why so many head gasket problems
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: ohio
why so many head gasket problems
i believe that i read here that the 6.0 is block is made by another company for ford, are these blocks used anywhere else. are they also having all these head gasket problems. I want to buy a psd real soon (5 m 15 days till wifes car is paid off) but i am really getting concerned. any info on this would be great reading for sure
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I don't believe headgaskets are as much of a problem as they are made out to be.
IMO, headgaskets do not fail unless something has caused it to happen, such as a failed turbo causing an overboost condition, or the obvious overboosting due to tuning. I also believe that alot of EGR cooler failures are being misdiagnosed as headgasket failures. BTW, the enigine is made by International.
I am now leaving myself open for attacks.
IMO, headgaskets do not fail unless something has caused it to happen, such as a failed turbo causing an overboost condition, or the obvious overboosting due to tuning. I also believe that alot of EGR cooler failures are being misdiagnosed as headgasket failures. BTW, the enigine is made by International.
I am now leaving myself open for attacks.
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I cannot confirm this information but thought I would throw it out there for discussion. I was talking to my mechanic a couple of days ago and he told me the "secret" to avoiding headgasket problem on the 6.0. He said to change the Coolant 1/year and add 2 bottles of the Ford brand Coolant conditioner to it. He said the problems are occuring on trucks that let the coolant get acidic and it begind to weaken the head gaskets.
thoughts?
thoughts?
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: HAMPTON, GA ... AN HOUR S
How weak do the gaskets need to get before they are failing????? My truck was un-modded and only 12,000 miles into it when the head gaskets blew, also no turbo problems. The problem was the culmination of the head gasket design and the heads being improperly torqued down on some 6.0's. And yes I have had both a erg cooler failure and a head gasket failure. Both seemed similar to me but the stealership said that the set off different trouble codes.
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Originally Posted by CanadaGuy
I don't believe headgaskets are as much of a problem as they are made out to be.
IMO, headgaskets do not fail unless something has caused it to happen, such as a failed turbo causing an overboost condition, or the obvious overboosting due to tuning. I also believe that alot of EGR cooler failures are being misdiagnosed as headgasket failures. BTW, the enigine is made by International.
I am now leaving myself open for attacks.
IMO, headgaskets do not fail unless something has caused it to happen, such as a failed turbo causing an overboost condition, or the obvious overboosting due to tuning. I also believe that alot of EGR cooler failures are being misdiagnosed as headgasket failures. BTW, the enigine is made by International.
I am now leaving myself open for attacks.
i agree with you...only replaced a handful of headgaskets but dozens on top of dozens of EGR coolers. so far no comebacks. i even question if some of the headgasket repairs were needed.
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Freshman User
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: MA
Got an 06 with 15,000, no mods....no problems...yet. Guess I should keep my fingers crossed. New to all this. The dark side, I love it. When I bought the truck I had heard about the head gasket problems related to the 6.0. Bought the truck used and purchased the extended warranty for the truck. Not taking any chances. The diesel rocks. 
Jäger
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,491
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From: Northern Arizona
Originally Posted by mike6.0
i agree with you...only replaced a handful of headgaskets but dozens on top of dozens of EGR coolers. so far no comebacks. i even question if some of the headgasket repairs were needed.
What do you Techs (Mike6.0, Canadaguy, vloney, etc...) believe is causing the EGR failures? Is there any preventive maintenance we could do to avoid EGR failure?Rattler, stop worrying and enjoy your PSD! The majority have had no problems, at least no more than any other vehicle would experience. Don't let the few naysayers ruin your Diesel experience.
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: waynesville, mo.
Egr coolers are in a somewhat direct line with hot exhaust gasses. If egts get excessive, the brazing inside the cooler weaken, getting coolant in the exhaust and egr valve passages. The issues with turbo vanes sticking, or tuners causing the high exhaust temperatures cause us to start looking at the cooler. I still believe poor fuel quality was one downfall of the egr valve itself. Roll back time to the 60s and 70s. What did poor fuel do to a performance engine? Spark knock, piston damage, valve damage, overheating. Its not a far stretch to blame all of the 6.0 troubles on fuel. The new requirements on fuel will show if that theory is correct or not. I asked around the Ford camps, and found the majority of 6.0 woes are bunched together, meaning, if there is a lot of head gaskets being replaced at a dealership, chances are dealerships in that area are all having trouble. My area, you cant find a more trouble free engine. Fuel distribution is the only thing that can regionalize like that. A pipeline gets poor fuel from the refinery, the oil companies distribute it.
Jäger
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,491
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From: Northern Arizona
Will using Diesel Kleen or Stanadyne make up for poor fuel quality? Is it a low cetane rating that causes issues? I always fill up at a hi-volume station or truck stops so I believe that I'm getting fresh fuel.
Elder User
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Using a fuel additive that will bump the cetane to around 50 will certainly keep coking to a minimum. As to what I find causes EGR cooler failures (on a stock engine) is usually a restriction in the oil cooler. Coolant passes through the oil cooler before entering the EGR cooler. I don't know what causes oil coolers to restict, could be long oil change intervals, but not sure. Also, the EGR cooler is one of the highest components in the cooling system, so if the coolant gets low, the EGR cooler could get some air in it, and it won't last long without being full of coolant.
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: waynesville, mo.
I have always pushed the additives with my customers. There is several quality ones out there. Look for the cetane boosters over any others. As to what canadaguy said, kind of makes you pay attention to oil change intervals and coolant condition, dont it?