Anyone Blow a 6.0 Head Gasket Yet? - Diesel Forum

Just1more · 08-10-2006, 03:06 PM

My '04 started BILLOWING white anti-freeze smelling smoke. Managed to get home and call the dealer. They have heard of a "few, but not many". Thanks God for the warranty!

MrMike · 08-10-2006, 03:38 PM

yep, stock truck except as noted below

rock_doctor · 08-10-2006, 04:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
My '04 started BILLOWING white anti-freeze smelling smoke. Managed to get home and call the dealer. They have heard of a "few, but not many". Thanks God for the warranty!

[/ QUOTE ]

"A few but not many"? wow great dealer... Do a search and you will find hundreds of posts. For a while back in 04 into 05 it was a common post.

<Statement edited out>

Some owners are buying a set of ARP head studs (stronger then original bolts) and having the dealer reassemble with the studs. They allow more clamping force and will reduce the chances of future problems. They (ford/international) also released a better head gasket in response to the problem. Make sure your dealer uses them... I would expect the new gaskets to be the only one available but by asking you are letting them know, you know what is going on...

Do a search and be armed. As long as the truck is stock you should not have any problems with ford covering the repair but be sure to ask the dealer how they plan to change the gaskets. Some mechanics just grin and bearing it and pulling the heads as the truck sits. Some are actually lifting the cab off the frame and doing the job that way. Believe it or not this actually appears to be the best way to do it but if the mechanic is not careful they can scratch something, crush something or pinch something causing more problems.

Let us know how you make out.
Good luck,
mark

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KingKong · 08-10-2006, 04:54 PM

HELLO JUST1MORE
I am on my 3rd set of head gaskets including the original ones make sure thy do not surface the heads on your truck because their is no clearance for a shaved head the values will hit the pistons or as mind did it will cause the injectors to burn up because of the compression If the heads are warped they must install new ones

Mike Schallmann · 08-10-2006, 05:01 PM

Blew a set of gaskets at roughly 40K --FORD replaced the studs and gaskets--they would not REPEAT would not allow me to use ARB studs (even if I paid for them). They lifted the cab and stated that they would replace the heads if they were warped they would not resurface the old ones. All in all the job was well done and I am happy with it. They also replaced several FI's that were weak --good job to the guys at Montrose Ford in Montrose Colorado--

GregH · 08-10-2006, 05:35 PM

If your truck is "billowing" smoke, I would first suspect an EGR cooler failure. I'm sure the dealer will perform the appropriate diagnosis, however...

Just1more · 08-10-2006, 05:40 PM

It is not the EGR. This smoke is white and reaks of antifreeze. Thanks for the input fellas, I'll keep you posted.

moovet · 08-10-2006, 05:42 PM

just 1 more...
have you ever had coolant puked out of the resivor??? If you have not had any puking issues and the copious white antifreez smoke was your first ever symptom then Im going to go with your egr cooler took a dirt nap and is dumping coolant into your exhaust ....don't get me wrong head bolt stretching and gasket failure is not uncommon but usually the first thing people notice is fluid being pushed out of the coolant resivor after working it hard....
jschall

GregH · 08-10-2006, 06:00 PM

just1more, I think you may have thought I was refering to the EGR valve instead of the EGR cooler. The cooler carries antifreeze and exhaust. When they fail, they dump antifreeze into the exhaust stream and you see it as a billowing white smoke.

I understand ignorance, I deal with it everyday - both in my customers and in myself. But I think you need to learn that when someone a bit more knowledgeable than yourself makes a suggestion, don't automatically shut them down. Learn the system for yourself before you judge what the problem likely is or isn't.

Just1more · 08-10-2006, 06:23 PM

It's definetely a head gasket issue. The issue occurred about a mile from my house after an hour highway run. After sitting for about an hour, I went to start it to move to a better spot for the tow truck and the motor was almost hydro locked. After I moved it, I relieved the pressure from the cooling system to prevent it from happening again. I don't need any bent con rods.

Rich807 · 08-10-2006, 07:24 PM

Tons of people have blown headgaskets and tons of them have been blown by people running chipped trucks (like yourself).

If your dealer warranties this job for you I'd say you're darn lucky.

PaCeMaKeR · 08-10-2006, 07:31 PM

I change 2 sets of head gaskets a week at our dealership
Some are warranty some are $$$$.

cab off pics here

http://krylonracing.com/pace2/

ford_doctor · 08-10-2006, 07:45 PM

[ QUOTE ]
just1more, I think you may have thought I was referring to the EGR valve instead of the EGR cooler. The cooler carries antifreeze and exhaust. When they fail, they dump antifreeze into the exhaust stream and you see it as a billowing white smoke.

I understand ignorance, I deal with it everyday - both in my customers and in myself. But I think you need to learn that when someone a bit more knowledgeable than yourself makes a suggestion, don't automatically shut them down. Learn the system for yourself before you judge what the problem likely is or isn't.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll second that. Layered steel head gaskets do not "blow" the way composite gaskets do. Coolant really cannot leak into the cylinders because the cooling system does not have enough pressure to do so.
There is still enough pressure on the gasket to form a seal. When the head gaskets fail to seal effectively, they leak combustion into the cooling system and force coolant out of the de-gas bottle. You may have steam coming from under the hood but no billowing smoke.

It is more likely that your EGR cooler had failed as GregH has suggested. That WILL leak during operation and while shut down. A leaking EGR cooler will leak into the intake manifold while running and into the the exhaust when shut down. When this happens, coolant fills the right exhaust manifold and can sometimes cause an engine to hydro lock. Coolant in the exhaust WILL cause a lot of billowing steam that LOOKS like smoke, the way that only antifreeze can.

Diesel Jay · 08-10-2006, 07:52 PM

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It is a known fact that International made a mistake with the amount of bolts holding down the heads. Quite frankly there are not enough and they admit to it but defend themselves by saying there was no more room left for more bolts with the hardware necessary to work the 4 valves with the two push rods.

[/ QUOTE ]
Can you provide some links to this "admittance" on the part of International? I'd be most interested, since I know a number of International 6.0L engineers who were surprised when this explanation was relayed to them. Or, was this relayed off-hand, from someone who knew someone...et cetera...and so on?

When it comes to stock trucks, Nav knows exactly what can cause head gaskets to fail. It ranges from poor control strategies under odd circumstances, to manufacturing problems. However, additional bolts won't do a thing if certain conditions can cause all the related components -- the block, the gasket, and the head -- to flex in some form or fashion. And, they do. It's not nefarious, or negligent, or the result of someone trying to cheapen a design. It's just an inherent characteristic that appears in certain cases.

Beyond stock trucks, when it comes to modified engines, Nav, quite simply, doesn't care. They designed the engine to specified targets, and owe no obligation to those wishing to exceed them.

- Jay

Clevelandjim · 08-10-2006, 08:06 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I'll second that. Layered steel head gaskets do not "blow" the way composite gaskets do. Coolant really cannot leak into the cylinders because the cooling system does not have enough pressure to do so.
There is still enough pressure on the gasket to form a seal. When the head gaskets fail to seal effectively, they leak combustion into the cooling system and force coolant out of the de-gas bottle. You may have steam coming from under the hood but no billowing smoke.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ford_Doc

Does coolant blowing out of the de-gas bottle usually signal a head gasget issue? It happened to me recently. Also, what does a dealer do to test for head gasket issues?