This is my first 6.0 and I've only owned it for 7 months now.
05 Excursion, EGR delete, head studs, Sinister coolant filter, 208,xxx, SCTX4 canned towing tune

I've done quite a bit of research on the topic but I want to do a cooling system flush and need some advice on my particular situation before i tackle this. For fear of clogging the oil cooler , use Restore or just flush and fill? How crucial is opening the block drains?

The main reason is that I'm 98% sure its got G05 coolant in it now and i want to change it out to ELC. The other reason is piece of mind/preventative maintenance and I'll be pulling a 5-6000 lb trailer, for the first time, in a couple weeks.
Since im not familiar with this beast yet, whats too hot or pushing it with ect and eot temps? Yesterday, on the highway with the cruise set at 76 mph in 94 degree heat and front and rear A/C on high my ect was 208 and eot 216 which leads me to believe the oil cooler is ok although in the past, in a few rare situations, I've seen a 12 degree and a 15 degree delta with ambient temps being in the low 70's. The oil cooler was replaced at some point in the past but im not sure when.

TIA Marf

 

This is a tough one, to really judge the health of your oil cooler your need to do the standard drive test.

Warm the truck up to operating temps. Drive on a flat hwy for 20 minutes at 60 mph without a load. Your deltas should be less than 15* F.

It does sound like your cooler is relatively healthy with a delta of about 8* at 76 mph.

The issue with doing a chemical flush, is breaking junk free from within the cooling passages. This junk ends up in your cooler, clogging it. It has happened more than once where someone flushes their cooking system with a good cooler and then plug it shortly after.

In your situation, I would really consider just flushing with DI water 3 to 5 times and replacing the coolant with a CAT-1 ELC. No chemicals.

 

Thanks for your response. Im really leaning towards the distilled water multiple times.
It was my understanding that Restore removes silicates and Restore + is for removing scale and iron. Will using Restore run the potential of a clogged cooler as well?

 

I would open a drain plug.

 

Its tough to find a 20 minute, 60 mph drive around here so i wound up doing a 16 minute, 60 mph drive pulling a 7x14, empty enclosed trailer and wound up with a 7 degree delta, very consistently.
That leads me to believe the oil cooler is healthy. I have a oil cooler backflush kit on the way and i also gathered distilled water, Rotella ELC and parts to make a wye to introduce shop air with the water. I figure ill have the system open, what could it hurt.
If my oil cooler IS healthy but there is G05 in the system, that will be changed out, how worried should i be about silicates clogging my cooler since im leaning towards distilled flush with no chemicals?
Also, one more thought. While gathering $30 or so worth of parts to build this wye i came across the $8 classic garden hose spray nozzle, kinda resembles a pistol with the trigger on the backside and also has male threads at the output end to thread a garden hose onto. It seems like this might work well for blasting the oil cooler. Anyone ever try this? Thoughts?
Thanks


Are you referring to the block drains?

 

You've got a healthy cooler with 7º with a light tow. I'm the guy that brought Restore and Restore+ into the game back in 2008 working with Nylon (PS.org); with that good of a differential, I would do your drain, water flushes (3 or 4) without the block drains and go with ELC. At this point, you don't want to poke the bear. If any particles beak free and clog the intake port, it will take several back-flushes with water and air to clean it with the water pump out. Chemical cleaning of the interior pathways of the oil cooler itself has a meager accomplish rate; just about everyone will have to replace the cooler.

 

Thanks for chiming in Toys, distilled and dump is what im going to do and leave the cooler alone.
1 more question. Should i pull the thermostat?

 

I never have. In my view, pulling the T/S opens both the radiator and the radiator bypass ports, so you don't get the full flow through the radiator.

On the first drain, when I pull the petcock, I put vaseline or silicone on the o-ring. I also use an 8mm hex to reach through the petcock rather than the hex on the exterior. Too many people tighten with the hex too much and shear the hex right off. It's an o-ring seal; it doesn't need to be tight. I also use an 8mm hex socket, a universal, extension, with a socket wrench so when I drain and it's still relatively warm, I won't get my hand burned. An Allen wrench can also get you clearance being to the side. It really depends on how far out you move the petcock, and you can learn this on the first cold dump of antifreeze. All the way out is the fastest but the messiest. I also put a tube on the OE port, so it's easier to direct the water coming out (I don't remember the size).

You also don't want to dump cold water into a hot drained motor. I've helped cool down the motor by putting the truck away from where I would lay under and use a sprinkling garden hose nozzle for a few minutes to cool down the radiator with the running truck to drop the temp. With Forscan or Torque Pro on your cell (an absolute must for a 6.0 owner), you can monitor the coolant temp and see when you've reached the coolest. You also need to make sure you have all the distilled water you need prior; sometimes, Walmart is out. And the initial flushes do not need to be distilled; they can be tap, depending on your hyperness of clean water.

 

Thank you, once again!

 

Soak those block drains real good with Pblaster the night before, and make sure you got the exact hex-head driver or allen wrench. Several stories here of guys rounding that out and having to drill to extract. The passenger side is a pain because it's behind the starter. Can't recall if it's even possible to reach it w/o removing the starter. If not, that's a PITA if you have to do it multiple times after each flush/circulate cycle. I seem to recall some guys just doing that side once, initially, and then just doing the driver's side on subsequent flushes. IDK, though, Jack would be better help.

 

Its currently idling with the 1st distilled fill after draining driver side block plug, lower hose and petcock. Wish me luck!

 

40 gallons of distilled water used. 4 gallons per flush and fill each time after dropping the lower radiator hose and the driver side block drain.
Now the cooling system is off to a fresh start with Rotella ELC.
Made it 200 miles north,on a weekend getaway with the kiddos, on the fresh coolant just for the truck to die on the highway at 75 mph with the cruise set!

I told myself to never buy a 6.0 and now here i am. Do all the preventative maintenance you want...it doesn't do any good on an unpredictable piece of ****. No doubt they run well when running but keeping them running is a rich mans game therefore my Excursion has finally earned her name...COCAINE!

Off to the chopping block she goes, after necessary repairs.

 

What caused it to just die on the road?!?

If id died you didn’t do the necessary repairs and upgrades. With a 6.0 either go big or go home. You can’t expect to buy a 15-18 year old 6.0 and just do repairs as issues arise and expect no new issues. Harsh reality here. Even if I bought a unicorn virgin 6.0 with zero miles I’d tear into it and properly replace and upgrade every known issue with these engines all the way down to removing the engine and injector harnesses and beefing them up.

 

ive yet to diagnose but hpop is suspect.
Many upgrades were done by the previous owner, with documentation. and is a work in progress for me as i am picking away at my own checklist of items, Im just not as financially able as you, obviously, to just upgrade everything necessary off the bat. Im frustrated with my own decisions and I m handling it accordingly but thanks for your input.😉

 

Dieselsite Adrenaline if you replace unless you have a newer style HPOP that has a lower failure rate than the early style.

I’m not beating you down and I’m not rich either. My truck was just paid off when I decided to do a full rebuild and had some money. I actually had to borrow $5k from my 401k to do the machine work on the engine. Now I’m still under $40k in what I paid for the truck and all the upgrades. Buying a new truck with a $1000 a month payment was not appealing to me!