The smell of coolant is more than likely the start of a head gaskets... Just had mine done with ARP studs added... It wouldn't puke until recently when towing... Before it would smell of coolant when going up a grade with the trailer, but no puking.... Driving without a load there was no issue's, yet when the heads were pulled it was evident that 4 cylinders, 2 on each bank were pushing passed the fire ring on the head side and 2 other cylinders starting to push through....

 

What are the symptoms of the head gaskets going? Is loss of boost one of them? Wouldn't I have some contamination in the oil or the coolant?

 

I didn't experience any loss of boost, but you may want to check if the Y pipe on the back of the engine is'nt leaking, mine was cracked and you could hear a whistle or weesing when accelerating and if it had been leaking more I'm sure it would have resulted in lost power.. You would think coolant or oil would show up were it doesn't belong..... In the 6.0L grand sceem of things they use a sniffer to check for exhaust gases in the coolant, unless you know your tech and he doesn't give you a run around....lol

 

I've got an update and wanted to see what you guys think. I took my truck to the dealer. They had it for the day and said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They said it didn't have any codes and they can't reproduce the problem. I just got back from a trip today. I towed my boat over a 4000 ft. pass. The boat weighs maybe 7000lbs. Halfway into the pass my EGT's (read from the driver's side manifold) reached 1150 max. My fan was running and my stock tranny and water gauges never moved off middle. The truck started losing power halfway up the pass. Boost went from 22lbs. down to 12 by the time I got to the top. If I give it more gas I get nothing. I floored it and the truck downshifted but I was still losing power. I believe someone told me to check the oil temp gauge. It read 275 at it's hottest. The water temp read 230 at it's hottest. Once again, no codes. What the heck do I do? This truck should tow way more than this and not have a problem. Only has 47000 miles! I can't figure it out. I tried tow/haul mode and normal. Neither made a difference. I turned the a/c off. Nothing. It didn't even seem like when the fan kicked on that it made the oil temp lower either. I changed the fuel filters by someone else's suggestion too. I had no loss in coolant whatsoever. My oil change was due 1000 miles ago. I know that's not a good thing but I couldn't imagine that being the whole problem right? Also, my EGT's at 70 on the freeway are about 900 degrees. I'm running 37's and that is the corrected speed. Is that normal? Seems hot. Thanks for your help guys. I could really use it.

 

gt350, your egt's on the freeway are right where they should be. and hopefully you're not giving you truck any "gas" ...

something is definitely not right, but your oil change is NOT the culprit.

 

You are going to have to have your dealer's diesel tech ride with you on a mountain pull with your boat. If he doesn't "see" a problem, he can't ( read won't) attempt any further maintenence. He might even have the foresight to hook instrumentation up to the truck so he can "see" the problem when it happens.

 

Look at your turbo boots. I bet one is leaking and thats were your boost is going under a hard pull. Take them off and look at them close and see if there is a tear or not sealing on pipe. I just got back this weekend pulling my fiver and my boot had a tear in it about 2" long . It was doing what your truck is doing . I replaced the boot and all was fine. If I listen real close I could hear the air leaking but was hard to tell with the fan comming on.

 

After I saw that last post I just went and checked all the boots. They all appear to be fine. No tears that I can see or feel. My check engine light finally came on so I rushed to an auto parts store (dealer's closed for the weekend) and when I got there the check engine light turned off. I had them check for codes anyways and they got these:

P0403--EGR ELECTRIC MOTOR WINDINGS OR CIRCUITS TO THE PCM SHORTED OR OPEN

P0405--EGR CONTROL CIRCUIT SENSOR A CIRCUIT LOW

P0649--CRUISE CONTROL LAMP CONTROL CIRCUIT

P1378--FICM SUPPLY VOLTAGE CIRCUIT LOW

U0105--LOST COMMUNICATION WITH FICM

U0306--SOFTWARE INCOMPATIBILITY WITH FUEL INJECTOR CONTROL MODULE

I know there's a description, but I don't really know if any of these codes are the root of any of my problems. I made sure the parts guy didn't clear the codes. I don't get why the check engine light would be off if all those codes are in there. I'm going to make an appointment for Wednesday for the truck so I'll keep you posted. Any ideas anyone? Thanks for the help!!

 

Given the nature of the codes it sounds as if you may have a short circuit somewhere. The FICM harness has been problematic on these trucks so that would be something to look at. The EGR problems could result in a low boost situation as well is the valve is stuck in an open position. It is possible you've got a couple of problems happening at the same time.

Good luck

 

speaking of turbo boots what should the clamps on the boots be torqued to?

 

I could be wrong but if coolant is leaking from the hg's into the exhaust manifold & then thru the turbo it could cause a boost problem or even damage the turbo .
anyway it happened to me

 

I had almost the identicle thing happen. I was towing my trailer which at the time was only loaded about halfway, maybe 3500 lbs. I was going up a steep grade and then I heard my fans kick on, a few seconds later I noticed a drop in power. I looked down at the factory turbo boost gauge, and saw that my boost went all the way to zero! As I crested the hill and took my foot off the accelerator pedal, the boost came back up to about 20lbs. This set off the check engine light. When I reached my destination, I unhooked the trailer and brought the truck to a local dealer. A Ford dealer in Moon Township Pa. I have to give them a kudos because they took mercy on me being that I was far from home, and brought me right in and fixed what I hope was the issue right away. Anyway they said it was the EGR valve, and promptly replaced it, all under warranty. It seemed as if it took care of it for now, however I have not had the chance to re-create the conditions that brought it about.

 

I just wanted to give you guys an update. I took the truck in today and they said that there were no codes stored. I gave them the codes that I got from the parts store and they said that they have to have the truck make the codes to do anything. I told them that it won't do it unless towing and they said they would see what they could do. They also called me 3 times trying to find out if I had a programmer. They said that the codes that I gave them were ones that typically a programmer makes and if I would just tell them which programmer I had they might be able to help me fix the problem. I told them over and over I didn't have a programmer. I haven't heard anything since. I'll post more when I find out more. Oh, I don't have a programmer.

 

Besides, can't they tell when the programmer has been installed?

 

they can tell if the memory has not been cleared. the KAM must be cleared when you flash back to stock if you had a programmer. if you had no programmer you are golden, i think they are just trying to trick you into admitting to something so they can deny warranty coverage. stick to your guns and keep us posted man.