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Time for BulletProofing?

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Old Jun 10, 2019 | 11:00 AM
  #1  
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Time for BulletProofing?

Just got back from a 2 day trip to Sacramento. All went well but using the Torque App I keept an eye on Temps. The weather was around 80-87 while driving and temps were kind of high from previous years if I remember correctly. Might be time for some bulletproofing? Below are some screen shots. Let me know your thoughts. Ex is stock.

This was cruising at around 70-75 mph fairly level road



This was coming down El Tejon Pass. ECT would reach 217 and then the fan would kick on and lower it to 210-213. Once going down hill it would cool down and reach 187 but the EOT would take longer to cool. EOT got close to 230.

Coming down El Tejon Pass on i-5
 
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Old Jun 10, 2019 | 11:42 AM
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Unless the truck is puking coolant or building excessive pressure in the cooling system, leave well enough alone.

Check for:

-Cracked radiator
-Leaking Water pump
-Leaking EGR cooler if you still have one

Things you already know:

-You fan clutch is good and still doing it's job

Climibing a grade, especially when towing will raise temps, but they should come back to normal.

You're knocking on needing an oil cooler, but as most others have done lately, backflushing it saves the trouble and headache. Quietman did a video on his stock 2005 Excursion and it fixed his problem all without the involved engine work.
 
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Old Jun 10, 2019 | 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Toreador_Diesel
Unless the truck is puking coolant or building excessive pressure in the cooling system, leave well enough alone.

Check for:

-Cracked radiator
-Leaking Water pump
-Leaking EGR cooler if you still have one

Things you already know:

-You fan clutch is good and still doing it's job

Climibing a grade, especially when towing will raise temps, but they should come back to normal.

You're knocking on needing an oil cooler, but as most others have done lately, backflushing it saves the trouble and headache. Quietman did a video on his stock 2005 Excursion and it fixed his problem all without the involved engine work.
Thanks, I'll check your recomendations. Forgot to mention that I wasn't towing, just had 4 passengers and driver with their stuff in the back. I did see the video from Quiteman, good stuff. Would back flushing be done every couple of years just to keep everything clean? Don't know if getting the BPD air to oil cooler and egr cooler would be a done once and forget about it, problem solved kind of thing. I was also thinking of maybe going with the 7.3 fan clutch to get the fan to turn on quicker or stay on longer to lower the temps more. Any advice on doing this? Seems like there's no bad side to it.
 
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Old Jun 10, 2019 | 02:16 PM
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I never liked seeing anything more than 10 degrees difference EOT and ECT. IMHO, you may want to get to that oil cooler sooner rather than later. When towing the camper with a full load of kids and dogs, I only probably had one or two instances where the EOT would be slow to drop. Generally, it would drop as fast as/along with the coolant. I don't think in probably 10K miles towing I ever saw anything more than 12 degrees difference. Also make sure that your coolant is serviceable and your degas cap is up to snuff. It's a $9 part that will save (or ruin) your truck. If you don't have one, I'd also recommend a coolant filter.
 
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Old Jun 10, 2019 | 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by RubenG
Thanks, I'll check your recomendations. Forgot to mention that I wasn't towing, just had 4 passengers and driver with their stuff in the back. I did see the video from Quiteman, good stuff. Would back flushing be done every couple of years just to keep everything clean? Don't know if getting the BPD air to oil cooler and egr cooler would be a done once and forget about it, problem solved kind of thing. I was also thinking of maybe going with the 7.3 fan clutch to get the fan to turn on quicker or stay on longer to lower the temps more. Any advice on doing this? Seems like there's no bad side to it.
Keep the stock thermostat with the 7.3 Fan clutch. I had a Mishimoto 200 Degree and it kept the fan on all the time. A stock thermostat won't do this. It does an exceptional job of keeping the engine cool towing and even unloaded and your AC will run cooler with the 7.3 fan clutch.

The BPD setup is nice, but I don't see the need for it unless your're hauling heavy or have the money to spend. A well maintained cooling system along with the occasional back flush will keep things kosher.
 
