Uh oh...

[suprdtydvr]

Well recently I have noticed small amounts of white residue near the degas bottle cap(a single drop or drops of coolant that ran from the cap and dried).

This morning I started the truck and did about a 20 mile round trip and pulled back in the driveway and popped the hood. There was a good amount of coolant dripping from the hood, on the degas bottle, fender well, fire wall, etc.

I have an Edge Insight and can say that my ECT/EOT temperature delta is about 10 to 12F during warm up and never more than 6F during operation. I therefore do not suspect that I have an issue with coolant flow through the oil cooler.

I run with stock programming so right now I do not suspect head gaskets.

Recently completed a trip 500 miles each way with no indication of puking, on some hills I had over 20 psig of boost.

Fuel quality here in NY should not be an issue.

I plan to start simple here and replace the degas bottle cap.

 

[suprdtydvr]

Dealer does not sell the cap separate from the degas bottle.

 

[flareside_thunder]

have you ruled the EGR cooler out of the realm of possibilities as well?

 

[blacksnapon]

The cap and the sealing surface of the degas bottle (sand it if necessary to smooth it out) is a good starting point. make sure the coolant level is max at the min level.

 

[suprdtydvr]

Dealer does not sell the cap separate from the degas bottle.

On my way out to a wrestling tournament today I stopped at a different Ford dealer... turns out the cap is sold separately for about $10 guess the parts guy at the first dealership today must have temporarily lost his mind. The guy at the second dealer had mentioned that he has a decent history of selling replacement caps.

 

[suprdtydvr]

Pressure tested the old cap. It was not holding any pressure at all.

 

[suprdtydvr]

I am beginning to think that I have a more serious problem here. I think I may be getting exhaust gases into the coolant. When I drew a sample last week to analyze for nitrates it appeared slightly discolored along with the intermittent puking.... Head Gaskets? In any case I think I need to bring it in for testing.

 

[d-kuzmen]

I am beginning to think that I have a more serious problem here. I think I may be getting exhaust gases into the coolant. When I drew a sample last week to analyze for nitrates it appeared slightly discolored along with the intermittent puking.... Head Gaskets? In any case I think I need to bring it in for testing.

If there is coolant puking from the bottle, first make sure you only fill to the min mark on the bottle. Another thing you can check is clean the bottle off good, then take the truck out and give it a good beating wide open throttle pulls uphill will usually work, then go back and check to see if there is any coolant venting from the bottle. That is all I can recomend you to check without going into see the dealer. The dealer will pull a vac on the cooling system to verify egr cooler doesnt leak then will hookup scan tool to monitor cooling system pressure along with oil and coolant temps to check for plugged up oil cooler.

 

[suprdtydvr]

If there is coolant puking from the bottle, first make sure you only fill to the min mark on the bottle. Another thing you can check is clean the bottle off good, then take the truck out and give it a good beating wide open throttle pulls uphill will usually work, then go back and check to see if there is any coolant venting from the bottle. That is all I can recomend you to check without going into see the dealer. The dealer will pull a vac on the cooling system to verify egr cooler doesnt leak then will hookup scan tool to monitor cooling system pressure along with oil and coolant temps to check for plugged up oil cooler.

Yeah I am going to try that on my way to work today. I think once confirmed I am going to take some time off of work to get it up there. If it does have an issue with the head gaskets I had a few questions.

1) Does Ford warranty work pay for or allow the heads to be checked(i.e. magnafluxed and checked for warpage)? If not could I pay to have that done?

2) If I provided studs is there a problem installing those vice the TTY bolts?

I may be getting ahead of myself here but......

 

[d-kuzmen]

Yeah I am going to try that on my way to work today. I think once confirmed I am going to take some time off of work to get it up there. If it does have an issue with the head gaskets I had a few questions.

1) Does Ford warranty work pay for or allow the heads to be checked(i.e. magnafluxed and checked for warpage)? If not could I pay to have that done?

2) If I provided studs is there a problem installing those vice the TTY bolts?

I may be getting ahead of myself here but......

The only thing Ford does is have us clean and use a straight edge with a feeler gauge on them. Will be honest I have only had to change 1 set of heads out of the many we have done so the odds of any warpage is quite slim. (Should) be no problem to install the studs at the same time. As of now I am out of work till sometime in march had my knee cut open again. So don't plan a vacation just yet.

 

[suprdtydvr]

The only thing Ford does is have us clean and use a straight edge with a feeler gauge on them. Will be honest I have only had to change 1 set of heads out of the many we have done so the odds of any warpage is quite slim. (Should) be no problem to install the studs at the same time. As of now I am out of work till sometime in march had my knee cut open again. So don't plan a vacation just yet.

Great Dave.... you picked a fine time for knee surgery... nice job, Ha!

 

[d-kuzmen]

Great Dave.... you picked a fine time for knee surgery... nice job, Ha!

Tell me about it. Atleast I don't have to shovel snow. Hopefully the doc says in March ok to return to work. Getting bored sitting around doing nothing.

 

[suprdtydvr]

I spoke with a dealer here today that mentioned that there are "updated" parts in reference to the EGR cooler and head gaskets being potential leakage points. Any idea what he was talking about?

 

[d-kuzmen]

I spoke with a dealer here today that mentioned that there are "updated" parts in reference to the EGR cooler and head gaskets being potential leakage points. Any idea what he was talking about?

As far a as I know there are no "updated" parts. They are the same one's we've been using. If you wanted to spend a few $$ when the headgaskets are done you can invest in one of bullet proof diesel's egr coolers, I installed one in satcom40's truck it was a nice looking unit. I don't remember what the price was but check out www.bulletproofdiesel.com . I'll be back to work I think around 3rd week of March so if you can hold out till then im sure I can arrange to get your truck in.

 

[suprdtydvr]

Well I found a dealer here with a good reputation by asking around. My truck went into the shop on Friday. The tech said that he had not seen a leak as bad as mine in a while, if ever. I kind of had to get it in the shop sooner than later.

I brought out a new coolant filter and 14 qts of Rotella T6 5W-40 and had a chance to ask a few questions. He told me that the VGT test showed that it was responding normally. No idea what the cause was just yet. He was supposed to lift the cab, disassemble, and replace the head gaskets yesterday so may be there will be some more info on the tear down.... BTW I am amazed at how much he had planned to get done in one day.