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'04 6.0L coolant leak

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I have an '04 F-250 that came in for a complaint of a coolant leak last Saturday. According to the customer, he had to put 8 liters (or 2 gallons for you Americans) of coolant to top up. I pressure tested it. About 15 minutes later, it didn't drop 1 PSI. I checked up top where the orange EGR cooler hose is, and could see some dry residue there. He says it's coming from the right rear corner of the engine. He's coming back today for me to put a pressure tester on it for a couple hours to see if I can pinpoint it better. What do you think guys? Head gasket, or EGR cooler? I've never pulled heads off a 6.0L yet, and don't really want to. Doesn't look like a fun job!!! Then again, neither is an EGR cooler, but I'd rather do that than pull heads.

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I have an '04 F-250 that came in for a complaint of a coolant leak last Saturday. According to the customer, he had to put 8 liters (or 2 gallons for you Americans) of coolant to top up. I pressure tested it. About 15 minutes later, it didn't drop 1 PSI. I checked up top where the orange EGR cooler hose is, and could see some dry residue there. He says it's coming from the right rear corner of the engine. He's coming back today for me to put a pressure tester on it for a couple hours to see if I can pinpoint it better. What do you think guys? Head gasket, or EGR cooler? I've never pulled heads off a 6.0L yet, and don't really want to. Doesn't look like a fun job!!! Then again, neither is an EGR cooler, but I'd rather do that than pull heads.

How about the funny "hose" leaking at the EGR cooler? That's the #1 coolant loss item I've seen, especially with leakage at the right rear. I wouldn't jump to an EGR cooler or head gasket unless something pointed that way.

 

Good Luck!

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Let it sit overnight in the cold. That is when those egr cooler hoses leak. And the coolant will drip down the back of the engine. Also look at the coolant resivoir bottle for coolant stains indicating an overflow condition. If it is headgaskets or Egr cooler it won't actually leak onto the ground except maybe from the tailpipe :). But thats not the worst thing in the world if it is a egr cooler or headgasket.

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If you do find that the orange hose is leaking, I have a method for changing it that is really quick... Take off the turbo and pedestal, slide the orange hose off the oil cooler, then CAREFULLY bend the steel pipe on the EGR cooler towards the driver's side of the vehicle and up a little. You can then slide the old one off and the new one on. Bend it back, reassemble, and you're done.

 

Make sure to bend the EGR cooler the minimum amount to clear the oil cooler - if you bend it too far it can make the EGR cooler fail later on...

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see if its coming out of the manifold or y-pipe. if your egr cooler is leaking internally it will drip from there. check the welds on the egr cooler itself. I have seen those leak as well. the orange hose is the old style and very prone to leaking

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If you do find that the orange hose is leaking, I have a method for changing it that is really quick... Take off the turbo and pedestal, slide the orange hose off the oil cooler, then CAREFULLY bend the steel pipe on the EGR cooler towards the driver's side of the vehicle and up a little. You can then slide the old one off and the new one on. Bend it back, reassemble, and you're done.

 

Make sure to bend the EGR cooler the minimum amount to clear the oil cooler - if you bend it too far it can make the EGR cooler fail later on...

 

You don't have to remove the turbo or do anything as risky as bending the cooler pipe. If you removve the little cover bolted onto the top of the oil cooler that the other end of the hose is attached to you can slip the hose and the little cover out in minutes. But beware that the cover seal might not be in reuseable condition.

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I too have seen coolant leaking out of the V-band clamp that connects the up pipe/Ypipe to the EGR cooler. This will show up as a leak down the rear of the block. Usually when it sits overnight.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Check the oil cooler when you have an EGR cooler failure. The EGR cooler is fed from the oil cooler, which happens to have the smallest internal passages in the entire cooling system. Any crap in the cooling system will stick in the oil cooler, which will then cut off flow to the EGR cooler.

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IH has a policy of always replacing the oil cooler when the EGR cooler fails on a VT-365. Does Ford have this policy?

Are you kidding? Ford would bounce the claim just on principal - theirs! Unless it is written in the service manual or published in a TSB, something like that would be considered as un-necessary or not a failed part. Unless you could PROVE that the oil cooler was affected by the EGR cooler or it was leaking oil into the cooling system... you see, Ford calls back many parts for analysis and warranty claims. If the part tests good they can, and have, bounced warranty claims. I have had this happen to me so I can personally vouch for that. Remember Bruce, Ford is bleeding millions and we have to be "spot on" and play by the rules!

 

/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/readthis.gif

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Keith, I have had a good deal of success with using the phrase "do not feel confident" when describing some repair procedures. I sometimes wonder if creative writing shouldn't be offered as a specialty....

 

I am often called upon to "polish" the repair tales of other techs... I have saved us several bounced claims by using the "if you can't blind them with brilliance then baffle them with bullshit" ploy....

 

Incidentally, there is a test to check for restricted oil cooler passages (regarding coolant flow). We road test the truck while watching EOT and ECT PIDs... IIRC, anything greater than a 14 degrees C temp difference gets a new oil cooler. There is a reference to it in 06-21-02....

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that is a possible repair but so is head gaskets and egr cooler. you need to determine what is causing it. just because coolant is coming from the degas bottle dosent mean it needs an oil cooler.

 

The temp refernce is how the tsb wants you to check it.

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The TSB 06-21-2 has us checking a lot of things and replacing failed components as necessary. As far as the oil cooler goes, it never says to replace it outright. We are instructed to do so only after one of the following two scenarios occur:

 

 

  • Check for cross contamination of engine oil into cooling system by inspecting the coolant condition in the degas bottle. If oil is present in coolant, perform the following repair: Replace the oil cooler, refer to Workshop Manual, Section 303-01C.

     

    .

  • Verify that ECT and EOT PIDs are within specified ranges (see PC/ED Section 1: Description and Operation of ECT, EOT). EOT should be about 225° F (107 C) when the ECT is 200° F (93 C). If EOT IS NOT within 25 F (14 C) of ECT during the concern, replace the oil cooler. However, first perform all steps through Step 5 before replacing the oil cooler. Refer to Workshop Manual, Section 303-01C.

 

I have only had to replace two so far, and that is two out o4 only four in total at my shop. One happens to be coming apart in the bay next to me. Nice goo in the cooling system too!

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speaking of goo, have you replaced an engine due to it yet? I have replaced about 4engines due to the oil cooler failing so bad it sludged the entire cooling system. I was in touch with hotline on each one and they recommended I replace the engine(longblock) each time. Even had inspectors out here on a couple of them.

 

When I say sludged up I mean solid! like no coolant at all! Its crazy. I will snap a picture of the next one.

 

I have replaced about a dozen coolers due to them leaking into the cooling system. I also had one puking coolant out of the weep hole in the front of the cooler

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