OK, I just returned from a long trip (about 2,800 miles) pulling my 14K lb 5er.

Just before I left, I received my SCT X3 with three tunes, Economy, 59 HP Tow/Haul, and 65HP Tow/Haul. As you can tell, I’m not looking at racing, just more efficiency and lower cost.

I left town on Economy and remembered that about 50 miles from home. I pulled into rest stop and changed to 50HP Tow/Haul. NOT GOOD! In either regular or tow/haul, when I lifted, the engine dropped to idle. So I pulled over again and reinstalled Economy thinking I might get a little better mileage.

All is well until I get ready to leave Talladega and decide to check oil and stuff under hood before leaving. The engine had obviously puked. There was white stuff all around filler cap, degasser bottle and on engine below the bottle.

CRAP! I’m a long way from home and have blown head gaskets. BUT – no oil in the water and no water in the oil and both are at the full mark.

I return computer to stock and decided to drive to Birmingham and get a dealer to check it. Twenty miles down the road, I check and no oil in the water and no water in the oil and both are at the full mark.

So, I drive another hundred miles and no oil in the water and no water in the oil and both are at the full mark.

So I drive home.

It’s been about 1,500 miles now, with 14K lb trailer, and no more puking and no oil in the water and no water in the oil and both are at the full mark.

BTW, I have autometer gauges for coolant, trans temp, engine oil temp, and EGR. Everything was normal for the entire trip.

What caused the puking? I don’t know where to start looking.

 

Who do you have the tunes from.

I think the first thing that needs to be done is see where the coolant level is when hot. I am pretty sure Ford issued a TSB and made the max line where the min line is...so if you keep it up to the max line it will puke.

Also, I was looking but cant find it now, there is a new coolant cap that is supposed to address this issue too. If I can find the part # I will post it for you. I dont hink you have any issues with HG as usually it is acopmanied by a tea kettle noise too.

I run hotter tunes, 100hp from Innovative, and with my veins stuck and boosting almost 40 psi I didnt lift the heads...thank god. I had the tune out when this happened so no worries for you. I regularly see about 30-32psi when running the tune.

Sarge

 

I have a 2004 and had puking problems each time I pulled my fifth-wheel. Not real bad but on a long (1,500 mile) trip it could puke about a quart. Never any oil in water or water in oil. This travel would be in the summer with temps above 100 and long mountain climbs. My water temp would go to about 230 max and my oil temp could go to 250 max. The truck never puked or ran hot around town. With 2 months left on my 5 year warrenty I took my truck to dealer and they found bad head gaskets. Dealer installed new head gaskets with ARP studs and truck runs fine pulling the fifth wheel and doesn't puke at all anymore.

 

Puking can be caused by leaking head gaskets OR by leaking EGR cooler. A badly leaking EGR cooler will also show up as white smoke and coolant present in the intake when you pull your EGR valve.

You will see neither water in the oil nor oil in the water if you have leaking head gaskets. Leaking head gaskets will send combustion gasses to the coolant overflow bottle and cause it to overpressure and spray coolant in your engine well. This coolant evaporates and leaves white residue.

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=624 border=0 x:str><COLGROUP><COL style="WIDTH: 468pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 22820" width=624><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 39.75pt; mso-height-source: userset" height=53><TD class=xl28 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 39.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=53>Common Causes for loss of coolant</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt; mso-height-source: userset" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>EGR Cooler leaking</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt; mso-height-source: userset" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>EGR cooler hose leaking</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Oil Cooler plugged or leaking (which elevates oil temps AND prevents coolant flow to EGR cooler</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl25 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>http://dan.prxy.org/Truck/6L_bible_html/html/Page_074.html</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Blown Head Gaskets from stretched TTY bolts, most likely from excessive CP (cylinder pressure)</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt; mso-height-source: userset" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Bad degas bottle cap (if you are puking coolant, you should replace the degas bottle cap after fixing the root problem).</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Clogged Radiator (air side)</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Thermostat</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Some suspect a collapsed radiator hose</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Coolant Temperature Sensor</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Injector cup</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Glow plug cup</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Warped or cracked head</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl26 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>Water pump fins are split where they go around the shaft:</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 38.25pt" height=51><TD class=xl27 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 38.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=51>Problem: When they fail, they only spin for a while and when they get hot the spinning will slow down. An easy way to check for this problem is pull the hose off the degas bottle from the intake it should pump the same amount out hot or cold. This can make your engine puke if it is your problem.</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 12.75pt" height=17><TD class=xl25 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=17>http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68584&page=2</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 25.5pt" height=34><TD class=xl24 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; WIDTH: 468pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; HEIGHT: 25.5pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: silver" width=624 height=34>Common Root Causes for failed head gaskets - overboost and high cylinder pressures or warped heads (early on there were some torquing and casting problems)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

Sarge,

The tunes are from 5-Star Tuning.

