I took my truck in to get an oil change and some other minor things tweaked. WHen I was showing them under the hood I noticed some coolant around the degas cap. I had just cleaned the whole engine about 5 days before. So it was fairly new. THe reason I was taking it in was to get things prepped for doing an egr delete, coolant filter from dieselsite and any other mods that would help with reliability. I also noticed my delta between the eot and coolant temp as usually about 20. They pressure tested the egr cooler and there were no leaks. So they said it could be 2 things:

1. Crack somewhere leaking. I think they called it the gallery?

2. Head gaskets. I just had the head gaskets redone by them a couple years ago with the ARP studs. How could they go again? I have stock injectors and turbo and usually use Eric's Extreme street tune. I don't stomp on it all the time either. I thought the FORD gaskets were good to 500HP or so. My turbo maxes out at 28-30 PSI.

The only symptom I had was the high delta. I have no white smoke and my coolant level seems the same (MIN LINE). I was just expecting to be putting in a new oil cooler and an EGR delete kit. Not a head gasket job again. Last time it was $6000.

Are there any other things it could be?

 

If your head gaskets failed before, you may have damaged the degas cap when it over-pressurized from overheating. Try changing the cap.

 

What a lot of people don't realize is that just because you have ARPs in, doesn't mean that you may not have issues down the road. It depends on how well it was installed or if there were issues with the heads that weren't fixed or replaced.

Stock gaskets are good for 500HP. I have 508 and I still use them. Matt at Spartan Diesel told me once that they should actually be good up to 575 with the right tuning.

I don't know if your problem is with headgaskets again or not, but it could be possible.

 

Please keep us posted on what you find out. I just had my FICM replaced and noticed coolant residue around the Degas bottle and cap. I too have the ARP studs and do not run a tune in mine. I don't know if the tech slightly overfilled the Degas bottle and it burped out but the level is at the Min line as was before taking it in. I can tell that they added coolant but not much from where it was pre FICM replacement.

 

Change the degass cap and pray....

 

If you've got 20° difference all the time, you've got a blocked oil cooler. When you have a blocked oil cooler, there is the chance that coolant will flash boil in the EGR cooler. That rapid expansion can blow some coolant out the cap, even though the cooler is not leaking. This could lead a trigger happy tech to think head gaskets.

 

I agree with Bill

 

My 03 excursion just overheated for the first time today since head gaskets over 1 1/2 years ago. i going to get a cap. so how do i tell if my oil cooler is bad.


back story i was getting my toyhauler out for the weekend pulling a small grade it was 110 degrees outside when it overheated. i pulled over let it cool-down noticed a lot of coolant had puck out. i babied it to a friends house an left it there. i still could not drive home over 65 mph with overheating. what could be the problem i know i need a cap but what else could be the problem.

 

You need to monitor engine coolant temp, and engine oil temp. If EOT is frequently more than 15° higher than ECT, your oil cooler needs replacement. You will either need a gauge, or have your mechanic monitor it on a drive.

Your problem could be one of a number of things. But the oil cooler is a very common one.

 

And just FYI, after my new oil cooler I don't go over 15 delta anymore. It gets up to 15 when cruising at 70-75 mph but never over it.

 

With a new cooler you should be more like 5-7 degrees diffence at a constant speed. Did you flush the system BEFORE installing the new cooler?

 

yep. its around 6-9 when 60 mph or less.

 

Installed coolant filter as well

 

Where would be the best place in the engine compartment to install a coolant filter??

Gunny

 

The dieselsite kit mounts on the passenger side next to the battery. It attaches to the front radiator upper support. It takes an hour or so to install.