not work, has to have levered jaws)
A couple sizes of flat head screw drivers
Pick for O-rings
Clothes you don't mind getting coolant all over
Pry bar
Small block of wood and a regular framing weight hammer or a small size dead-blow hammer
Funnels
Digital Camera/phone camera
3/8” Inside Diameter clear tubing – 3ft or so – and a small hose clamp (if you can get a box of thumb-screw hose clamps at Harbor Freight these work the best – no tool required)
Enough lighting – inside the hood and around – flashlight will help, but if you can get a hook lamp or other work light that would be fantastic.\n
Garage to work in – even if it is just the front of the truck
Second means of transportation in case you have to make a run while the truck is out of service
A full weekend (two days). Including my screw-ups, two runs out for tools I needed, food breaks, and documentation/research breaks this took me 3 days. If you read this guide and heed the necessary tools/materials list this should save you all the wasted time.
A few grocery size plastic bags – one or two for trash and another for placing over the starter to shield from draining coolant.
Magnetic parts/tool trays are really nice, though a lot of the bolts are not magnetic.
Telescoping magnetic wand – in case you loose a socket etc down in the engine compartment
If you are doing a full coolant flush as well make sure you have enough distilled water (not regular drinking water or tap water - distilled). You will need 8-9 gallons each flush. Then when you re-fill the coolant you need enough to get the mix what you want. If you are doing a 50/50 mix this is roughly 4-5 gallons.
Assortment of tools
Deep well sockets and 1/4" drive details
9/16" hex drive and impact grade universal joints
21mm, 18mm, and 13mm impact sockets + extension
Drain hose with thumb screw hose clamp, box of thumb screw hose clamps, AirLift, jack, and drain pan + funnel
Sample bucket (Home Depot), stand light, and oil absorbant litter.
1" PVC pipes and how they are inserted in to the EGR cooler core for disassembly from the body
First rule – Spray all manifold bolts with good quality Penetrating Oil a week before you start. Re-apply Penetrating Oil daily.
Second rule – Before draining coolant ensure that:
A. You have all your tools and materials ready to go.
B. You can break all manifold bolts loose – there are 8 of them. The hot side is the longer of the two pipes going to the EGR cooler. The bolts down inside on the bottom of the pipe may be difficult to get to and may be the most “stuck” of all the bolts. Ensure these are broken free before proceeding.
Third rule – If you have an issue with manifold bolts breaking loose and end up rounding the heads off get a quality impact-grade bolt/nut extractor for a 5/16” or 8mm hex. I used an Irwin set for a 1/4” hex impact driver from Lowes. There are many different types of extractors – just make sure it is high quality and can take the torque/abuse you might put on it to get a hard stuck bolt loose.
Irwin extractor bits
Fourth rule – if you are doing a full cooling system flush let the truck sit for 6 hours after driving any length of time as the coolant can be very hot and make the job very dangerous and painful.
Hopefully this guide will save you a lot of time and avoid some of the nuances I ran in to in my project. My method below is to do a full coolant system (both primary and secondary) flush at the same time. If your coolant is in good shape you can skip the parts about draining coolant from anything other than the radiator pet*****. The EGR cooler sits up high, so the coolant down low won't drain when you unhook the cooler assembly.
To start – take pictures of the EGR cooler assembly from the top of the engine compartment far enough away that you can identify the plumbing and how it is routed. Note there is a very small line near the EGR valve. You also want to note how the connectors hook up.
Ensure that the manifold bolts (all 8 of them) are broken free. See Second Rule above. If you have problems see Third Rule above. If you have problems and avoided the First Rule then start at the beginning and wait another week.
Lay your ground cover/tarp/drop cloth down where you are going to work. Drive the truck over it so the area from the front bumper back to the mid-point of the front doors is over the tarp.Remove the manifold pipes with the 8 bolts.
Remove the air intake assembly. Open the air filter on the passenger side, then there is a hose clamp on the intake manifold. Remove the sensor plug as well. There is one bolt holding the protruding bottle down. Once it is free set it down out of the way.
Once you are to this point drop the bumper. Unplug the fog light harness. There are 8 bolts holding the bumper in. The 4 bolts in the front have backing plates with the nuts on them. The bumper will rest on the tow hooks with no bolts in, it tips out quite a bit but will sit there. The side bolts should come off first then do the front ones. Set the bumper out of the way.
Locate the pet***** for the primary (drivers side) cooling circuit and the secondary (passenger side) cooling circuit.Attach your 3/8” ID tubing with hose clamp to the primary cooling circuit petcock, put the loose end of the hose in a container/bucket, and twist the petcock open with vice grips. Do not loosen this too far or the valve will pop out and spray coolant all over the place. Open it enough that you get more than a trickle of coolant flowing out. Let it drain out. You should get close to 5 gallons out of this.
Once the primary cooling circuit is drained from the petcock do the same for the secondary side. You should only get a couple gallons or so from this one.
