When I posted about this in the "Any diesel techs in Washington" thread, I thought that I just overfilled the bottle.

Yesterday, I towed my 5th wheel to a service center to check on some things. Then I thought that I'll check it again, it's back on the degauss bottle, the white stuff.

But it only happens when I'm towing, not in regular driving. Maybe it's the EGR cooler or the oil cooler.

I ran into a diesel service manager in my local area, I questioned him on some things.

1. If the HG is blown, I wanted to have the ARP head studs put in. He said that he couldn't do that, because if Ford found out, they can shut down the dealership.

2. He thinks that it might be the clutch fan going bad. But I can hear it working when on the hill during a good pull.

3. The good thing is I'm not overheating when on the flats or the hills. Also the white stuff is not all over the place. But you can see that there is coolant blowing out.

The service manager is wanting me to hook up my 5th wheel. Then bring it over to have one of his techs drive my truck with the trailer out to find the "problem". It's one thing to drive my truck, but both truck and trailer. He said that he's done it before, but I don't want to come back and find my equipment destroyed. I'm not too trusting about this, would you allow the same?

The thing is "if" it is the HG I want to have the studs put in to end this problem. But he said that Ford has "fix" this problem with different bolts and procedures.

Maybe I need to find someone else. Maybe North Cascade Ford or Evergreen Ford, I know that 2000Mark had some work done at Evergreen.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

Go some where else, all I've heard on here about getting studs done before warranty was up is that you will lose the warranty for any problems there after, but if the heads are redone correctly, you shouldn't see anymore head gasket problems, unless of course you start pushing some serious power out of it. I don't believe the bolts have been changed.

 

The bolts have not been changed - period. There was a TSB that changed the torquing procedure sometime back.

 

If I want to run a tuner, I want to make sure that the bolts can handle the extra power. If not, than I need to find someone who will install the studs. This is the first time that this truck has given any problems. So it's been dependable, I guess I want everything overbuilt.

Will the stock bolts and procedures handle the added power?

I'm not looking to run the motor to 500-600 hp, I just want a dependable motor that I know won't puke on me again.

Thanks

 

Well, they can if tuned properly, but you might as well get the studs in now just for that extra piece of mind. Even stock trucks can malfunction and stretch stock bolts so putting the extra power through it just gives it that much more chance, and no matter how much people advertise that the tunes they make are stock head bolt safe, you may still encounter problems with them. If you want dependable get the ARP studs in there.

 

Concur with Roller. If the heads are off for gaskets, might as well go with studs. Do it once, do it right, and then forget about it.

 

The studs are $430.00 But worth it, I did mine back in may, I was doing the same thing when towing my 5th wheel. I did the job my self it was still all but $1000.00 in parts.

 

I went to a Ford shop a couple of days ago, I found out that the head gaskets are blown.

The dealership is going to install the head studs for me. I found a ARP set from Summit Racing.

Does anyone know what the up pipe is made of? It looks like stainless steel. I'm thinking of welding in a blocking plate and removing the scoop in the pipe.

What do you think?

 

Mine is in the dealership now getting the head gaskets replaced as well as the bottom plate (oil leak). Asked about using the aftermarket stds but they wouldn't do it. As long as it is under the 100k / 5 yr warranty they will not use non OEM parts. Voids warranty from Fords perspective, especially if you have further problems and end upo at another dealership who ask's "What are these doing here? No warranty!"

Told me that the new gaskets haven't been a problem once replaced. Should get the truck back tomorrow or Friday.

 

I called around first when I realized that I may have problems. I just don't trust those TTY bolts, IMHO they're junk. If you want something dependable, you may have to stud the engine.

I don't plan on racing, I plan on a everyday driver/tow rig that's dependable. I'm sure there are stock engines with the TTY bolts going strong. But it takes one time, you may overboost, overheat, or just blow out your HG. Then you're stuck with the repair. I was planning on studding and blocking the EGR cooler when the warranty was off. But it's getting gone now, I don't want to go through with this again.

I was looking into the Liberator EGR delete, but $495 for the kit!!!!!! That's just way too much for a simple kit.

They'll start on it next week sometime.

I hope that this works out for you.

Is that up pipe Stainless Steel? I think it is. I need to weld a blocker plate in the pipe.

 

I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY 04 250! IT TOOK 4 TIMES GOING TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP TO GET TO THE PROBLEM. THEY SAID I WAS OVERFILLING THE BOTTLE,TO A BAD CAP.MINE DID THE SAME THING YOURS IS DOING AND THEY WANTED ME TO BRING MY TRAILER TOO! HA!HA! DON'T THINK SO! WELL THE LAST TIME IT WAS IN THEY SAID IT WAS THE HEAD GASKETS.BUT THIS FORD DEALERSHIP ADVISED THAT I SOULD USE ARP HEAD STUDS IF I DIDN'T WANT IT TO HAPPEN AGAIN. BUT THESE STUDS AREN'T CHEAP! SUMMITRACEING.COM WAS THE CHEAPEST AT $526.00 . IT DOESN'T VOID THE WARRANTY !!!!!

 

Hey Mark, look up Northern Auto Parts for the studs. They're about $409 for the set.

I called Summit Racing and told them about the price at Northern Auto Parts. They beat the price and with shipping, it came to $420 to my door. It came pretty fast.

I'm just going to build my own EGR cooler delete kit. I'm a Union Steamfitter/Welder, I work with piping and tubing all the time. Plus I have a tig/stick welder at home (200amp).

I can't believe that Liberator wants $400+ for their kit.

 

my truck puked with the white stuff and the ford dealer in lewiston,id. did a great job. they would have used arp studs if i had paid for them but i didn't want to jeopardize the remaining warranty. just finishing towing 14k. 5ver for 5k. mi. and truck is doing good. better fuel mi. since head gaskets replacement.
love my truck.
gene

 

LOL I kinda want mine to blow the head gaskets out. I work at a mazda dealer and know the techs that would do the work wouldnt even question putting in the ARP's for me. But so far my truck has really run great and gets good milage so Im not complaining yet

 

I have noticed some white stuff on my degas bottle too, does this mean I should have it looked at? Does this mean I might have a bad head gasket? I have 74,000 miles on it now.