Anyone heard or experienced something like the coolant eating through the aluminum near the thermastat in 6.0s?

I mechanic friend of mine heard that 6.0 owners are now experiencing coolant leaks from the coolant eating though an aluminum part.

This true? I have a 6.0.

 

That must be a new one!

 

Same was said of the aluminum northstar engine, my 5.8 had aluminum heads and I have seen no problems. My caddy with 85K has no leaks. I beleive this is just hear say and there is no concrete evidence that this has happened. Aluminum + engines + antifreeze has been around for awhile.

 

Gawd doesn't the 6.0 have enough bad rap they got to start this. I quess its been to quiet with the 05/06's. There have been aluminum and coolant together longer than I can remember heck alot of cars have aluminum radiators. I think its bogus. Must have been started in the Dodge/Chevy Forum

 

I am going to raise the B.S. flag on this one. Another one trying to stir the pot!!

 

Definitely a load of stinking B.S. Shall we salute as the flag is raised?

 

Nope not possible.....for the short answer…with good anti freeze that is

 

Well this is all good to hear! cool.

 

THAT'S FUNNY STUFF RITE THAR--I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS

 

The so called problems surrounding the leaks in the North Star engine were due to poor maintenance and/or wrong antifreeze but it can be said that any poor maintenance and/or wrong or no antifreeze will cause corrosion that will cause a leak. Take care of your coolant and there will be no issues.

 

I had heard this first from a mechanic friend of mine. So, so far when you all didn't come up with some similar problems, I went to him today and asked for the story again. He said the same thing. He's not one to lie so I wanted to check on whether the story got changed from the truck owner that he heard it from. I got the number of the truck owner and called him. He owns a large truck (as in tractor truck) parts supply store with his brother.

I talked to him personally, he has a 2004 6.0L (I'll call him Mr. A) and his brother (B) has a 2004 6.0 too. He said, no they aren't corroding through, they are cracking.

The way they found this is as follows: Brother B mentioned to him that his trucks temp gauge had been fluctuating a lot lately. It would go way up and down depending on stoping at lights and traveling. Mr A opened the hood and looked things over, the coolant temp was quite low and the "gooseneck" where the thermastat is, was wet. Then Mr. A slammed the hood. When he did, coolant poored all over the ground, it seems hard to believe, but the slamming of the hood finished the crack and now it ran freely. I hate mentioning that part, but that's what he said. His brother B said, "what did you do to my truck!". Mr A said, "Nothing, all I did was slam the hood". I admit, this sounds like a BS story, but that's what he said and they are not some low lifes that need to make up sensational stories. Mr. A then went and looked at his 6.0 and found it wet around his thermastat area. Ford fixed both trucks under warranty.

Mr A said he had about 30,000 miles on the truck at that time it happened.

Now, he sells lots of stuff to lots of truck owners and therefor talks to a lot of people. He said that Dixie construction (a big excavating, developing outfit here) has said that four of their 6.0s have had this same problem with the goosenecks cracking.

I think that we will see some people on this forum have this similar problem.

My 2003 6.0 has never had this problem nor is it wet right now.

 

Hmmmmmmmm To say its not happening would be wrong because it could but I don't think so.Sounds like BS too me but time will tell. If this was happening on the scale that you say it is it would be all over these forums by now. Sounds like another try to kill the 6.0.

 

the GM engine do have issues with this its from the Dex cool. the dexcool can get corrosive because it is a OAT coolant. it has been known to eat gaskets and pit aluminum. Ford has never used a OAT coolant and they state never to do so. Ford uses HOAT coolant in the new engines , it is known as ford gold. its very stable non corrosive and easy on gaskets and requires no SCA's. The HOAT coolant can't eat aluminum like a OAT can becuase the HOAT is phos and silicate free.

 

One thing that you all have to remember that using the proper coolant(antifreeze) with the right additives will prevent something called electrolysis. This is the disolving of two disimmilar metals-- aluminum vs steel. If you do not have the right additives with your antifreeze or do not add it in seperate, you will get a issue like this. Check out the Cat web page about this--they have reccommend using their additive to prevent this on all their diesel engines. I know I have been working with Cat engines since 1979, and I have seen this first have. i have sold farmers antifreeze for their engines and tried to sell then give them the additive to prevent electrolysis but they would not take it--they are penny pinchers. Later that season they called the service shop to come repair a water leak in the engine, about 200 hours engine running time.
This additive wears out over time. so this could happen with some of the older trucks that have not had their antifreeze changed at the proper time. Any good diesel or gas tech should know this.

Smokeploe

06 f250-xl 4x4 lb--stock and loving it

 

but you never ever want to add SCA's to a HOAT coolant like the 6.0 has. you simply change a HOAT coolant every 5 years or 150k.