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Degas bottle puking fluid

13K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  maxeykevin1 
#1 ·
Ok all.... I’m stumped. Just picked up my camper from getting some work done & brought it home. (First time towing with this truck... 2005 f350 with 6.0) EOT ranged from 185-211 & deltas were never higher than 5. Turbo boost was way up (15-20+psi) but I’ve never towed with it, so maybe those numbers are accurate. It towed pretty well & was a nice ride. When I got home I checked the degas bottle & had coolant all over the bottle & a little spray under the hood. Could it just be a bad cap, or am I looking at major problems???? [emoji2359]
 
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#4 ·
Just bought the truck.... so it’s new to me.

Coolant looks fine, as far as I can tell. I’m sure if there was fuel or oil in it, it would be easy to spot?

Not sure about temp sensors, but I suppose they could be bad. They read pretty close to outside temp. I have checked them a couple times before I started it. Hopefully just a little overfilled on a weak cap. [emoji1317][emoji1317]
 
#5 ·
Since this only happened with towing it’s likely a head gasket issue, or an egr cooler problem if it’s still on the truck and not deleted. However the best way to verify would be to “T” a gauge into one of the small degas bottle return lines and tow your camper while watching the gauge. If you see large pressure spikes under acceleration or pressure over 16 psi you have a problem. You could also pressure test the cap to see what pressure it will hold, or just replace it and retest.
 
#9 ·
Something I once reading when I first got my 6.0 10 years ago was that the "minimum line" on the Degas bottle is actually considered the "Maximum" level line for our 6.0's.

Using the actual Max line is too much fluid.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong....that was a long time ago I read that on one of the PSD forums.

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#11 ·
Do not use green. Flush the system with water and restore. I would suggest replacing the oil cooler after the flush due to the fact that most of the debris will get caught in the cooler. Then change to a CAT ELC coolant or equivalent
 
#12 ·
GREEN!! You might need a new diesel guy....lol

I've always used the OEM Ford Gold in my 6.0 as most recommended on all the PSD forums. I'm not sure on the Red as that is new to me (I'll have to do some checking to educate myself there). Red might be a newer, better Diesel option I'm just not aware of.

I had an old VW Passat TDI and it was the Pink coolant only for that baby.

Green is for regular old gassers. Never Green for Diesels as far as I always knew.

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#13 ·
Point of clarification.. he said "Green extended life". Not sure if there is a difference. I see regular green as well as the Green extended life option so, thinking there is a difference of some kind.

He put a warranty on his work so I'd think he knows what he's talking about.

Maybe not?

He's a busy shop that specializes in this engine. Highly regarded in the North Georgia area.

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#16 ·
Went for a weekend trip pulling the camper & pushed it a little on the way home. Saw some EOT & ECTs in the upper 220s & low 230s. They never got more than 10-12 degrees apart. I do however have more coolant all over the bottle & across the drivers corner under the hood. Also quite a bit under the bottle. Coolant is only down a little bit, maybe 1/4” out of the bottle after all that.
( I marked the coolant level on the bottle before we left on the trip) The bottle puking everywhere has me a little nervous I’ve got head gasket issues. I didn’t see any white smoke from the exhaust, only a dark puff on a downshift while running a couple hills. Could it just be a bad EGR cooler, or even a cracked bottle?? At a bit of a loss, as this is my first diesel & I don’t want to do repairs twice, or miss something important.
 
#17 ·
It sounds similar to mine after I bought it.

Drove it home to Georgia from Indiana and it did fine. Two or three days later it started puking fluid. Ended up being the oil cooler.

I did a complete bulletproof at that time.

Really hurt to drop $6500 into a truck I thought and paid a premium for because it was really clean and I thought there was nothing wrong with it.

The guy I bought it from did give me $1500 back. It helped a little but it still hurt.


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#19 ·
Yeah, I haven’t made it to a parts store to get the heater hose & gauge. Maybe, I’m a little afraid of what I’ll find after I get it hooked up :(
Does the gauge go on either of the top degas bottle lines, or one in particular??
I’ve watched videos on the gauge setup, but I’m still not quite sure what to look for. I know a spike in pressure, but is that in conjunction with a rise in turbo pressure, engine speed, coolant temperature???
 
#20 ·
You run the gauge into the cab so you can watch it. Tap into the small line from the radiator to the degas bottle. I have a whole setup made for quick diag. You’ll see pressure spikes dependent on engine load. The longer/harder you’re in the throttle the higher it will be. If you see any spikes on acceleration and the pressure stays up (which I’m sure it will) you’ll have you’re concrete answer. A blown EGR cooler doesn’t need load in the engine to puke coolant, and you’ll usually have white smoke with a bad cooler. Blown headgaskets on this engine need load on the engine to show itself, and you won’t see any smoke out the tail pipe.
 
#21 ·
The manufacturer of the engine (Navistar) calls for a CAT EC-1 coolant. It holds up MUCH better than the Ford Gold coolant. The green can be used, but the high temperatures of the EGR system can cause accelerated depletion of the additives. The Ford Gold can easily gel or drop out particulates that can plug the oil cooler. Ford calls for a max life of 40k miles, while the EC-1 ELC coolant can go 100k+ miles and not be at risk for any gelling or solids formation. The orange colored coolant is typically a "DexCool" type. It is not recommended at all.

btw - you really can't go by color anymore. Look at the specs!
 
#22 ·
I have a 07 6.0 just had an egr delete,new oil cooler,4” exhaust,programmer with gauges. Put 4000 miles going toTexas and back degas bottle puked out fluid every time I filled it so I just let it go barely see fluid in degas bottle but both truck coolant temperature gauge and programmer gauge read good running right where they are supposed to be, heard this from other people to you can’t fill up the degas bottle just watch your temp gauges
 
#25 ·
That's weird, heat expands and cool contracts, so if it sat 2 days it was definitely cool and the level shoulda gone back where it was.

X2 on the Cat coolant and ignoring colors, read the label. Ethylene glycol is what you want. Nothing more. Hell, in old engines I don't give a fuk about I've used washer fluid.
 
#26 ·
Maybe it was vacuum going in & not coming out?
Coolant level stayed the same before & after cap removal. Going to do the water flush & refill in the next month or so, unless I decide to get a new oil cooler & bulletproof EGR installed. Then just water flush & I’ll have the shop put in my new ELC coolant.
 
#28 ·
If you have a coolant filter installed on your 6.0 Try this... Run one side of the coolant filter 3/8" line to the left side of the degas bottle and the other to the fitting on top of the engine block. I believe some vehicles use this line to cool the turbo but the 2003 tp 2007 do not use this to cool the turbo, that's the reason it is connected to the degas bottle just as the overflow 3/8" line connects to the radiator.
THIS FIXED MY PUKING PROBLEM COMPLETELY. A SIMPLE FIX WHICH I AM SURE MANY HAVE NOT CONSIDERED. I HAVENT SEEN OR HEARD OF ANYONE MENTIONING THIS ON THE ENTERNET. I hope this will help someone who is considering replacing the Head Gaskets. Save yourself $4000.00-$5000.00 and try this first. It will work if you've already done the ARP head studs and head gaskets...
Your welcome my 6.0 friends:)
 
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