Never mind, I found it. I asked because I thought I recalled that you bought it with some high miles. With that in mind, I hate to be a skeptic, but I don't know how you could be so sure that the oil cooler was original (and certainly NOT trying to "bust your chops").

Ford updated the design to include an extra coolant row (a good thing for sure), but I also think that they included other reliability improvements to prevent failures that led to oil in the coolant - this update was AFTER the 6.0L production run (2009-2010) IIRC. Oil in the coolant is no fun and any reasonable steps to prevent that are worthwhile IMO. Sometimes a new oil cooler is still WELL worth it - especially if some really bad clogging took place previously, or a previous owner installed an aftermarket cooler that did not cool as well. Perhaps your truck received the updated cooler soon after it came out. That is what I did with mine.

Don't get me wrong - the backflush recommendation is a very good one, but a high temperature differential is a warning sign and should not be tolerated very long! JMHO. Back in the day ............... you just wouldn't believe the problems and how solidly plugged a cooler could get.


Also -

I guess CLR might also be part of the success, which is good to know.

 

Me or the original Poster? Ive had my 6.0 for just shy of 6 years.

 

I was asking you. Mainly because the truck you have now might have already had an oil cooler changed out by the previous owner - especially with the mileage on it when you bought it. Even if he said it was original, well ..... take that with a grain of salt IMO.

If you notice, I copied a previous post of yours that states the mileage on it when you bought it.

 

I did notice it. I was just asking why the change the oil cooler always? When I bought mine it had a 26° delta difference, and now its less than 12 towing. You guys on here have a WEALTH of information and have helped me time and time again, and I thank you for that. Im just asking why do people jump to the conclusion to change it out right away and spend $1500 roughly when for 1/10 of it can be done on a backflush to see if that can help. We all try and save everyone else money. Just asking is all.

 

The issue is that the early oil cooler really wasn't adequate, AND it had MANY failures. Its issues went beyond the plugging problems, when it failed it was a MESS to deal with. Its failure happened when plugged up, and also cases of failure without being plugged up.

The new oil cooler has an extra row of coolant passageways, so it is a definite improvement - worth having for sure. Who knows what people have installed if they are not the original owners. Some people that bought used 6.0's had oil coolers in them that were bought from places that have been proven to have cheap poorly performing coolers. You can't backflush those to cool better - they simply weren't built correctly!

You recommended backflushing and I agree that that is a wise thing to do to try to avoid the expense. HOWEVER, knowing that you have a good reliable oil cooler is (or should be) important to anyone that wants reliability, and not to have a breakdown on a trip.

That said, I do not think people "jump to conclusions" (as you put it) very often. We know very well what to recommend for an economical approach to reliability. I do agree that it would have been appropriate for me to mention backflushing in post #6 - as a good thing to try first..

As I said earlier though, not everyone is going to have success with backflushing, but trying it is worthwhile. Success however depends on what the contaminants were (because they are not all the same - iron, calcium, silicates, etc), and how deeply the contaminants were wedged into the cooler passageways.

I am glad you had success, but that will not happen in every case.

That is all I am saying.

EDIT - Last thing to say is that cleaning the cooling system BEFORE changing out the oil cooler is CRUCIAL (too many people have clogged NEW oil coolers by skipping this step). Cleaning the system should start with a thorough back flush. At that point you can re-evaluate the need for a new cooler. A water backflush would be the best thing to do BEFORE using cleaning chemicals. One reason for this, you can look at what is backflushed out and then decide what chemical is appropriate to use. IMO this is VERY important. As an example CLR isn't going to be all that effective on silicate deposits. The best thing for that is the Fleetguard "RESTORE" product.