To Bulletproof or not to Bulletproof

[kmrofrano]

I spent 25 or so years in the auto/truck industry before I "retired" into something else. I drive a 6.o ford, the shop I worked at when the 6.0's started blowing head gaskets was "the" shop in the area that worked on them, we saw quite a few. Honestly my old boss is still looked at as "the diesel truck guy" in the area, its his passion and he drives a 6.0. They aren't that bag, but they had some trouble. The 6.4 was worse, the problems were more expensive and final. You won't hurt anything by bulletproofing, other than your wallet. If you delete the EGR or anything else you may never be able to sell the truck, they are coming down on these "deletes" everywhere. The engine oil coolers were the reason the EGR coolers failed, small passages and easily clogged. That was what really set off the overheating. Using good coolant, flushing regularly and add a bypass coolant filter will help. Monitor the coolant and oil temps. No load flat road the oil shouldn't get more then 10 degrees over the coolant, towing the gap is going to get worse. If you see 12-15 degrees flat road no load the oil cooler is clogged. If you are going to over boost it, run nitrous or propane injection you will likely blow the head gaskets. The high-pressure oil system was better on the 06. I feel like the 6.0 reciprocating assembly is more than capable of 300K miles if cared for.

[bigb56]

The 6.0 is a great engine once bulletproofed and the coolant switched to ELC, but I don't know where the "couple of grand" comes from for bullet proofing a 6.0, last time I checked it started around 6K and went to 20K depending on how far you go. In my experience the ones that tow heavy have the failures, many 6.0s that lead an easy life go upwards of 300-400K with no bulletproofing. Get rid of the Ford Gold coolant though (requires a very thorough flush with up to 40 gallons of distilled water), when the Ford Gold gets really hot the silicates drop out of it and it is my belief (and others) that this is the beginning of the end, the silicates clog the egr and oil cooler leading to the rest of the problems.
I would only have it bulletproofed at a place that specializes in it, like Bullet Proof Diesel in Mesa, AZ. where LoLo Honeymoon had theirs done, or Arizona Affordable Diesel in Tucson, both of them are well versed on the 6.0.
Also it's a good idea to monitor EOT and ECT on the 6.0, the two should stay under 15 degrees difference. The EOT can spike on a grade but should return to within that 15 degree delta quickly on the downhill side. That's one way to check the health of your oil cooler on the 6.0 and can give you a warning before catastrophic failure occurs.

[Rookie RVer]

I made the leap and glad I did. Turns out there were two injectors that were bad which was the cause of some of my issues. But I did the bullet proof except did not mess with the EGR delete because I didn't want to limit my options. Just took it on a 15oo mile trip, man what a difference new injectors makes. smooth and I got 11 mpg on a 2007 F550/Isata Touring. Great.
Thanks for the input from all ya'll. It was invaluable and I value it.

[kmrofrano]

Originally Posted by Rookie RVer

I made the leap and glad I did. Turns out there were two injectors that were bad which was the cause of some of my issues. But I did the bullet proof except did not mess with the EGR delete because I didn't want to limit my options. Just took it on a 15oo mile trip, man what a difference new injectors makes. smooth and I got 11 mpg on a 2007 F550/Isata Touring. Great.
Thanks for the input from all ya'll. It was invaluable and I value it.

Glad everything worked out. Just a couple of ideas or suggestions. Run good oil and change it often. Use a fuel additive, I like stanadyne, lubricity and antigen. Use it year round for lubricity. Change your fuel filters twice a year, or at least every 15k. Consider a coolant bypass filter if you don’t have one already. Keep good quality coolant in the motor, regular flushing. They make gauges that will plug in if you have an OBD II connector. Consider keeping an eye on oil tempt compared to coolant temp. Wide deltas are an early sign of oil cooler cliffs and a path to EGR cooler problems. The EGR valve is supposed to be cleaned/services once a year or every 15,000 miles.

Enjoy the vehicle and your trips!

[BigRedBus]

As others have mentioned, flush your coolant.

The misconception is that there was left over sand in the block from casting and it clogged everything. I strongly do not believe that to be true.

As said here, the ford coolant gets hot, silicate fall out develops which looks like sand, oil cooler and egr cooler is plumbed in series. Oil cooler plugs, restricts flow to EGR cooler. Egr cooler gets hot, whatever coolant that does flow through becomes overheated, more silicate fall out occurs plugging oil cooler. EGR cooler continues to heat up over time till it finally cracks. EGR cooler leaks into into intake. Mimics head gasket failure. next thing you know you are replacing the oil cooler, EGR cooler, head gaskets, APR head studding with a good old fashioned curb stomping to your wallet.

