tankerdude
Full Access Member
Well, it finally happened. Engine getting too hot, but the EDAS from Powerstrokehelp.com system I installed some time back saved me... sorta.
About 5 months ago I flushed the cooling system (long story, won't go into it) using up about 8 hours on a Saturday. Caught the original coolant in a large white bucket. So much yellow crud came out of the system I was shocked at first, but then thought "At least the stuff isn't in the cooling system anymore".
Replaced old coolant with Ford Premium Gold coolant. Didn't know any better at the time.
Fast forward to March 2. Pulled the 5'er across town for the weekend. Pretty flat terrain and back roads so no highway speeds.
EDAS activates twice indicating the cooling system is going above 16 PSI. Stop both times and look. Sure enough, degas bottle needs just a little to bring it up to proper level.
Pulled the 5'er back home three days later. Same thing happened. Now I'm starting to wonder. Is EDAS going crazy for no reason?
Did a little research by calling Powerstrokehelp.com and asking a few questions. The answers are not what I wanted to hear.
Ok. So now it looks like the stupid oil cooler is getting clogged up and will need to be replaced.
I took the truck to the local Ford guy for diagnosis.
Yep, he agrees the oil cooler is partially clogged. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and get THAT done.
Got an estimate from Ford to replace the oil cooler. $2200 bucks. Ouch.
Ford guy pulls me aside and suggests checking out the products on BulletProofDiesel.com.
I did, and wound up buying an OEM oil cooler from them for a little less than HALF what the Ford dealer wanted.
Also, opted for the EGR delete kit, which is nothing more than an OEM EGR cooler that's been returned to BPD.com, cleaned, refurbished and the ends welded up.
This oil cooler and EGR delete kit came with all the gaskets required for the jobs, as well as a pre-paid FedEx return label to ship the old EGR cooler back to them for a $50 rebate.
Also, I provided the mechanic with 1 gallon each of Fleetguard Restore and Restore Plus and 4 gallons of Havoline silica free extended life coolant.
The mechanic filled and flushed the system (using his own t-stat elbow with no t-stat installed) twice using 1/2 gallon of Restore each time.
The mechanic then filled and flushed the system twice using 1/2 gallon of Restore Plus each time.
The mechanic then removed the engine plugs on each side of the engine and ran hose water through the system with the engine running. Revving the engine a little to get the coolant flowing at a high velocity in order to help the water pump flush itself and the rest of the system out.
He then removed the old oil cooler and EGR cooler, and installed the new oil cooler and EGR delete kit.
Then used the silica free extended life coolant and distilled water to refill the cooling system.
I was truly amazed at the amount of crud that came out of that system.
The mechanic used a bore scope to look inside the oil cooler. While he couldn't get ALL the way in, he did capture the images on a video recorder, and as soon as he sends me the video, I'll post it here.
What I saw on the video was NOT the typical yellow gel clogging the oil cooler. It was casting sand (or whatever) used when the block was cast. All I know is that he had some of this stuff on his workbench, and when he held a magnet close to it all of the material jumped onto the magnet.
I have the old oil cooler, but I have to fix my cut off saw in order to cut it open and see for myself.
This little operation also came with an oil/filter change.
Now, the truck sounds different, runs a little differently IMO, and should be good to go for another 100k miles.
Overall cost? Right at $2000 bucks. Under what the Ford dealer wanted for just an oil cooler change.
About 5 months ago I flushed the cooling system (long story, won't go into it) using up about 8 hours on a Saturday. Caught the original coolant in a large white bucket. So much yellow crud came out of the system I was shocked at first, but then thought "At least the stuff isn't in the cooling system anymore".
Replaced old coolant with Ford Premium Gold coolant. Didn't know any better at the time.
Fast forward to March 2. Pulled the 5'er across town for the weekend. Pretty flat terrain and back roads so no highway speeds.
EDAS activates twice indicating the cooling system is going above 16 PSI. Stop both times and look. Sure enough, degas bottle needs just a little to bring it up to proper level.
Pulled the 5'er back home three days later. Same thing happened. Now I'm starting to wonder. Is EDAS going crazy for no reason?
Did a little research by calling Powerstrokehelp.com and asking a few questions. The answers are not what I wanted to hear.
Ok. So now it looks like the stupid oil cooler is getting clogged up and will need to be replaced.
I took the truck to the local Ford guy for diagnosis.
Yep, he agrees the oil cooler is partially clogged. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and get THAT done.
Got an estimate from Ford to replace the oil cooler. $2200 bucks. Ouch.
Ford guy pulls me aside and suggests checking out the products on BulletProofDiesel.com.
I did, and wound up buying an OEM oil cooler from them for a little less than HALF what the Ford dealer wanted.
Also, opted for the EGR delete kit, which is nothing more than an OEM EGR cooler that's been returned to BPD.com, cleaned, refurbished and the ends welded up.
This oil cooler and EGR delete kit came with all the gaskets required for the jobs, as well as a pre-paid FedEx return label to ship the old EGR cooler back to them for a $50 rebate.
Also, I provided the mechanic with 1 gallon each of Fleetguard Restore and Restore Plus and 4 gallons of Havoline silica free extended life coolant.
The mechanic filled and flushed the system (using his own t-stat elbow with no t-stat installed) twice using 1/2 gallon of Restore each time.
The mechanic then filled and flushed the system twice using 1/2 gallon of Restore Plus each time.
The mechanic then removed the engine plugs on each side of the engine and ran hose water through the system with the engine running. Revving the engine a little to get the coolant flowing at a high velocity in order to help the water pump flush itself and the rest of the system out.
He then removed the old oil cooler and EGR cooler, and installed the new oil cooler and EGR delete kit.
Then used the silica free extended life coolant and distilled water to refill the cooling system.
I was truly amazed at the amount of crud that came out of that system.
The mechanic used a bore scope to look inside the oil cooler. While he couldn't get ALL the way in, he did capture the images on a video recorder, and as soon as he sends me the video, I'll post it here.
What I saw on the video was NOT the typical yellow gel clogging the oil cooler. It was casting sand (or whatever) used when the block was cast. All I know is that he had some of this stuff on his workbench, and when he held a magnet close to it all of the material jumped onto the magnet.
I have the old oil cooler, but I have to fix my cut off saw in order to cut it open and see for myself.
This little operation also came with an oil/filter change.
Now, the truck sounds different, runs a little differently IMO, and should be good to go for another 100k miles.
Overall cost? Right at $2000 bucks. Under what the Ford dealer wanted for just an oil cooler change.
