Hey fellas, so my 2006 F350 4x4 is all stock except the blue spring upgrade I did a couple of years back. I bought it 8yrs ago and it's been a great truck. It's got 155k miles on the clock and still runs great. I recently noticed my coolant level was a slightly low (cold/before start up). I added about 2oz to get it upto the cold fill line on the reservoir. I've put about 500 miles on her since and she was about 2oz low again. So, I took it to my local Ford dealership for some testing. Everything checked out good. They did a compression test on the system with no leakage anywhere. They wanted to do a system flush but I'm planning to do it myself and replace the Motorcraft Gold (Ford is still recommending this) with the CAT EC1 ELC. They flushed the system about 30k miles ago. I don't pull anything other than a utility trailer with my dirt bike once or twice a month. No high heat readings, no external leaking that I can see or find. My buddies is a mechanic at the Ford dealership and thinks as of now it's ok but recommending not towing anything above 8000lbs for long distances. Said it "could" be the early stage of a bad oil cooler or/and needing new head gaskets etc. Sorry for the long post. Yeah I realize the obvious even if it's not obvious yet! Thoughts?

 

IMO 2 oz isn't enough to worry about, unless it is a constant (and/or frequent for the 2 oz needed). I run below that cold full line anyway.

If you still have the original EGR cooler, I would recommend you make a plan to get that changed out to one from BulletProofDiesel.

If the oil cooler is operating just fine (ie the temperatures are close to the coolant temperatures), then I would make the change to ELC as soon as possible (without using chemicals in the flush process).

 

In addition to what Mark said, you could pull the EGR valve and see if there is any wetness in the intake manifold. That would indicate if the coolant is starting to get through the EGR cooler.

 

IIRC, the original coolant jug was marked wrongly in that the full /low line was printed in the wrong place on the bottle. I should be full about 1/4 in BELOW the marked line. I run mine about a 1/2 inch BELOW the low line and it never moves !

 

Yeah it has the original EGR cooler. I'll take a look at BPD cooler. thanks for the recommendation!

I pulled it before I made the post (I should have stated that), and it was dry with a little carbon build up but not bad. I cleaned it with carb cleaner and lubed the o-rings and put it back in. I will replace it with a new one soon, just didn't have one at the time. Thanks Jack!

 

Definitely worth your time to get a reader so you can see what's actually going on with your engine. If your oil cooler deltas are fine the there's really no reason to change the EGR cooler if it's not leaking. I've heard that in 06 they started cleaning the blocks better so plugging the oil cooler is less likely. When I flushed my 06 I got nothing out and my filter catches nothing. On my old 05 I got mountains of crap and it took a while for the filter to stop catching debris.

An OBD Wifi Adapter for $30 and a $5 app for you phone is the cheapest way with other options of increasing cost.

What's your build date? Your engine oil dipstick, is it yellow/round or a black t-handle?

 

The good thing about having G05, if there is a leak there is a white trail.

 

Build date: 10/05 with the black T-handle

When I had my local dealership do a system flush (approx 30k miles ago) they stated that the coolant actually looked good and it didn't have in gunk in the block either. IIRC they basically said the same thing on the 2006-07 trucks not being as bad/castings in the block as the earlier ones.

 

You might replace your degas cap if it's original. They can leak a little.

 

Yep, I replaced the cap (OEM) a couple of months ago. There's no residue or evidence of any leakage around the cap. Thanks

 

“scott79;19886899]Hey fellas, so my 2006 F350 4x4 is all stock except the blue spring upgrade I did a couple of years back. I bought it 8yrs ago and it's been a great truck. It's got 155k miles on the clock and still runs great. I recently noticed my coolant level was a slightly low (cold/before start up). I added about 2oz to get it upto the cold fill line on the reservoir. I've put about 500 miles on her since and she was about 2oz low again. So, I took it to my local Ford dealership for some testing. Everything checked out good. They did a compression test on the system with no leakage anywhere. They wanted to do a system flush but I'm planning to do it myself and replace the Motorcraft Gold (Ford is still recommending this) with the CAT EC1 ELC. They flushed the system about 30k miles ago. I don't pull anything other than a utility trailer with my dirt bike once or twice a month. No high heat readings, no external leaking that I can see or find. My buddies is a mechanic at the Ford dealership and thinks as of now it's ok but recommending not towing anything above 8000lbs for long distances. Said it "could" be the early stage of a bad oil cooler or/and needing new head gaskets etc. Sorry for the long post. Yeah I realize the obvious even if it's not obvious yet! Thoughts?”

What’s up guys! I’m new to diesel trucks and to this forum so don’t shoot me. I recently purchased an 06 F350 King Ranch and I am having the exact same issue. Everything for the most part is stock from what I can see. I’ve had the truck for about a month now and the truck from the outside is immaculate but from underneath and inside was complete dirt! Meaning, I don’t think it was ever cleaned. Took several hours and a lot of water to clean everything. Now, with that said, the only thing I’ve done to it was changed the oil filter, oil, fuel filter - top and frame, coolant reservoir and cap, along with some cosmetics. Truck runs and drives beautifully. However, after a 16mile trip to work and back (no hills or tow) I hear hissing coming from the reservoir tank cap. Not sure why it’s brand new. But from what I keep reading, could be a head gasket or oil cooler! God, I hope not seeing how I just dropped 17g’s on this thing. There is no oil in coolant and no leaks anywhere but when I do park it after I get to work I can hear a lot of liquid moving around. Please let me know what you guys think? I got 209k on the OD.

 

There's always a reason people sell stuff.

You are going to have to tee in a pressure gauge into one of the small degas hoses and monitor the cooling system pressure under different conditions to see if there is a head gasket leak.

 

Hey Newbe, you should really start your own thread so as not to get everyone confused here. You can copy and paste his description into yours if that helps.