Bulletproof diesel EGR and oil cooler upgrades - Diesel Forum

choff12 · 08-31-2009, 12:37 PM

Im doing my head studs in a few months and planed on replacing the OE oil cooler with another OE oil cooler. Then I found this site, Ford Power Stroke 6.0L Parts Upgrades from BulletProofDiesel.com. Now im thinking about doing the EGR and oil cooler upgrades from bulletproof. Anyone using these in conjunction with each other?

InetDev · 08-31-2009, 02:26 PM

Have heard good things about them, but for those prices you should consider how much value you will get out of the overbuilt replacements. Do you tow often enough to need the expensive oil cooler? Don't get me wrong, it's a great product, but for my recent EGR and oil cooler replacements, I personally couldn't justify it for my driving needs and went with the oem oil cooler.

HeavyAssault · 08-31-2009, 08:26 PM

The OEM oil cooler is more efficent than any aftermarket air-to-oil cooler. Take a rock into that cooler and your done.

dougjpr · 08-31-2009, 08:40 PM

Heavy Assault- that was my thought when I saw the oil cooler placement, you could be in trouble quickly

HeavyAssault · 08-31-2009, 08:43 PM

I like the new top plate so I guess you could remote mount the cooler to a safer location.

novimustang · 09-02-2009, 05:56 PM

Looks like a very nice kit, and a nice mounting plate. But yeah seems kinda pricey, though not to say it's not worth that, but maybe unnecessary?

**mlwest** · 10-21-2009, 06:20 PM

It does appear to be a very pricey kit - especially when you consider that they appear to have done a great job in engineering the oil transfer block but then chose a terrible mounting location for the cooler. Not only is it vulnerable but I can't leave my front license plate installed (a requirement here in California), it doesn't appear that I can retain my very functional fog lights and I'd have to mount the oil filter in an area prone to accumulate lots of mud/dirt even with my 2WD truck.

My 04 is now experiencing the plugged oil cooler issue and so I've been researching the whole topic.

I've been looking over my truck trying to find a better location - I haven't seen any that jump out at me.

However, not being one to give up easily, my first alternative is to use a bit of technology from the off-road/buggy guys and use a remote mount, electric fan/thermostatically controlled oil cooler. I'm thinking of mounting it beside the rear of the tranny (auto) on the drivers side as close to the bottom of the cab as is possible with the fan pointing towards the rear of the truck pushing air through the cooler. I'd mount the oil filter nearby, probably in front of the cooler and again as close to the bottom of the cab as possible to keep it out of as much of harms way as is feasible.

Anyone got any better ideas?

**teamroper60** · 10-21-2009, 08:35 PM

You could replace the oil cooler 3 times with factory coolers (or 6 factory rebuild kits) for the cost of one of their oil cooler kits. A much cheaper solution is to install a new factory cooler and a coolant filter kit from Dieselsite.

FTG-05 · 10-22-2009, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teamroper60

You could replace the oil cooler 3 times with factory coolers (or 6 factory rebuild kits) for the cost of one of their oil cooler kits. A much cheaper solution is to install a new factory cooler and a coolant filter kit from Dieselsite.

I agree.

**mlwest** · 10-22-2009, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teamroper60

You could replace the oil cooler 3 times with factory coolers (or 6 factory rebuild kits) for the cost of one of their oil cooler kits. A much cheaper solution is to install a new factory cooler and a coolant filter kit from Dieselsite.

I wish I could ignore the huge labor costs to replace all of those coolers

One reservation I have about the coolant filter solution is just where, in the flow of coolant around/through the motor, is the filter? If it doesn't intercept the coolant just before it enters the oil cooler and after it has left the block/cylinder heads etc then, while it surely wouldn't hurt having it, it would do little to prevent the various particles from being "filtered" first by the oil cooler.

And, unfortunately, any sand cast iron block will ALWAYS shed off small particles. I've heard of the additive that Ford recommends to help dissolve some of the iron particles but it seems a poor solution at best.

