[dgale914]

I had a local shop replace my heads, oil cooler, egr cooler, etc. From the day I picked the truck up it has had a constant smell of diesel while driving it, it has been getting 8mpg where it used to get 12mpg towing, and it has about 1/2 the power that it had before I took it to this shop.

Today I decided to start poking around in the engine compartment. Long story short, I discovered that there is about a 50/50 mix of diesel fuel & coolant in my cooling system! I couldn't believe it! That explains the symptoms but I don't know how the fuel got in the system. Someone told me that it could be the result of one or more injectors being installed with a bad or missing 'injector cup' (rubber cup on injector?), which would clearly be the result of the bonehead who put the motor back together.

Question: What other mechanical issues could cause raw fuel to be dumped into the cooling system?

Unfortunately, this discovery also means that the truck is 'done'!

All seals, hoses, valves, heater core, fill tank, etc in the cooling system will now need to be replaced after being subjected to 200F diesel fuel. This will most likely end up in a lawsuit as the shop owner is not likely to man-up and own-up to the poor workmanship.

If you're familiar with these motors and have seen this before, please let me know what other issues could dump fuel in the coolant system. I know it's not head gaskets because they are new, the heads are new, and typically you don't dump raw fuel in the system with a blown head gasket.(have had 3 of those already with truck - with ARPs!)

Thanks

Doug

 

[lubbockguy1979]

Injector oring wasn't installed correctly. You will need to flush the system and correct the problem. A scan tool such as auto enginuity would probably help to find the cylinder. you said you had multiple issues with arps and head gaskets? Were they installed correctly and on flat heads?

 

[dgale914]

Heads were supposedly 'checked' to be true and flat the first two times we lost head gaskets. Once with the dealer (who would only re-install head 'bolts'), and the 2nd time with this independant shop, when the ARPs we installed.

It's kind of a shame, I've owned about 5 or 6 Ford trucks and because of the repeated mechanical issues with this truck I don't want to get near another one. When this truck is 'fixed' it's 'out of here' as fast as I can sell it. Too bad, because it does have all the Banks stuff on it and it 'did' haul the mail well - till it failed!

I hate the exterior and interiors of the Dodge's and Chevys, but if they are more reliable I'll have to deals with their inferior cosmetics to get the durability.

 

[worldwide73]

Cracked injector cups will lead to fuel in coolant, but if you have cracked injector cups on a 6.0 you have a cracked head.

 

[lenzhotrod]

I agree with post 4.

 

[speedrcr78]

I might be wrong but I think that the injector cups are serviceable.

 

[lenzhotrod]

Yes injector cups are serviceable

 

[speedrcr78]

So if they are serviceable does it mean that one can be cracked and the head be good?

 

[m-chan68]

For fuel to migrate into the cooling system on a 6.0L, both the lower injector o-ring AND cup ON THE SAME CYLINDER would have to have failed simultaneously, the chances of which are slim to none. The only other (and much more likely scenario) is for the head(s) themselves to be cracked internally. If the heads were replaced with new, there should definitely be a service replacement warranty on this repair.

 

[lubbockguy1979]

Nice sig. Revision m-chan.