We all know the head gaskets are a weak point but I've replaced a lot of EGR and Oil coolers where the head gasket is fine. If the degas bottle is not blowing coolant out then the gaskets are likely still holding.

I've used CAT red or prestone HD long-life in my 6.0. Get a plug in data reader and monitor coolant/oil temp difference. Anything more then 15 degrees, replace the oil cooler.

Got 360K miles on my 6.0L, head gaskets did go for the first time at 200K by original owner. 2nd owner did the whole "Bullitt proof". I purchased it with 360k miles with blown head gaskets with ARP studs. He had a hot tune pulling max GVW. Not the head gaskets fault, it was the drivers fault. I rebuilt the engine with 360K, the engine was loose with wear but I saw no reason why it could not have gone to 500k miles. I drove it home on those blown head gaskets. Just stayed out of the boost and ran perfect. The rotating assembly is very stout. The biggest thing I do not like is all the O-rings on these engines for the HPOP circuit. O-rings do not last forever. My next biggest issue is the HPOP fitting at the rear of the engine. Those fittings can blow off, usually when engine is under load and high oil pressure for the injectors are commanded. When they blow off they can sometimes punch a hole in the rear engine cover. Worst case they drop in the rear gear train and its game over on the engine. Those fittings have come with a change up design from a quick connect to a threaded fitting.

[Rookie RVer]

Originally Posted by BigRedBus

As others have mentioned, flush your coolant.

The misconception is that there was left over sand in the block from casting and it clogged everything. I strongly do not believe that to be true.

As said here, the ford coolant gets hot, silicate fall out develops which looks like sand, oil cooler and egr cooler is plumbed in series. Oil cooler plugs, restricts flow to EGR cooler. Egr cooler gets hot, whatever coolant that does flow through becomes overheated, more silicate fall out occurs plugging oil cooler. EGR cooler continues to heat up over time till it finally cracks. EGR cooler leaks into into intake. Mimics head gasket failure. next thing you know you are replacing the oil cooler, EGR cooler, head gaskets, APR head studding with a good old fashioned curb stomping to your wallet.

We all know the head gaskets are a weak point but I've replaced a lot of EGR and Oil coolers where the head gasket is fine. If the degas bottle is not blowing coolant out then the gaskets are likely still holding.

I've used CAT red or prestone HD long-life in my 6.0. Get a plug in data reader and monitor coolant/oil temp difference. Anything more then 15 degrees, replace the oil cooler.

Got 360K miles on my 6.0L, head gaskets did go for the first time at 200K by original owner. 2nd owner did the whole "Bullitt proof". I purchased it with 360k miles with blown head gaskets with ARP studs. He had a hot tune pulling max GVW. Not the head gaskets fault, it was the drivers fault. I rebuilt the engine with 360K, the engine was loose with wear but I saw no reason why it could not have gone to 500k miles. I drove it home on those blown head gaskets. Just stayed out of the boost and ran perfect. The rotating assembly is very stout. The biggest thing I do not like is all the O-rings on these engines for the HPOP circuit. O-rings do not last forever. My next biggest issue is the HPOP fitting at the rear of the engine. Those fittings can blow off, usually when engine is under load and high oil pressure for the injectors are commanded. When they blow off they can sometimes punch a hole in the rear engine cover. Worst case they drop in the rear gear train and its game over on the engine. Those fittings have come with a change up design from a quick connect to a threaded fitting.

So here’s a quick question for you. I changed the EGR valve at 35000 miles and the old had only a small amount of carbon build up. I now have 53000 on it and wonder if I should inspect or change it again or “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”? Also I see EGR remanufactured valves for $50 and new for $200. Can I replace with remanufactured, can I clean up and just put an O-ring kit on existing, or use new? What’s the word??
Walt

[BigRedBus]

Originally Posted by Rookie RVer

So here’s a quick question for you. I changed the EGR valve at 35000 miles and the old had only a small amount of carbon build up. I now have 53000 on it and wonder if I should inspect or change it again or “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”? Also I see EGR remanufactured valves for $50 and new for $200. Can I replace with remanufactured, can I clean up and just put an O-ring kit on existing, or use new? What’s the word??
Walt

If you have no codes then nothing is wrong with it electronically for the most part. I've cleaned them before and take a bright flash light on other makes and model EGR valves and make sure the seat seals. As for the 6.0 in general. I delete the EGR and ran a tune so you don't get the EGR code/CEL for the EGR valve. While the EGR Valve is still in the manifold. It effectively does nothing with the EGR tune other then plugging the hole.

[fischer76]

at least you didn't get a 6.4 - mechanic said it's disaster
love my 6.7 and engine breaking is wonderful
also love my 7.3 (2001) use it to pull 10,000# dump
upgraded differential to 4:30 limited slip for easy pulling