Keith Browning Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I am chasing a coolant usage condition. Smokes heavily in the morning and it smells like burnt coolant. I have discovered a lot of moisture in the charge air cooler tubes and have removed and tested the vertical EGR cooler... moving onto the Horizontal cooler. Any experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_E Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Yup... Horizontil Cooler usually fixes em for me. You may find obvious signs of coolant in it even though it will probably pass the pressure test off vehicle. They seem to leak only when hot sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robp823 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 same problem would only leak when hot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I've found it difficult (at best) to get a horizontal cooler to show a small leak off the vehicle. Sometimes it's a matter of eliminating everything else. I've been told to use boiling water during the leak tests, and to rig up something to pressurize the cooler in reverse. That cooler showed no leaks, so I reinstalled it to find it was still using coolant. I finally had enough and put a horizontal cooler on it, and all was well. I have seen one or two that coolant was present in the EBP tube when the horizontal cooler failed, but not many. Remember the exhaust going through the vertical cooler is not very hot, so you wouldn't expect to see too many issues with that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 According to the Hot-Line horizontal EGR cooler failures are common after a failed radiator which this truck shows as having on OASIS. If that is the statistic then so be it... I don't get it because that cooler is basically the lowest component in the system other than the radiator itself. Any how, I bench test all coolers using the test caps and an air regulator which you are supposed to set to 30 PSI/ I carefully warm them using a hand held propane torch and many times they start to leak. Placing them under water has proven to be un necessary for me and you cant warm them. This particular cooler was difficult to detect the leak but there was enough coolant inside of it to create some steam. at 30 PSI the steam barely wafted from the coolant inlet and outlet but at 40 PSI the steam started to move... and at... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlchv70 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I'd be careful with the propane torch, you could damage a good cooler with a locally high stress. The horizontal cooler is the first cooler in series, therefore, it is the highest stressed since it sees the exhaust gases first. One good way to detect a leaking EGR cooler is to fully warm the truck up, then let it sit for a few hours. Cracking the rear flange will usually result in some collant escaping. You can also crack the exhaust manifold 3 bolt flange to check for coolant that has settled here. Note that you should then change this gasket. Also, the soot in a failed cooler will look wet. When pressure checking the cooler use VERY HOT water. If you don't see bubbles at first, let it sit pressurized for a little while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony302600 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 According to the Hot-Line horizontal EGR cooler failures are common after a failed radiator which this truck shows as having on OASIS. If that is the statistic then so be it... I don't get it because that cooler is basically the lowest component in the system other than the radiator itself. Any how, I bench test all coolers using the test caps and an air regulator which you are supposed to set to 30 PSI/ I carefully warm them using a hand held propane torch and many times they start to leak. Placing them under water has proven to be un necessary for me and you cant warm them. This particular cooler was difficult to detect the leak but there was enough coolant inside of it to create some steam. at 30 PSI the steam barely wafted from the coolant inlet and outlet but at 40 PSI the steam started to move... and at... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif and at 180psi the elbow at the end goes straight /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/tomato.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanik Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 The guy next to me has a 6.4l that is locked up. The coolant bottle is empty and it just had a radiator replaced somewhere else. I'm wondering if the horoziontal cooler went out and the thing is hydrolocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BustedKnucklez Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Im working on one right now that is using coolant. I followed the stupid PPT A in the WSM and it leads no where, literally. When you get to PPT A6 it asks to check for combustion gases in the cooling system. When it failed it says to refer to WSM 303-00 or 303-01. Either way, it says nothing about it. I removed the EBP tube and the EGR outlet temp sensor to check for coolant, none. So I assume it's the headgaskets. When I gave all this info to hotline and tell them I think I need to replace headgaskets, they tell me to remove both coolers and bench test them and try to get them hot first. I did with a heat gun and they both pass. Again I contact them, and they say, "Suspect headgaskets. Replace headgaskets." So I get the pleasure of having to R&R the engine cab on because the ladder rack is welded. Im trying not to but this kind of crap makes it real hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 I recently had one that was using coolant and it was the horizontal EGR cooler. I bench tested it and I had to jack-up the pressure beyond the instructed 30-PSI before I saw it fail. I use a hand-held propane torch to heat mine up. From what I understand low coolant levels from leaking radiators is a common cause. Mine had 2 radiators go before the venturi-T was installed. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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