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Old Jun 10, 2019 | 06:33 PM
  #6  
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Disclaimer: I loath the 6.0 Due to my brand new one blowing up many times before Ford purchased it back from me.

curious about the state of the 6.0 aftermarket, Is Bulletproof diesel still the go to manufacture of the best EGR and or oil cooler ? Or have other companies stepped up and made equivalent quality parts ?

oh and yes it’s time, past time really. 2003 was the time to “bulletproof” the 6.0

fwiw... Ford bought and installed APR head studs for mine after the 3rd set of heads and head gaskets failed.

if I ever built another 6.0 it would get APR head studs and O-ringed heads plus EGR cooler, Oil Cooler and a different turbo as well as a aftermarket built FICM. And then I might trust it enough to take out of town.
 
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Old Jun 11, 2019 | 10:35 PM
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Just listen to Toreador...too many people jump the gun. There's no promise your truck will be perfectly handled when it is opened up. I can PROMISE Pirates experience was not isolated, nor common.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 06:01 PM
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Thanks for all the advice. Been reading around and also spoke with a co-worker who got his 6.0 Semi-Bullet Proofed. What's the consensus on that? This would be the BPD EGR Cooler and the stock Oil Cooler. It sounds like this could be kicking the can down the road. If I get another 15 years from another stock cooler, I'll be good with that.

I also spoke to a shop and they were talking about a heavy duty fan clutch for the 6.0 if I were to go with a full BPD kit. I asked if this is the same as the 7.3 clutch fan and he said no that here in California using the 7.3 fan clutch would throw a soft code and not pass smog.
 
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Old Jun 14, 2019 | 11:52 AM
  #9  
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I am surprised that nobody has figured out a way to defeat the soft code,

for instance when removing the back pressure valve a simple $2 resistor wired into the connector keeps the computer fooled so no codes, Surely somebody has figured out how to do similar for the fan clutch
 
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Old Jun 14, 2019 | 01:19 PM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by pirate4x4_camo
Disclaimer: I loath the 6.0 Due to my brand new one blowing up many times before Ford purchased it back from me.

curious about the state of the 6.0 aftermarket, Is Bulletproof diesel still the go to manufacture of the best EGR and or oil cooler ? Or have other companies stepped up and made equivalent quality parts ?

oh and yes it’s time, past time really. 2003 was the time to “bulletproof” the 6.0

fwiw... Ford bought and installed APR head studs for mine after the 3rd set of heads and head gaskets failed.....
BPD is the patent holder for their Helix EGR cooler and External Oil cooler. It's still the best option if you need to keep your 6.0 Emissions compliant. Their quality and engineering is often imitated, but never duplicated.

Originally Posted by Peace2Peep
Just listen to Toreador...too many people jump the gun. There's no promise your truck will be perfectly handled when it is opened up. I can PROMISE Pirates experience was not isolated, nor common.
Very true, alot of the issues new, were due to quality control at the factory with last minute changes and updates. Injector issues, were related to poorly torqued injectors. Head gasket issues were due to poorly torqued heads. Between uncalibrated torque wrenches and incorrect torque values, this is why Ford came up with a new procedure to torque headbolts that greatly eliminated the failure of the TTY bolts.

Originally Posted by RubenG
Thanks for all the advice. Been reading around and also spoke with a co-worker who got his 6.0 Semi-Bullet Proofed. What's the consensus on that? This would be the BPD EGR Cooler and the stock Oil Cooler. It sounds like this could be kicking the can down the road. If I get another 15 years from another stock cooler, I'll be good with that.

I also spoke to a shop and they were talking about a heavy duty fan clutch for the 6.0 if I were to go with a full BPD kit. I asked if this is the same as the 7.3 clutch fan and he said no that here in California using the 7.3 fan clutch would throw a soft code and not pass smog.
The stock cooler doesn't fail unless it gets too hot from being plugged or if you use a cheap chinese oil cooler. There is a stock heavy duty fan clutch you can buy from Ford for the 6.0, it's the one for snowplow package truck. You can install this and it does a better job than the stock clutch. It does indeed throw a soft code, but it doesn't cause the check engine light to illuminate.

Originally Posted by pirate4x4_camo
I am surprised that nobody has figured out a way to defeat the soft code,

for instance when removing the back pressure valve a simple $2 resistor wired into the connector keeps the computer fooled so no codes, Surely somebody has figured out how to do similar for the fan clutch
The only issue is that it wouldn't pass a visual inspection if that was an issue.
 
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Old Jun 14, 2019 | 03:15 PM
  #11  
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CA smog ***** are good but not that good, unless you run into a super **** and they do exist, most key in on tuner, turbo, waste gate and unless you have a bunch of ricer parts strewn about the engine compartment they don't look further then that . keep any stock parts you do remove just in case.
 
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