[dieselcrank]

2005, 78,000 miles. FICM at 75,000 miles and now exhaust smell in the cab. Truck has new oil cooler and egr cooler by prior owner.
I checked the y pipe and from top and bottom I see no soot, I do see minor soot around exhaust manifolds in spots. I'm thinking about a Sinister solid Y pipe and putting some gaskets on the manifolds to cure any possible exhaust leak.
My tech takes the turbo off to do Y pipe replacement, my question is should I delete the EGR cooler since turbo will be off. I know there's a lot more to do but might save some labor now.
Does someone make a plug to go into EGR valve wiring to keep light from coming on. Or do I need to send ECM off to get flashed. I know people will say get a tuner, I wanted to keep my quiet stock exhaust and air filter. I understand that mild tune needed with EGR delete but exhaust will be needed?

 

[TKOPerformance]

Do not remove the EGR valve and leave it plugged in. It isn't going to work, as it can do nothing with no exhaust flow. This will ensure proper fan operation and should prevent a CEL on an '05.

If you are not hearing ticking it is unlikely that you have a manifold leak.

Deleting the EGR cooler requires removing the intake, but the turbo must come off for that too, so you will save some labor dong it now. Though, it begs the question about the STC fitting adn OC while you're in there...

 

[ttmech]

I have an 04, erg delete , cut the bottom portion of erg valve and bolted the top back on , plunged it in , looks like I still have egr , keeps the plug clean , ?

 

[ford_doctor]

If you are not hearing ticking it is unlikely that you have a manifold leak.

Not so.Ticking is rare and is usually only audible with multiple broken bolts on a 6.0L. It is common for 6.0L manifolds to seep and even leak with or without broken manifold bolts. It does not take much of a leak to produce an exhaust odor in the cab. Ford published a TSB for this concern quite a while ago instructing to install exhaust manifold gaskets. There is no gasket from the factory on these engines. You may encounter a broken bolt which you obviously will want to take care of while you are there.

 

[TKOPerformance]

Correct, there is no gasket on F-series. I think E-series may have had them though because you can buy them and they are a factory part number. I would always advise installing them once the manifolds are taken off the heads, or in the case of a broken bolt I would do it as well. I've found that so long as the factory magic is intact all is well, but once things deviate from that you are better off with the gaskets.