Hi all,
I have a 2005 Supercrew 6.0 with 62K miles. 4inch lift with 35's and a 4" exhaust, other than that, i'm stock. I did put on a coolant filter after reading about it on here about a month ago. I had the headgaskets done under warranty about 2 years ago at 40K miles. They also replaced the oil cooler (not sure about the EGR cooler).

Anyway, i'm moving from GA to CA (military move) and my truck overheated yesterday in Sayre, OK. I was towing about 6500#. I don't think I was doing anything crazy (65mph) or asking the truck to do anything it shouldn't be able to do. I was a little low on coolant the day before so i added some at the recommended 50/50 mix. Well all of a sudden the engine starts to overheat (literally about a 3 second warning with my engine temp gauge). I pull off the road immediately and shut her down. She is steaming out the tailpipe and it smelled sweet (so I assume coolant right?).

Anyway, I pour in some more coolant (50/50 mix) so i can start her back up 30 minutes later and move her 100m to a slightly safer location. I got towed to the nearest Ford dealer (in Sayre, OK - anyone know anything about this dealer?). I went to check on the truck today and all the coolant is gone - does this piece of information make you guys lean towards one diagnosis over another?

I'm thinking at the very least it's the oil cooler and most likely the EGR cooler and possibly even the HG's. Does this sound like it might be right? If its' the OC and the EGR C, then i think i'm going to order the Neal Technologies bulletproof kit with the stock oil cooler and the upgraded EGR cooler. I want to delete it altogether, but with moving to CA i'm very hesitant to do that at this point. If they do the OC and the EGR C, and it isn't the HG's, are they far enough into the engine that it would be worth doing ARP studs anyway? Like almost everyone here, i'm trying to get back on the road quick and not trying to empty my wallet, but at the same time, I have read enough and understand that the 6.0 is an awesome engine with a few weak points (oil cooler and all the casting sand that it catches).

What do you guys think? The dealer is of course closed today (Sunday) so i'm hanging out until they can look at it and hopefully diagnose it tomorrow.

Thanks in advance - I love this site.

Adam

 

If there was coolant in the bottle when it went to the dealership and it's gone now then it's possible it's in the cylinders. You might want to caution the dealership to NOT crank it until you are sure it's not hydrolocked, although if they bend a rod it's on them and Ford.

Doing an EGR delete and moving to The Republik of Kalifornia are not things that you should do together. They have some fairly strict emissions testing there. You might consider the Neal Tech EGR cooler as the EGR system can be made to work, it's just a PIA.

 

npccpartsman - got it - I will tell the dealer not to crank it so we can ensure the engine isn't hydrolocked.

Yeah the Neal Tech 'bulletproof' stuff is what i'm researching now. I've looked through a couple different forums and it seems to have good feedback on all. I should only be in CA for about 18 months, so perhaps i'll do the delete eventually.

So do you think it's still possible it might be the HG's? Would it be worth having them do the ARP studs even if it's not the HG's? I hate to spend the money, but at the same time I'd rather prevent continuing to rip into the engine. This is the second time in two years it has me stuck 1,000 miles away from home.

Thanks again for the quick response!

 

Well worth the price of the ARP's to do it just for the reliability factor. Headgaskets are always a possibility but yours sounds like an EGR cooler, and they won't get nearly far enough into it to change the headbolts. I would also strongly suggest to them that the oil cooler is the cause of the EGR cooler failure and see if you can get that changed too. I would get a coolant filter kit ASAP and have it installed, again, for the reliability factor. That's a very easy do-it-yourself thing.

 

Tim, he has a coolant filter, LOL.

 

npccpartsman - I actually do have the Dieselsite coolant filter installed already. I just put it on a month or two ago. I was hoping that since my oil cooler was only 2 years old it wouldn't be too clogged up with sand - I guess I was wrong.

I'm out of warranty by about 2 months - even still, I think you're right, doing both the Oil cooler and the EGR cooler will be the safest bet. I may get a quote to see what they'd do the studs for.

On another note, since I can't delete the EGR right now, would it be worth getting a tune that turns EGR operation 'off'? I understand that some hot gasses will still go through it, but with the Neal Tech 'upgraded' EGR cooler, I should be good right? Or is my logic flawed?

 

oh duh........in the 1st line and I smooth scanned by it. My bad.

 

If you put in the new EGR cooler then I don't see a need to turn the EGR off. Actually I think that would be detrimental to it's health because the heat has no where to go and the cooler just heat soaks. A lot of people don't consider that small fact and I think it contributes to EGR cooler failure (in addition to the oil cooler coolant flow, or lack thereof).

 

Makes mucho sense!

 

Gents I have one more questions. I believe i'm out of warranty but after reading more posts, I just want to verify. I know i'm looking for the 'in-service' date, but where would I find it? I have an OASIS report that I pulled a couple years ago when I was buying the truck, is it on there somewhere? Or can I go online somewhere to figure it out?

Thanks again!

 

Your in-service will be on your Oasis. You can also register here to check warranty status:
Official Ford, Lincoln & Mercury Owner Site | Personalized Owner Information | FLMowner.com

 

Guys i have a couple more questions. I am back on the road again after the dealer installed the bulletproof erg cooler and a new oil cooler. Well all is good for about 150 or so miles, then it looks like the engine is starting to overheat again.

What should my eot be at? I just installed an edge insight to monitor this stuff. I know the eot/ect spread shouldn't be more than 15 degrees. I think i may have hit a time or two where i got about a 17 degree spread- is that bad? Have my new oil cooler and erg cooler already failed? Improperly installed?

Also, my eot start to get up to 230+. I would back down as best i could, but i'm traveling through new mexico and didn't want to strand myself on the upside of a hill. I really started to get worried when the ford 'idiot gauge' started to move a little. I also heard a 'turbo fart' like noise once or twice when i was close to those temps. I could swear it came from the degas bottle. Bad sign?

Am i expecting too much out of this truck? I'm only pulling like 6.5K. I'also only going 60-65ish. I would actually push some speed down the hills a litle and overall it seemed the truck would cool down the best that way. That was going 70-75 at times. Was i lugging the engine at 55?

Anyway, I'm really hoping my new oil/egr coolers aren't bad already. I'm really hoping it's not the headgasekts (even though the last dealer was positive it wasn't). Is it something simpler like my t-stat being bad? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Depending on what info i get here and from more research, i may end up taking it into a dealer here in Alburquerque, NM.

Thanks again guys!

Adam

 

When pulling in high temps (100 degrees plus) on the flat my temps are coolant 210 -220 and engine oil 215-225. When I pull a steep hill my coolant will go to 225 until the fan comes on then drop to 210 or so. But on steep hills my oil temp will exceed 250 for short periods. This is after I got arp studs and a new oil cooler. I also have a coolant filter. The dealer didn't think this is a problem as long as it was just for a short period. As soon as I crest the hill the oil temps drop pretty quick. I worry but I got the studs and oil filter almost 2 years age and everything seems to be ok.

 

Randy777 - that makes me feel a little better. Does your engine temp 'idiot gauge' move at all? How high will it go? The last two times i saw mine move were when it was too late - both times my Vic actually said 'engine overheating' and i was blowing white smoke out the tailpipe.

I guess what you're saying is that my truck is probably ok for short periods of time at these temps. My temps just don't seem to drop as fast as I'd like. At what point is the engine really over heating? Eot at 240? 250?

I really want to do studs as a precaution but just don't have a couple grand to do it right now. Plus i only tow like once or twice a year. Seems i get stranded every time i attempt it.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

Are you losing coolant again?? Are you overheating just on the hills?? Any abnormal fan noise?