Just about a 1,000 miles before I left, Ford replaced just about everything involved with the EGR cooler to include a new bottle and cap. I assume they installed the “latest and greatest.”

Randy,

Those temps are what I have seen when pulling a really heavy load. What’s heavy? Well, I went across a DOT scale in southern Colorado at 32,750 GCW and this was after unloading 7,000 lbs in Raton, NM. In all my heavy pulling I have never seen temp over 230 for water (fan clutch really works) and 250 for oil temp. On this trip, the temp never got over 200 – 210 for either temp.

Bismic,

First, I hate to think I lost a brand new EGR cooler in only a few thousand miles – but it is possible. When I checked at Talladega, there was white stuff all around the filler cap that looked like a baby threw up Pabulum. I just now looked and there is very little evidence left except under the lip when I removed the cap.

I have to pull the 5er about 200 miles this weekend, but I think I will take it to the dealer when I get back. Is there any kind of test I should ask for just to check the head gaskets?

 

Since Ford changed my head gaskets my water temp max is 220 while my oil max has been 255. This while climbing the Baker grade in California total weigh with truck and trailer about 18,000. Took it back to dealer as this site says max difference in water and oil should not exceed 15 degrees. Dealer disagreed and said 260 is not a bad oil temp for short period of time. Dealer said engine will shut off cylinders at 280 to protect itself. Since my engine oil cooler is new I'm gonna see how things are this summer as I have a 2000 mile trip planned.

 

holy smokes!!!!!!!!you weigh 39,750 gcw?.that's gotta be a record of some kind. when i pulled my tt over a steep mountain pass in 90deg heat i got the pukes too, but i attributed it to coolant being boiled in the egr cooler. never had water in the oil, or vice-versa.pulled the same pass in 60deg heat and had no puking what so ever. i since then made the "min" mark on my recovery bottle the "full" mark and it's been fine since.

 

mine would puke whenever I towed my 26' toyhauler...took it to the dealership last tuesday and they said headgaskets...I had them put in ARP studs so hopefully all is good now! we'll find out, I pick up the truck today!

 

That was definitely the heaviest I have ever weighed on the scales. A shipper lied about the weight of his cargo by about 5,000 lbs. However, I never suspected because the truck pulled so good that there was no indication that I was overloaded. If I hadn’t unloaded a partial load in Raton, I’d probably still be stuck somewhere in Colorado.

I believe in Ford Super Duty. BUT – the truck gets maintained as if my livelihood depended on it. The truck now has 125,000 miles on it.

I replaced my first tires at 115,000 and still have two of the original tires on the front.

It was in the shop for the first time at 117,000 for EGR cooler replacement (on warranty).

It still has the original brake system. (However, my cargo trailer has hydraulic disc brakes which if lean on for stopping and use the truck brakes lightly.)

I don’t know what I’ll do if it ever gets totaled out. I don’t want the 6.4 or next generation engine from Ford, and I don’t want a Dodge or Chevrolet. I did see a pickup made from a Freightliner FL60, but it costs more than my house.

 

youv'e definately got a good one!.figure the truck weighs approx. 7500-8k, so the load would be around 31k........wow.maybe i do have headgaskets going south, but it hasn't puked for about 2yrs now.i also had an egr cooler replaced at 113,000, which i probably should've deleted but i didn't, so when this one goes it'll be gone forever.

 

I would have deleted mine except it was under warranty so it was free, plus I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize my warranty.

When the EGR cooler was replaced, I asked the Service Manager if I could specify (and pay for) ARP studs. His reply was a quick “NO” so I will take it to another dealer this time just to get the head gaskets checked.

 

with how much weight your towing i think it's a very good decision of yours to go to another dealership and get stud's put in if it comes down to being blown head gaskets. maybe even talk to the diesel tech and "hook him up" with a $pecial pre$ent inside the ARP Stud box.