From this point there are a couple more places to drain from. Locate the large coolant hose underneath the radiators. There is a disconnect point in the middle. It operates with a wire latch. Pop the latch open with a flat head screwdriver (it shouldn't come off, just open it about 3/4” off the hose until it stops). Place your drain pan underneath the joint in the hose. You may also use a bucket inside the pan as you will get about a gallon of coolant out of here. Note that this will make a huge mess, there's no way around it.Use your screwdriver sideways to pry apart the two halves of the hose at the joint. If you have never done this before it may take a bit to loosen it – pry around the joint in a couple places. You may notice coolant dripping once it is “loose”. When the halves let go coolant will gush out of both sides of the hose so be prepared. Angle the hose halves a bit to get the last dribbles out of each side. Re-attach your hose at the joint when the coolant is all out. You may notice some dripping for a while if you leave the halves disconnected. As long as it isn't flowing you're good to re-connect. Use your large pair of channel-locks as a clamp to squeeze the joint back together. Then close the wire lock to retain.
Large coolant hose under radiators
The transmission cooler sits on the bottom passenger side of the engine compartment, inside the frame rail. There are 4 hoses attached to it. The two with the spring clamps are the coolant hoses. Looking at the cooler from the drivers side the top left hose should be the lowest point in the secondary cooling circuit. Place your drain pan under the trans cooler. Use your Vice Grips or other locking pliers and open up the spring clamp, slide/rotate the clamp down to the bend in the hose. Use a flat blade screw driver to pry the hose from the nipple. This may take a lot of work. Angle the blade of the screw driver to grab the inside of the hose and stretch it a bit. Do this several places around the hose. You should start to see it free itself from the nipple. If yours is like mine was – the hose will pop off quickly when it is ready and spew coolant all over the place. Once all the coolant is out re-connect the hose and spring clamp.
Transmission cooler and secondary coolant circuit hose to drain from
Remove the right front wheel with your 21mm impact socket, breaker bar, and impact wrench.
Remove the wheel well liner with your 7/64" and 5/16: sockets and drill/driver.
In the back of the right side of the engine block you will either find a large plug or the block heater element. Cover the starter (behind the frame rail) with one of your plastic bags. You may want to come up from under the frame rail with the bottom of the bag, then wrap around the top. Use your large 1/2” drive hex bit, 1/2” universal joint, and breaker bar to torque the plug out. It may be really stuck in there. If so – use a hammer (metal) to tap the breaker bar. The tapping will help loosen it up. Once it is broken free see if it is finger-loose. If so – unscrew the cap a few turns – NOT ALL THE WAY OUT. You should start to see coolant leaking from the plug.
Engine block drain plug
You can do one of two things here – let the coolant seep out of the loose plug – if the coolant is hot this is the best idea; or you can pull the plug out entirely. Note that when the plug is removed entirely it will spew all over the place and make a huge mess. You can feel the temperature of the block and plug before releasing the coolant to get an idea of the temperature also. It may be hotter than anywhere else in the cooling circuit (hose under the radiator etc). If you leave the plug in note that after it drains a bit there may still be some backed up coolant behind it so be prepared for it to gush a bit (not nearly as much as if you didn't leave it seep) when you pull the plug out. When the coolant is down to a few drips put the plug back in and tighten the plug back up. You can use a ratchet and snug it up, you don't need to torque it as you will need to open this back up.
Once all the coolant is drained check to make sure all your hoses and plugs are in place.
Unhook the 3 large rectangular connectors from the controller on the passenger side firewall. These remove with the gray levers. You may hear a pop or snap as you rotate the lock levers to the release position. The connectors should come right off. Once the connectors are free undo the two nuts holding the controller in to the firewall. Note that there is a metal bracket in front and a rubber seal behind. The seal may stick to the firewall and the bolts. Be gentle with pulling the controller out. Set it on top by the windshield along with the nuts.
Controller set out of the way by the windshield
Disconnect the wire connectors from the top of the EGR cooler assembly along with the small coolant supply line (the one on the top in the corrugated loom can stay, it isn't attached off of the cooler as the small supply is). Disconnect the larger coolant hoses on top by releasing the spring clamps with your Vice Grips or other locking pliers. The one that goes to the secondary degas bottle can be removed from the degas bottle and set aside out of the way.
Use a 5/16” socket, air ratchet, and combinations of extensions and universal joint to access the 7 mounting bolts. There are 3 down each side and one in the middle. The 2 front sides and the middle are longer. Ensure that your socket is all the way seated on the bolt heads. Do not attempt to loosen the bolts with the socket at an angle to them.
There are two bolts holding the plastic harness way underneath the EGR cooler. Undo these bolts to free the way from the cooler.
Once all the bolts are out use your pry bar to wedge the cooler assembly off the flange underneath. There are a couple alignment studs and two rectangular seals that need to budge. The cooler may be fixed to it pretty tight. Your pry bar should lever this up.
Once the EGR cooler is free get your drain pan. There is coolant residing in the cooler. Place the cooler in the pan and move it around upside down etc. Coolant should come out of the large and small nipples. Let drain and keep working the positions around to roll the coolant around and out. This will save a mess when you go to open the housing later.
