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Combustion gases in the coolant

5K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  TDIDog 
#1 ·
This old girl got hot yesterday and when I got it in here and cooled down enough to add coolant (Two gallons), I had the cap off and with the engine running, I noticed what I thought was burping of air, but the coolant level wasn't dropping and it just continued to burp.

I got a bad feeling and got out the magic block tester with the blue fluid that will turn yellow as combustion gases pass through it. Sure enough, it turned yellow in about 30 seconds or less.

Crap.

So now I think I'll dig out my sailor dictionary and pull the EGR valve, looking for coolant.

The EGR cooler is mounted to the back of the head. Not a big deal if they had provided a doghouse to remove, not so much fun without it.
 
#3 ·
I got it hot and bubbling exhaust gasses and pinched off the two hoses for the EGR cooler. I ran it up to 1800 RPM and no bubbles. Unclamped the hoses and back to bubbles. It looks like the EGR cooler will come out on the drivers side, from below. OR, once I get the EGR valve out, it may come out the top. Either way, it's gotta cool down first.
 
#4 ·
I got that SOB out. Lots of working from top then bottom, then top then bottom. Wash, rinse, repeat. Once it was unbolted, it came out the bottom on the driver's side but the EGR valve came out the top. It wasn't nearly as bad as I figured it was going to be. When I loosened the Vclamp at the exhaust manifold, coolant poured out so I was 100% sure I was on the right path. Getting it out was messy with coolant running down hour arm with every move and is best done by someone else.
 
#5 ·
Pictures will follow.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Descriptions precede pictures.

The EGR valve is in this picture. Really, it is. It has the grey top way back there behind the wiring harness.



Way back in there is the other side of the cooler. From the blue washer fluid cap, go straight up and at the back of the head, you will see a black blob. That is the cooler. I took off the fresh air intake, but I'm not sure I needed to. Yes, it helped, but there isn't much to do on this side and in order to get it off, you have to remove the rain tray and if you take that off, where will you put your nuts?



This is the valve from the bottom. The oil cooler is at bottom center and I pinched off that hose and the hose that is connected to the tube to the right of that black, plastic tube in the picture. This hose comes from the block.



Here is a the service position for all of the hoses and wires and tubes. There are three wire connections back there: EGR valve, Cam sensor and Rail pressure sensor. The harness is zip-tied to two plastic channels. I removed one and removed part of the harness from the other. You can also see the EGR Temperature #2 sensor in this picture. It's the long, thin metal thing with the wires on it to the left of the brake booster. I think that you could pull that and look for coolant or see if it's clean. The one plastic channel that I removed has one bolt on it and one retainer on the horizontal part. remove the bolt and you can slide the channel off of the retainer by pushing it to your left.



This is a view of the exhaust side with the heat shield removed and the vacuum line for the diverter valve moved. Three bolts on the heat shield, the vacuum line and the V Clamp is all that is needed on this side. The bolt for the clamp snapped as I was removing it. No rust, so I don't know why it broke. I suggest ordering it.



This is what I saw when I removed the clamp: Coolant running out. Definitely cooler leaking.



Between the valve and the intake manifold you can see one of the nuts holding the pipe to the valve. Mostly this was all done by Braille, but occasionally you can see things. you can also see the grey connection end of the cam sensor.



EGR valve. Apparently they just used this as a convenient place to support the hose rather than it being cooled.



There she is. Notice how clean it is on the right (outlet) side. There are just two bolts holding it to the head and both of them are relatively easy access from your right. There is a gasket on each end as well as the one on the bottom of the EGR valve. Ford says the cooler comes with the ones mounted to it, but be sure to order the one for the valve as well. And the clamp.



All told, it should be a 2-3 hour job to get it out. I spent most of the day, but I was also doing alot of other stuff as well, so it's hard to tell exactly how much time I spent on it.
 
#8 ·
I talked to Bullet Proof Diesel And they were interested in this EGR Cooler. I was waiting for him to get back to me, but he hadn't even after I sent a reminder Email. Hmmm. Guess they aren't interested.

Today they call me again because they do want this cooler. The reason he was reminded of our conversation is that someone else had called to talk to them about the failed EGR cooler on their 100,000 miles Transit.

They sent me a shipping label, so all I need to do is drop it off with FedEx. He promised me pictures once they get it apart. I will ask if they will allow me to share.
 
#10 ·
I just noticed that I said that the cooler comes with the gaskets mounted to it, but that's wrong. It only comes with the gasket on the exhaust manifold end. So, you will need the two gaskets for the EGR valve and the exhaust manifold V clamp as well as the cooler. Parts should run you $250-$275.
 
#11 ·
The guys at Bullet Proof are top notch, we chase/race in Baja in the desert southwest, and they really are Bullet Proof.
There are times when race wins, even lives depend on the reliability of your diesel, we need 100%, 100% of the time.
 
#13 ·
The cap should have protected the radiator by dumping at it's set pressure. I will keep an eye on the radiator though.
 
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