As for the OEM cooler being more efficient - when measuring the size of the cooler compared to it's air-to-oil equivalent - it sure is. However, since the OEM cooler is physically small it doesn't take much greater size to match it's performance with a traditional air-to-oil setup.

Another plus, if I can find a way to mount it all, would be to add the use of two inexpensive spin-on oil filters in parallel. Not only has the statement been made that Ford cheaped out on the oil filter design by not selecting a filter that is rated to flow enough for maximum flow demanded by the engine (and therefore bypassing right when you need it the most) but it also costs too much for what you're buying.

Comments anyone?

HeavyAssault · 10-22-2009, 09:52 PM

If any of the aftermarket kits currently available would perform better than the OEM stuff there would be TONS of people using them. Simply put there hasn't been any independent testing to show the effectiveness of these remote kits. More importantly any benefits of using these kits have not been shown when used by the average 6.0 user.

**mlwest** · 10-22-2009, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyAssault

If any of the aftermarket kits currently available would perform better than the OEM stuff there would be TONS of people using them. Simply put there hasn't been any independent testing to show the effectiveness of these remote kits. More importantly any benefits of using these kits have not been shown when used by the average 6.0 user.

I'm not sure you can say that just because a lot of people are not using an alternative to OEM is because the alternative is not better. Don't forget that Ford is very unlikely to use another vendor's patented part and that most of the 6.0s out there right now are still under the Ford 5yr/100k mile warranty.

There are TONS of owners saying they've had either their EGR and or oil cooler replaced MULTIPLE times. Ford now states that if any failure of an EGR cooler occurs that the oil cooler must also be replaced.

As for remote mount oil coolers being untested - nothing could be further from the truth. Remote mount oil coolers have been around for many, many years. My only real concern with oil cooling in general is the problem of over-cooling the oil. I wouldn't use a different system of oil cooling unless I could control how much heat is removed otherwise it would be possible to cause other problems.

I am definitely going to install the coolant filter - it certainly can't hurt.

**teamroper60** · 10-22-2009, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlwest

I wish I could ignore the huge labor costs to replace all of those coolers

Labor is labor. You're gonna have that putting on the aftermarket setup too. That aftermarket part costs nearly $1900 on it's own. The factory cooler can be bought for less than $600 and the rebuild kit for about $300. Do the math. Unless you are shooting for a million miles, it still doesn't work out to be cost effective to use the aftermarket part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlwest

One reservation I have about the coolant filter solution is just where, in the flow of coolant around/through the motor, is the filter? If it doesn't intercept the coolant just before it enters the oil cooler and after it has left the block/cylinder heads etc then, while it surely wouldn't hurt having it, it would do little to prevent the various particles from being "filtered" first by the oil cooler.

IH installs coolant filters on the VT365 if they come in for cooler work. Apparently they think it's a good idea. All I can say is, install one and then see what happens. You would be amazed at how much crud it catches in the first couple. After changing out 2 of mine, my degas no longer has any casting sand in it. That tells me it is doing its job...

**mlwest** · 10-23-2009, 01:43 AM

Initial interesting thing about the math:

$3,078 for all parts and labor from local, well established diesel specialist private shop to install bulletproofdiesel aftermarket parts both EGR cooler and oil cooler. This quote was provided to me as just someone who called off the street - no brother-in-law deal.

$3,250 for all parts and labor from local Ford dealer to install all Ford parts.

The only apples-to-oranges thing I know of is that the dealer EGR cooler includes a new EGR Valve and the aftermarket part does not.

My big issue - I just don't like the mounting location of the aftermarket oil cooler.

**teamroper60** · 10-23-2009, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlwest

$3,250 for all parts and labor from local Ford dealer to install all Ford parts

Wow. Just wow. I am not in the business of working on other people's trucks but for that kind of money, I would start! That is $2650 in labor costs...... Not bad money at all.....

I had my heads machined, headgaskets replaced, studs installed, some EGR work done, a new oil cooler (purchased separately from Ford for less than $600) installed, the coolant flushed/refilled, oil change and the A/C recharged for less than that.....

Somebody is trying to make a killing on that job......

BTW, I don't like the location of the aftermarket cooler either...