Help!!! Engine coolant issue
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: Santa Clara, CA
Help!!! Engine coolant issue
So my truck started smoking white a few days ago and at first i was just assuming some bad diesel. Anyway, after i got home today i decided to check under hood and the engine coolant reservoir was smoking a little, and after letting it cool down i open it up and found pretty much no liquid inside, but some foam at the bottom (brownish and the same texture of a cappuccino or so) with some orange residue.
What should i do? just ad some coolant/water and see if the problem repeats? or go to the dealer in the morning (if so can i drive it? it would be 5 miles or so)
Also, the manual states to use motocraft stuff, any other stuff that i can get a store (kragen or so) that is still open now? (almost 6 PST now)
The smoke is mostly at startup and after stop/lights, not really when cruising. And the smoke smells pretty much like the stuff i just took out of the reservoir.
it also seems like some parts next to the reservoir cap a some drops of liquid on it (can tell what it is)
thanks
What should i do? just ad some coolant/water and see if the problem repeats? or go to the dealer in the morning (if so can i drive it? it would be 5 miles or so)
Also, the manual states to use motocraft stuff, any other stuff that i can get a store (kragen or so) that is still open now? (almost 6 PST now)
The smoke is mostly at startup and after stop/lights, not really when cruising. And the smoke smells pretty much like the stuff i just took out of the reservoir.
it also seems like some parts next to the reservoir cap a some drops of liquid on it (can tell what it is)
thanks
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 437
Likes: 1
From: Bucyrus, KS
Yea I would say you have egr cooler and prob oil oil cooler failure. If the coolant is milky brownish color it has oil in it. Usually that means your oil cooler is putting oil in the coolant. The Egr cooler fails first and ruins the oil cooler. I hope I'm wrong but this happened to me so.......
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: Santa Clara, CA
Thanks for the reply: how much did that run you? mine is CPO... so it should be covered it....
anyway for the short term i should just be fine putting new coolant/water mixture? the manual states 26 quarts, so i assume 13 coolant and 13 water?
thanks
anyway for the short term i should just be fine putting new coolant/water mixture? the manual states 26 quarts, so i assume 13 coolant and 13 water?
thanks
Fleet Owner
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 27,912
Likes: 3,625
Yea I would say you have egr cooler and prob oil oil cooler failure. If the coolant is milky brownish color it has oil in it. Usually that means your oil cooler is putting oil in the coolant. The Egr cooler fails first and ruins the oil cooler. I hope I'm wrong but this happened to me so.......
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 437
Likes: 1
From: Bucyrus, KS
Yea you can add coolant to get by but i would def get on fixing it. It cost me about 1500 but I also did a complete egr delete while the top of the motor was pulled apart. I dont even want to know what a dealer would charge for this. Luckily my buddy has a shop and is a good mechanic. The worst part about this repair is getting all the sludge out of the coolant system. I ran water through mine for hours and hours with dawn dish soap finally It cleaned up.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,712
Likes: 18
From: Henderson, NV
I believe it has to be "Distilled" water.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,328
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why waste money on anti-freeze when it's just gonna be drained?. unless it's below freezing i wouldn't put it back in, especially if it's going to the dealer in a day or two. to answer your question strokin83 an egr cooler and valve cost me 2600 bucks at the dealer.
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 437
Likes: 1
From: Bucyrus, KS
Wow I'm glad I went the do-it-yourself route that's pricey. I also did the complete egr delete from liberator which I would highly recommend no more waiting and guessing if one of the coolers is going down again.
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 8,180
Likes: 669
From: Scio, OR
The water I get at the store says "Purified: Prepared by deionization and reverse osmosis." I believe this is about the best you can get anymore. I haven't seen distilled water in a long time.
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: Santa Clara, CA
how can i drain the reservoir? i mean there must be something at the bottom of the engine?...just want to check how much is there, an have somehting to bring to the dealer for evaluation
thanks
thanks
, but it's all covered under wrty
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