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6.0 overheating- gaskets?

21K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  SamW 
#1 ·
so i have the basic three mods, intake exhaust and chip, yeah the superchip isnt as good as the sct:blah: i will upgrade to one when i go further with my truck. so heres my question.
I am having intermittent overheating problems, not holding coolant all the time either. No matter the tune whether stock, economy or high power. I will find myself at a stoplight or in the drive way in park, with the ac on, and look down so find my oil needle near redline temperature. I can drive it around, and the temperature will eventually go down. I have checked the coolant when engine was cold and added enough to fill the coolant bottle back to normal, but after driving a few days it goes back to "intermittent overheating". I also have the EGR block off plate installed. My guess is head gaskets are on their last limb. Just seeing what the general consensus was.

thanks!
 
#2 ·
Oil temp going up? Scan it and see the difference between EOT and ECT.shouldn't be more than 15 deg. Is there any oil in your coolant?
 
#4 ·
Just because ur truck is over heating doesn't mean HG, like stated above is ur egr cooler still in place ? Could also be oil cooler failing, how much coolant are ur loosing ? Is the truck excessively puking ? Also drive it stock n any notice in smoke color ?
 
#5 ·
when my head gaskets went.... those were the symptoms.... new head gaskets and studs, no more overheating issues.... I am not saying its your problem.... Ia m just saying it was mine. I had already deleted my egr, put new injectors in it and did a bunch of other work, so I kinda knew it was time for some studs and gaskets....... if it is the case, make sure you get the heads done at a good machine shop.... and also put a coolant filter in there while your at it....
 
#6 ·
Make sure you check the basics before getting too excited about an EGR or headgasket problem.

Is the water pump OK?

Is the thermostat OK?

Is the fan clutch working properly?

These are questions I'd want answered before looking at $$$$ EGR or HG repairs.
 
#7 ·
:whs: i would def. recommend a coolant filter kit, its a small price to pay for the preventative maintenance and not having to worry about plugging your oil cooler.
 
#8 ·
first off thanks for all the fast responses. :ford:

No, there is no white smoke coming from my stack. Even when being driven. I have blown one egr cooler before and it was replaced along with an updated hpop. Just the exhuast side of the cooler is blocked off.

Yes, the oil and egr coolers are both in place. The truck does not excessively puke until underload for a period of time (given that you filled the coolant bottle before you left) in which it would begin to overheat in cycles. By cycles i mean the needle would pin, my electric fans come on and as i spool the turbo in neutral it brings the temps down. If i dont touch it it continues to climb.

It is a problem that comes and goes and I thought that the egr plate would elminate what I thought the egr was causing.

any help is appreciated. I have recieved two quotes of 1800 and 2500 in labor to do headgaskets, not including the studs. Sure would be nice to be sponsored by a machine shop.
 
#18 ·
first off thanks for all the fast responses. :ford:

No, there is no white smoke coming from my stack. Even when being driven. I have blown one egr cooler before and it was replaced along with an updated hpop. Just the exhuast side of the cooler is blocked off.

Yes, the oil and egr coolers are both in place. The truck does not excessively puke until underload for a period of time (given that you filled the coolant bottle before you left) in which it would begin to overheat in cycles. By cycles i mean the needle would pin, my electric fans come on and as i spool the turbo in neutral it brings the temps down. If i dont touch it it continues to climb.

It is a problem that comes and goes and I thought that the egr plate would elminate what I thought the egr was causing.

any help is appreciated. I have recieved two quotes of 1800 and 2500 in labor to do headgaskets, not including the studs. Sure would be nice to be sponsored by a machine shop.

Don't jump on the HG wagon right off the bat. There is alot more that can cause this.

I would check your EOT and ECT with a scan tool ASAP. With the information you are giving it sounds more to me like you may have a clogged oil cooler. Clogged oil coolers will cause it to puke when under load because the inability of it to keep the oil cool and in turn this flash boils the coolant and causes puking.

Having an coolant bypass filter will prevent this from happening with the new oil cooler.


This is beyond your post but are you running gauges? If not I would recommend the Edge insight. For about 350.00 it will monitor everything you need under the sun to keep an eye on things with your engine including EOT and ECT.

Thats just an FYI and is actually how I diagnosed my oil cooler failure when it happened to mine.
 
#9 ·
If only the exhaust side of the egr cooler is blocked off, and the cooler blows, coolant will still enter the intake through the egr valve causing your symptoms. If your losing coolant as fast as you say and you have no leaks I guarantee there is white smoke coming out of your exhaust, your just not noticing it. You can try pulling your egr valve and looking down in the intake, if it looks wet then the cooler is more then likely blown.

If all seems well in that area then the proper way to do it is pressure test the cooler off the truck, if it passes you need HG's. Can't rule out the possibility of it being both too

Also I'm not sure if you have a coolant filter or how clean you keep you oil but I'd bet you probably need an oil cooler as well, they just don't last once you start to rack up miles. I'm on my 4th:doh:
 
#10 ·
We have had two of these with the last to weeks, with a intermintent overheat problem, 2003 and 2004. Both of them ended up being the waterpump. They have plastic impellers on them and both of them were cracked from the center out, just free spining on the shaft. We are in the R&D stage of making a billet impeller right now. This will solve the problem of the plastic impellers breaking.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Towed the boat to the beach for the Belle Isle Wahoo tournament, about 1.5 hours, filled up the coolant bottle before. Ran the good old tow tune and had no overheating problems whatsoever.....BUT
checked the coolant bottle next morning and was dead empty... :shrug:

Placed Third out of 20, the biggest Wahoo caught was 57 lbs, we placed with a 47.8 aggregate weight for the two days of fishing.
on a second note, when the truck pulled me out the water in the boat, i did notice some water and white smoke coming out the exhaust.

Guess the gaskets are shot.. what a suprise.. another 6.leaker..

Im going to be riding around with a case of antifreeze until I can find someone who will do studs reasonably.. Cant wait til i break down with the boat on the way to the tournament when i need her most.

so shops out there.....I can put your name on the side of the boat and the truck if interested in helping me out... Sure are a lot of f-250s towing boats...:ford:

Pick your shop's Logo's spot!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#13 ·
any shops in the NC/SC/GA/VA areas I would be interested in a labor quote on doing studs. I have parts in hand. Please PM me a quote!!
 
#15 ·
Adam-

in late december we try to bring the boat to jupiter inlet to sailfish where its warm for a few days, we come straight down 95. how far are you from there? whats the turn around time on studs and egr delete?
 
#20 ·
look, lets just do it the simple way, take it to your local ford dealer and do a compression test, (70bucks gone so what) if it blows the coolant lid across their shop like it was shot out of a rifle, you have blown HG if not them I would start investgating other possible problems people are talking about.

if you lose power at your house, you don't start replacing power lines if you havn't checked the fuse!
 
#21 ·
look, lets just do it the simple way, take it to your local ford dealer and do a compression test, (70bucks gone so what) if it blows the coolant lid across their shop like it was shot out of a rifle, you have blown HG if not them I would start investgating other possible problems people are talking about.

if you lose power at your house, you don't start replacing power lines if you havn't checked the fuse!

It depends on who you ask and whos house it is!!LOL

I mean why not just assume HG every time. it will really bolster the 6.0L rap.

"getting a vibration at 70 on the highway"......."stud it and new HG"
 
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