never got a good look at the original cap besides it was camouflaged by all the spooge covering it.
Also I never received any "paper work" to speak of for the non- repair in order to see a part number of the new cap but if there is no difference than the point is mute.

I spoke to the mechanic afterwards and feel very confident in his diagnosis, and when this does finally fail, he is the man for the job. He said he's "done a hundred of 'em". And that Ford is tightening their belt on warranty claims. He also said to "hang on to those studs, you're going to need 'em".

 

Thanks Mark for the 'improved' rad cap part number.I didn't read your last post on the part number.
Also thanks for your input on where to find ARP studs on the net, I've found the price to be slightly higher these days. I got these from a speed shop in Michigan for $440.
But the bad part the whole thing is the mind set when a person like myself who has a failed part while on the road, especially after reading all about HG issues on the net.
So I began scrambling around trying to get back on the road getting set up with studs, planning the necessary downtime, juggling the schedule around, only to find out here it was just a cheezy rad cap.
Live and Learn.
A major Thank You to you Russ and all for the support here on FTE!

 

How did we survive before the internet?

If it wasn't for the internet I wouldn't know there were any issues with the 6.0

 

Me neither!

That's actually how I found FTE!

I also wouldn't know how to fix my truck if it wasn't for FTE and the internet.

 

Hey Bench, what part of michigan do you live in? Also, what dealer did you take your truck to. I have an 04 that is out of warranty that had very minor puking only while towing. Also, the fan was coming on occasionally. I took the truck in and they diagnosed as a bad cap. Replaced cap and sent me on the way. However, they filled to max line. 1 week later I towed and still had minor puking and fan coming on. Took truck back and showed tech TSB for fluid level. They again diagnosed as bad cap. Tech told me once a cap vents, it never holds its full potential again. As a mechanical Engineer, I find this very hard to believe Ford would allow such a bad design. This time tech filled to min at ambient temp. I have not had a chance tow yet to see if it is fixed. I thought of getting test strips to check degas bottle for combustion gases. I think that will rule out head gaskets. I also found a great write-up on this site to delete the egr cooler. I really want to do that even though I don't think mine is bad. I figure I can only have 1 of 2 issues, system is not holding proper amount of pressure, or 2, external pressure is being introduced into the cooling system.

 

I don't live in Michigan, just the shop was in Mich. I was still on the road the time I took the truck in for diagnosis. The repair shop was located in Indiana.

I heard the same thing about rad caps that once they start puking they don't hold pressure well any longer.

I feel that if you have your truck returned to you after a pukage issue and the coolant is at the FULL mark, that shop may not be 6.0 savy and you might want to consider a shop that knows about the 6.0 a little more.
I don't have a clue which shop to choose from up there, unless you want to travel abit.

In my case, they couldn't test for hydrocarbons in the coolant because I had poured in about 5 gallons of fresh coolant during that haul.
The way they tested for bad gaskets was pressurizing the system, get it up to temp and see if the pressure holds. Then the next step is they replace the egr cooler if they find a "leak down". At least while under warranty. Since you're out of warranty, you can have them do whatever you want.

But the real test for this powerplant is to put a load behind it pulling a grade.

While towing I found no abnormal EGT's or high boost levels, just started progressively overheating and spewing coolant everywhere. However in my case I noticed my cap about a year earlier seeping coolant due to mostlikely an overfilled condition.

You might find like myself that all that's bad is just a cheezy ol' cap and get all worked up for a stud repair

 

and that ain't no hay!