Problems with the 6.4 Powerstroke; Coolant blows off
 

Hello everyone!

Maybe someone can help me...?

One thing in advance: I'm from germany. F250s/F350s are very rare here and there are only a few mechanics who are able to work on a powerstroke engine. So it would be very helpful if you have an idea of what is the problem with my truck.
...and my english isn't perfect...

The truck is a 2008 Ford F250, 6.4 Powerstroke V8, 4x4, King Ranch, Crew Cab, Short Bed, with 72000mls on it.
DPF-, Kat-, EGR-deleted, 4" AFE-Exhaust, H&S Race Tuner

As called in the title - it blows coolant out of the cab of the coolant tank.
When I drive and the coolant reaches 196°F the coolant line from the water pump to the radiator gets hard, the radiator stays cool and because of the pressure coolant blows of the coolant-cab.
I already changed the coolant-cab twice.

There is no other leak. If the trucks stays for a few days there is not less coolant in it and the ground under the trucks stays dry.

There is no coolant in the oil, same oil level for weeks and no oil in the coolant.

I did an CO2-Test on the coolant reservoir. But there was no CO2 in the coolant.

There is no smoke out of the exhaust - except some black smoke

I hope you understand everything. If not - please ask. I will try to explain it better.

Thank you!
Greetings Philipp

It almost sounds like the radiator is plugged but I find that hard to believe. Have you checked the thermostats, if the egr coolers are gone it would be relatively easy to pull the stats and drive it for a while and see what happens. The cooling system won't work like designed but it might help you troubleshoot the problem.

Thermostats and a new radiator cap is where I would start.

look for the thermostats to be hyperextended.

Thank you very much!

The radiator-cap I already changed twice. First there was the original motorcraft-cap. Then Bill Hewitt from powerstrokehelp.com says in one of his videos, that the original caps are bad and you better get a part from aftermarket - so I put one in.
And last week I bought a new original motorcraft-cap again - maybe the aftermarket parts aren't as good as told.

But I will start with the thermostat today. I think that's the easiest way.
Is there only one thermostat at the waterpump house?

What do you think about a blown head gasket? Is it possible with all the symptoms I wrote in my first post?

Anything is possible but try the stats first, there are two. If you want to rule out a head gaskets tee off one of the small return hoses and put a pressure gage on it. Bill also have a video on that I think, there is also a post by Stanley in the 6.4 forum that goes in detail how to do that.

Follow the top radiator hose to the motor side. that is where the thermostats are.

Suggest you download the bible in the tect folder for this motor. It will show the thermostats and their location.

As I told yesterday I wanted to try fixing the problem by changing the thermostats. And it worked!
The radiator is hot again and there is no coolant blown off the cap.
Today I will drive some kilometres to check it again.

By the way - I even checked the radiator and the coolant flushes through it as if it is new... ;)

Watch that degas bottle carefully. Depending on how much coolant you lost. It would need to be replaced so you have the proper level.

A couple of drive cycles and it should be stable.

Thanks for reporting back.

So, I looked forward too early...

After changing the thermostats I drove for a few days and the coolant system still builds up high pressure, the radiator only becomes hot on the upper right side (drivers side). :-huh

But the coolant doesn't blow off the cap. Now the radiator leaks... :(

The thermostats I installed are used thermostats.
Now I ordered some new thermostats and new upper hose to the radiator.

And I think I need an new radiator...
Does anyone knows a good manufacturer? (Mishimoto?)

Some information to the radiator:
When I changed the thermostats I flushed the radiator and water flushed through it. Is it possible that water flushes through it, but no coolant???
I think the biggest problem is that the coolant does not flow through the radiator. What can be the reason?

Does somebody have an idea what the problem could be?


I don't think that it is the headgasket. The pressure in the coolant system only increases on high temperatures. If that would be the headgasket the pressure must increase when I only coldstart the engine and let it run for a few minutes. Or ist that wrong?



(Is it possible to add some photos?)

I am just trying to understand why you would invest the time and energy and put in used thermostats?

I would imagine in Germany stuff for these truck aren't easy to come by.

That's right!
A friends F250 with the 6.4 powerstroke has a damaged engine and it completely dismantled. So I took his thermostats to check the source of error.

If I order parts in the US it takes about 1-7 weeks until it arrives.
Last monday I ordered some parts at tascaparts, I paid immediately - but the parts are still not shipped. Four days only to put the order together.

After all this the parts aren't here. If you ship with USPS it takes about 3-4 weeks only for delivery and after this 2 weeks for german custom clearance. So you have to wait for 6-7 weeks to get some parts.
If you ship with UPS or FedEx it only takes 1 week - but it is much more expensive.
My actual bill at tasca is $830,- for parts and $420,- for shipping with UPS (total $1250) . On this you have to pay ~23,5% tax and custom fees (total $1540,-).

So if it is possible you take any way to bring your truck back on road.

I hope you always understand everything I write here.

To my problem:

Is it possible that all of this can be attributed to the wrong coolant?
I used the green fluid everytimes (Fuchs Maintain Fricofin S) and I used it undiluted. - Now I know this is wrong and dangerous!

Is it possible that the pure coolant has plugged the radiator?

Or is it possible, that the coolant caused corrosion inside the aluminium radiator - and this leads to a plugged radiator?

Usually the wrong coolant will plug the oil cooler, never heard of the radiator plugging. Most of the time when the cooler gets plugged it's from mixing coolants I believe. I knew you were going to have to wait a long time for your parts, too bad it has to be like that. I would have thought your buddies stats would have been ok, you could probably check your in hot water and a cooking temp gauge, see if they open at the proper temp.

My friend I hate to be the first to suggest it but you may have a blown Head Gasket. Your story and the things you are doing sounds very much like what I went through last summer. In the beginning I thought HGs and then spent weeks trying to prove it wasn't, but it was, The way to eliminate HGs as the problem is to plumb a small water pressure gauge into the coolant return hose. If you want pictures look at my threads from last fall. I think I finally got the test done in November or December and there are plenty of pictures. Once the gauge is plumbed in where you can see it, drive the truck and put it through a series of hard pulls like a stop to 70 MPH. As you are accelerating watch the gauge, if it goes up right past 17 PSI you have a blown head gasket. If it holds at 16 or below the HGs are OK,

Edit: OK, the pictures you would use to do this test are on a thread dated 12/12 2013. The OP is Allstar recovery and I have a couple post in there with pictures. Or you can go on powerstroke help where Bill Hewitt has a youtube entry about testing for HG failure. I hope it turns out to be something else but your posts sure sound like mine did last September.