Well it's been a really long weekend. I sold one of my cars to a guy in Tennessee and as part of our deal I agreed to deliver it to him. We were 40 miles into our trip (540 miles one way) when I stopped to get breakfast for my son and myself. I smelled coolant and when I opened the hood there was some dried coolant on the overflow bottle. It was a very little amount. I figured that since I had just recently deleted the EGR cooler I might have put a little too much coolant in and since this was the heaviest load I've pulled since then it was just purging off the excess coolant.

The ensuing hills on I81 south of Roanoke opened my eyes to the fact that it was a much deeper issue. By the time I crossed the Virginia-Tennessee state line at Bristol it was obvious I was pressurizing the cooling system.

Now I am sure some of you will think I am stupid, but I did an analysis of of what I had just drove over and felt it would be fine to finish the trip. The truck was running great but if the boost got up to 20 lbs I would smell coolant. I kept my foot out of it and delivered the car. Today I drove the truck pulling an empty 24ft gooseneck back home. In all I had to add about 1 1/2 gallons of coolant on the 1100 mile trip.

It really seemed like rather than the gasket blowing out, the TTY bolts had stretched and were allowing the heads to lift with enough boost. If I kept the boost low there was no issue. Regardless it's all getting dealt with at this time.

So now I get to put in headgaskets and studs. Not really happy about it but oh well. I think in hindsight, the issue probably happened the weekend before while pulling our horse trailer (wife has severe lead foot)but didn't manifest itself during the week as I only drove the truck on friday and that was without a load on it.

It was also probably due to the fact that with the EGR deleted, I have not been putting it back to stock when towing due to the check engine light coming on. I have been using a towing tune but obviously it was too much for the factory headbolts. It's a shame really at 135K the only engine trouble I'd experienced at this point was the STC fitting. The EGR delete was just something I did because I wanted to not because it failed.

Now for the questions;

Is there a possibility the problem is cooling system related? My thoughts are no but I am open to other thoughts as well. When I heard the "Tea Kettle" noise and it only happened at 20psi or more boost I decided it wasn't cooling related. I could be wrong. Let me know why if you think I am.

Am I overlooking something else here in your opinions?

Thanks for your input.

Oh and the pertinant facts. 2006 F250 KR.

 

Do you have gauges on the truck? ScanGauge or such?
Would be nice to know your EOT vs ECT (engine oil temps vs engine coolant temp).

Really does sound like head gaskets time. Check all the posts in the tech folder, do your home work and it should turn out just fine.

 

how was the EGR deleated

did you install a new oil cooler at that time

 

In answer to the above questions. I do not have the aftermarket gauges that I need. Been on the list but not acquired yet.

I do not know my ect-eot spread. And no I did not replace my oil cooler when I deleted the EGR. Egr was deleted with a kit. New up pipe hoses and U-bend tube for the coolant.

I should get the scangauge and use it to check the ECT-EOT spread.

 

Back from the dead. The last year has seen many, many changes in my world and fixing the truck got pushed pretty far down the list. Things like oh a Divorce and having to relocate myself etc. But now it is time to complete this project.

I have moved into a warehouse where I can do all things vehicle related and that suits me just fine. Last friday I returned from Rio where I had been working the last 7 weeks and am now making progress again. I disassembled the truck in May but the ex spent all my savings while I was out of town (in Mexico Jan-March) before she mentioned to me we were divorcing so there was no money at the time to repair the truck. But now I have headgaskets and studs on the way and just finished prepping the head and block surfaces in anticipation of reassembly. The good news is that both sides of the block and the drivers side head are less than .0015 out in the flatness department while the passenger side head came in at less than .0025.

When I was disassembling the engine I noticed while removing the drivers side head that the bolt between cylinders 5 and 6 had fatigued. It was so easy to remove and had none of the tension that all of the other bolts still maintened. So that was my problem. I never had any water in the oil nor oil in the water so I feel fortunate that even though I did occasionally drive the truck prior to tearing it down, no further damage was sustained. I was certainly concerned about that.

I have some questions regarding reinstalling the injectors. Specifically is there an injector installation kit that is available from either Ford or International? And if so would anyone be privy to the part number for said kit? If not what exactly needs to be purchased to ensure a trouble free installation?

And is it necessary to replace the standpipes or is putting new O-rings on them going to present a problem? Curious. Don't want to be cheap but am not wanting to throw away money either. I'll do whatever is necessary to ensure a trouble free repair.

So thanks in advance for any and all advice. Looking forward to getting this done.

 

If you purchase your head gaskets from Ford (and I HOPE you do), it will come with a new standpipe with the updated o-ring and white teflon reinforcement ring as well as new head bolts (that you will likely use as paperwieghts). All you need to add to that is the updated dummy rail plug (part number -W302908) as well as the injector o-ring kits (part number CM-5055). Good luck and have fun.

 

Yeah on that headgasket issue. No I did not but have since learned the error of my ways and will be acquiring the OEM gaskets prior to install. Not doing this twice. Thanks for the heads up.

 

always start simple. degass bottle cap. the original caps are known for going bad. change the pressure the coolant can build up and you change its boil point. a new updated cap is like $10 at advanced auto.