Set the cooler down out of the engine compartment and drain your pan. You may want to line the pan with some shop towels and put on some nitrite gloves as the next steps are quite messy. The shop towels inside the drain pan will make for easier clean up of the soot that comes out.
Take pictures noting the bolts and where they go on both sides of the cooler assembly.
Open the core by removing the valve and the back side so you just have the rectangular body with the core in it, and the open back side with the round openings. Use your two pipes inside each round part then hold the cooler up and the pipes inside with your fingers. Tap the cooler against the pipes on the bottom of your drain pan. You don't need to tap hard, just lightly a few times. You should feel the core break away from the gaskets. Keep working it until the core is free. Pull the pipes off to the side and remove the core from the body along with the gaskets. Using your pick take out the round O-rings in the body as well as the two rectangular gaskets from the flange up in the engine compartment.Clean up the drain pain from the soot, wipe down the cooler housing passages and flanges, clean out the O-ring and rectangular gasket traces, etc.Spread oil all around the O-rings and rectangular gaskets, doesn't have to be much just a little to lubricate. Follow the descriptions on the gaskets – bypass side and cooler side. Put the cooler side down, insert the new core, and use your block of wood/hammer or dead-blow hammer to tap the core in place. The exhaust passages are strong and go all the way through – tap on both sides to seat the core. Once seated place the bypass seal on top.
EGR cooler assembly
Clogged core
Clogged core
EGR Valve Assembly
Back side - note the bolt pattern.
Removed core. Note the soot in the pan.
New core in place
If you are cleaning up the EGR valve also do so at this time. You may be able to scrape some of the soot out.
When you are ready - reassemble the valve assembly and the cooler housing. Ensure you are replacing all the gaskets and seals with what is in the kit, along with the associated hardware. There may not be any replacement manifold bolts in the kit. If you have messed one up you likely need to get a replacement from the dealer. Do not torque the bolts down. Make sure you are following the pictures you took.
Scrape out the soot from the back side of the cooler assembly/cap. Place the new gasket in place and assemble with the body. Make sure you are following the pictures you took.
Follow the torque spec of 106 in-lbs to torque the bolts down in sequence (see additional resources below - there is a thread that has a lot more of the torque specs of the cooler assembly listed). Run the sequence one more time to ensure all the bolts are seated and torqued. Mark all the bolts and their positions with your permanent marker. Go back over the torque sequence with a ratchet and torque all an additional 90 degrees from your markings.
Reinstall the EGR cooler core. Note that the front 3 bolts are long and the back 4 bolts are short.
Reinstall the controller, bracket, and connectors
Reinstall your manifold pipes.
Reinstall your air intake, snap the filter assembly back in place, and ensure the wire is reattached.
Reconnect all your hoses.
Note all the pictures you took to make sure the plumbing and wiring is connected correctly. Triple check everything to make sure it is all in place.
Fill a bucket with 4 gallons of distilled water. Have another couple gallons ready to go for 6 gallons total.
Use your AirLift to draw 25+ inches of vacuum on the primary cooling circuit. Check to see that the needle stays steady for 30 seconds or so. If you see the needle move release the vacuum and re-seat the seals for the AirLift. Draw vacuum again and re-check. If you are confident the AirLift is sealing OK then you likely have a leak somewhere in your circuit. If you are not drawing any vacuum at all you may have a component unplugged or hoses disconnected. Also ensure that the valve on the AirLift is in-line with the port. Perpendicular to it is closed. Once you are up over 25 inches on the gauge close the valve, disconnect your air line, and swap the vacuum hose with the filler hose. Insert the hose in to your bucket of water. Add two more gallons to the bucket as the water is drawn in.
When your gauge reads down to 0 inches and your line gets air in it before the circuit is full check the level in the degas bottle. It should be between the upper and lower fill marks, but is not critical. If it is low add some water in to the degas bottle from the top.
Do the same for the secondary cooling circuit. Use 2 gallons.
Once the primary and secondary cooling circuits are full of distilled water you can do a couple things. In my case I drove about a mile and a half around the block. You can also rev up the engine to a fast idle for several minutes. What you want to see is that the coolant lines that circulate back in to the primary and secondary circuits are warm. This means that the circuit is flowing and the coolant has circulated, flushing the system.
Drain the coolant with all the above steps all over again. You may want to do this a second time as well to get a good flush, or if you are getting a bunch of color or junk flushing then you may repeat a third time and then switch to a chemical flush. You should have little color in what you get out.
When you are done accessing the drain plug on the back passenger side of the block reinstall your wheel well liner before putting the wheel back on.
The last round of filling the coolant mix to what ever mix you want. I used 50/50. Note that there is still a little bit of fluid in the coolant circuits so use a bit more concentrate than what you need for your mix ratio.
Ensure that the level of both the primary and secondary circuits is in the cold fill range.
Re-install the bumper and connect your fog lights.
After running the truck a bit double check the coolant level. Top off if necessary. If you have been driving a while let things cool down first. Open the degas bottle caps slowly to release any pressure.
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