Anyone Blow a 6.0 Head Gasket Yet?

[Just1more]

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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.

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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.

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I hope your right. The smoke I referred to was actually steam. We'll see on Monday. You guy's have a great weekend. I'm going to the final day of the White Marlin Open!

[ford_doctor]

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Ford_Doc

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

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To your first question:
Yes, but... if an EGR cooler has a large enough leak it too can cause coolant over flow from the de-gas bottle however symptoms like steam, hydro locking and unexplained coolant loss or more likely to happen first. Coolant overflow is caused by over pressurization of the cooling system. A 16lb cap cant hold the 40+psi of exhaust back pressure that is commonly found in the EGR cooler. Since combustion pressures are much higher than that, head gasket failures are more likely to cause coolant to blow out of the cap.

How do we test for this?
"We" install a pressure tester in line with one of the coolant return hoses and first pressurize the system looking for leaks. If no external leaks are found, the EGR valve is then removed and we inspect for coolant leaking into the intake through the EGR passage. The right exhaust manifold is also inspected for signs of coolant. A minimum of fifteen minutes is recommended for this procedure.

If that test passes, a road test is performed with the gage still installed. Full throttle accelerations and high loads are recommended conditions for this est. A rapid rise in cooling system pressure and or pressures above the system specification indicate a head gasket leak.

[rocky7184]

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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.


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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?

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Hey Clevelandjim same thing happened to me.Turned out to be a bad cap on the degas bottle.The dealer also lowered the level in the bottle(per recall notice).

They did that in feb or march and i have not had any issues at all.I've also towed about 6,000 miles with a 7,000 lb camper and haven't had another leak from the bottle.

[rock_doctor]

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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?

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For the most part, yea... A member of TDS talked to an engineer from International and then posted a synopsis of his conversation early to mid 04 in this forum. He basically stated what I posted. I can't go beyond that, as I did not have the conversation myself. I will go back and edit that part of my post as I have done a search in the 6.0 archive and went though 529 threads that hit on the phrase "international head bolts engineer" but could not find the original post.

mark

[Just1more]

The EGR cooler diagnosis makes since now, because I did notice that the steam coming out of the exhaust would all of a sudden stop and then for no apparent reason, start again. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

[lubeowner]

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The EGR cooler diagnosis makes since now, because I did notice that the steam coming out of the exhaust would all of a sudden stop and then for no apparent reason, start again. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

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When my egr cooler went bad I pulled the egr valve out and then started the truck. You could see a mist of coolant flowing into the intake. Mine would hydro lock the motor if I filled the coolant full. For a while until it could get fixed I just drove the truck until I would hear the engine fan start to kick on more than normal. Then I would add a gallon of coolant. It would hold two gallons to get it back to the full mark but this would cause the hydro locking situation. I would also park the truck on a hill side with the pass. side being high.

When I would start my truck it would steam for about 2 to 5 minutes before it would clear up. Then it would also steam at stop signs and lights. I was really embarrassed driving it, but had to until parts came in.

Changing the egr cooler fixed this.

[Just1more]

I hate my life. Dealer says it's head gaskets AND EGR Cooler AND possibly turbo! $6 grand, no warranty even though stock program is in the truck. There are two codes which he says should not be there. P-1000 and P-603. Trading it in on an '06.