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Bulletproof Air/Oil Cooler yes or no?

9K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  TKOPerformance 
#1 ·
In 2012 I had most of the updates done on one of my trucks except for headstuds. The stand pipes, dummy plugs, pressure sprint, EGR delete, etc. were all done along with new STC fittings, CAC hoses, new oil cooler, etc. Coolant filter installed prior to that work and a bypass oil system installed at the same time as the work. I have a Edge CTS with an EGT probe to monitor temps. The shop that did the work installed new Ford Gold after doing the work. It's now 4 years and 50,000 miles later. My delta's are fine, though I need to put in a new thermostat because my ECT isn't getting above 175 so I am assuming it's failed open.

The truck has 160k on it. Blackstone oil analysis has been great. The factory head studs were replaced under warranty at about 30k miles and I haven't had a problem since.

I'm wondering if I should leave well enough alone, or given the miles since the head studs were replaced if I'm over due for a head gasket leak due to the studs? Some time in the next week I'm planning to at least drain the cooling system and flush it out a few times with distilled water and replace the coolant filter. Thinking the common wisdom is to use a ELC coolant? I talked with Rob at Fleet Services NW the other day and he said Caterpillar published a report that using distilled water in cooling systems is no longer recommended. I've been using distilled for years (and I'm a fleet owner) so not sure what to think about that? He has worked on a lot of 6.0's and says he just flushes them out with a garden hose and replaces the coolant mixed with tap water.

My quandary is whether or not I should have ARP head studs put in as a preventative measure, though my truck has made it 130 since they were replaced with no problems. If I'm getting the head studs done I'm thinking about having a Bulletproof Diesel Air/Oil cooler with the thermostat installed at the same time, just so I know I won't have to replace another factory oil cooler, but I'm wondering if that's overkill?

What's the collective wisdom? Flush out the Ford Gold and replace with ELC and then do/don't do ARP's and do/don't do the external oil cooler?

Thanks for any thoughts or advice.
 
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#2 ·
It's up to you to decide if you want to spend the bucks or not. I am on my 3rd 6.0 PSD so I have been getting lots of free advice from this forum for a while. I've had a few issues solved by the crowd here, but I have also read about some really nasty problems attributed to the oil cooler on the 6.0. Those stories scared me enough that I bit the bullet when my EGR cooler started leaking and I went with the BPD kit that comes with their EGR cooler and their external oil cooler. I have been really happy with it, although now that the weather is turning cooler I have noticed that it takes longer for my heater to start blowing warm air.

Our water at the house is pretty hard so when I flushed the cooling system, I didn't want all those minerals in there. I used the hose water to get all the old nasty stuff out, but then went with distilled on the last couple of cycles and added ELC. It seems to be holding up OK.
 
#3 ·
Flush the system and change it over the ELC. I typically like to see the coolant filter get to its third change before flushing, so after one month, after three months, then after the first year.

I wouldn't say the thermostat has failed just because the ECT won't get past 175. What's the temperature like outside? These trucks have a massive cooling system with 7 gallons of coolant. Its designed like that so it won't overheat while towing a backhoe through Death Valley with the AC cranked. But in winter, when the outside temps plummet its not uncommon not to get up to the t-stat opening point. 175-180 is normal when its freezing outside. I only ever see 190+ once the summer comes and temps get into the 80s and above. Even in the peak of summer it rarely tops 196, an that's with outside temps at about 100.

The thinking behind tap water vs. distilled is that distilled water has zero mineral content and some of those minerals are beneficial to the cooling system. The problem is that some of them aren't. I'm really surprised that some smart entrepreneur hasn't started selling "cooling system water" with the right minerals in it and none of the bad ones. To me, with no way to verify what's in the water I'll ere on the side of caution and continue to use distilled water, which I've used for over a decade without issue.

You do not have head studs. Stock fasteners are bolts, TTY junk that will ultimately fail. There are no better bolts, no better gaskets, that's all internet urban legend. Every 6.0 with bolts will have a HG failure at some point. 40k, 250k, whatever, its going to happen. ARP studs are the only way to ensure you don't get a failure. You might also save one or both heads because if you wait for a HG to fail you will likely crack at least one head. I'd do it sooner rather than later.

I think the BPD OCs are a solution in search of a problem. There's nothing wrong with the factory OC design, and Ford never saw a need to issue an updated part due to failure, as they have with a lot of 6.0 parts that were failure prone. The problem is the coolant and the lack of a filter. Fix that and the factory OC is fine. There are issues with the external coolers not getting up to temperate when its really cold outside, and also affecting coolant temperature to where I've seen people looking for tunes to turn the fan on at a lower temperature to cool the coolant down. I mean, really? $2,500 and still you have those issues? To me, not worth it.
 
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