Well, it finally happened, or already happened I guess. I have an 05 6.0 PSD CC SWB FX4 65,8XX on the odometer. I have only put 700 miles on it since I bought it. Truck is completely stock. I was driving around town yesterday and went to pull into the gas station and smelled coolant. Got out and looked under truck as I was filling it up, yep, gray coolant pouring onto the ground. Called my friend who is a service writer for my ford dealer. He cussed for a few seconds then told me to meet him at the shop. He took me and my 8 month old daughter home. I know the truck was pulled hard before I bought it. He looked up the warranty history before I bought it and all that had been done was the cubby whole door replaced under the brake controller. He kept apologizing to me for it and I said I haven't even pulled anything with it yet. Anywho, he agreed to put ARP head bolts in it and keep my warranty intact. My question to you fellas is this. The truck has been completely stock all of its life, it was pulled hard but this never happened to the original owner. I was not pulling anything and it happened to me. I am seriously thinking of putting an SCT programmer on the truck. Will, the ARP bolts cure all of the 6.0's puking issues. The tech at the dealer said he has only done a few as ford does not recommend this, but the ones he has done he hasn't had in with anymore puking issues. By the way, build date on truck is 01/05. I think it should have the 04.5 engine, shouldn't it? Anyway, sorry this post is long winded and thanks for any replies.

 

Is the dealer sure the problem is not the EGR cooler?

 

Fireman,
Assuming your buds diagnosis is correct; that its a compression leak due to compromised gaskets, then the ARP's (along w/ some gaskets) should cure your problem. The fact that your friend will do the ARPs and still honor the warranty is A-OK! One reason it would possibly keep puking after studs is if the head was warped or warped enough that the studs couldn't overcome the warpage. If the dealer checks this then they should replace them if needed. Otherwise you should be good to go. Good luck and keep your friend at the dealership happy!

 

Well, I went in to the dealer and the tech told me he has to flush the cooling system out and ordered me a new oil cooler. He says he has to have the cooling system clean and replace the oil cooler before warranty will allow him to proceed to the heads. He says this is only the 3rd oil cooler he has ever had to change, on a 6.0. The truck got extremely hot as I drove it to the dealership. About 4-5 miles at 30 mph with the temp guage pegged on H. I informed them of this as my service writer told me to do it. They will check compression when all of the oil is cleaned out of the cooling system.

 

Well this makes more sense, as your first post said "Grey" coolant, and there is no "grey" coolant installed in the engine.

This particular tech may not have seen many oil cooler failures, but they are not uncommon. The EGR cooler failure is much more common and upon further tests the tech may discover that both the Oil Cooler and EGR cooler are bad as it is common for one to cause the failure of the other.

As far as head gaskets & studs, if they are not leaking then i doubt the dealer will replace them at this point. As far as ARP studs, yes they are the preferred way to go if you have to replace them.

Good luck

 

Well, dealer finally got cleared out enough to start on my truck this morning. They tried to drain the coolant and the tech said there was not very much in it. He decided to go ahead with the head gasket replacement. The truck got real hot in the ten blocks I drove it from the time I noticed the coolant smell to the dealer. I ordered the ARP head studs today and they will be here tomorrow. They will have the motor on a stand by the end of today and hopefully back in tomorrow. It is probably too late now, but aside from the studs is there anything else that should be replaced with non-ford parts in this procedure. Dealer has been real good to work with on this problem. Just wondering if there is anything else to try to do now, while the engine is on the stand? Thanks.

 

Well the dealer should check; but make sure the heads and block deck are flat; I believe the tolerance is 0.002" for overall flatness; if it heated up as bad as you have said it did there's a good chance that something is now warped. If the dealer will go for it; now would not be a bad time to put in some A/M gaskets like Hypermax; if you are trying to go for longer term reliability (although there is nothing wrong with the stock gaskets; they are just not as good as the Hypermax product).

The only other mod I can think of that would not affect your warranty but would improve reliability would be the fuel crossover line modification; it is definitely easier to do with the engine on a stand.

I would say that now would also be a perfect time to do an EGR delete but I know the dealer won't support that and it would definitely cost you your warranty.

Make sure they flush your coolant system really well with a degreaser of some sort as well.

Other than that unless you want to go crazy and rebuild the engine; I'd say do the studs, gaskets and crossover line and you will enjoy many miles of puking free driving from your 6.0

 

Well, just got back from the dealership. They had the heads off and checked them for flatness, along with the block. Everything is smooth as a baby's butt. They are going to put the ARP studs in but I didn't ask the right questions early enough and they will use stock ford gaskets. Also getting a new oil cooler and egr cooler just to be on the safe side. So, hopefully tomorrow evening I will have her back and driving again. I will keep you all posted.