I know I don't want to hear the answer, but give it to me anyway

[W4RLR]

Hello all,

Last night coming home from Chattanooga, the temperature gauge suddenly spiked, the high temperature alarm went off, and so I went into the local Walmart parking lot to check for trouble. The temperature gauge went down, but in checking the degas bottle, it had a low level, so in I went to get some 50/50 antifreeze to top it off until I could get it home. Got home with no problem, but the next morning, I started it, it ran fine but poured white smoke out of the tailpipe, which I attributed at first to the weather, it being very damp and foggy. It didn't clear up down the road, so I turned around and went home, parking the truck in the driveway. When the weather cleared a bit, I wanted to see if it was indeed the weather making the white smoke. The truck will not crank, it acts like it is hydro-locked.

I'm hoping the block isn't cracked, and it is just head gaskets, but if it is locked up, what kind of bill am I looking at? I haven't even finished paying for the truck, and I fear that I will be making another few more payments on a rather expensive lawn ornament.

It ran great until this morning.... sigh. Any ideas?

 

[DaveBen]

They always run greatest just before they blow up. I don't remember who told me this one. Do the head gaskets and you should be fine. These blocks are NOT known to cause any problems like you described. Add ARP Head Studs when you get the heads off. This will stop future problems like blown head gaskets. This is not a cheap fix.

Dave

 

[Dogman]

Ray I know you really don't want to know this but, I thought I had a bad HG but ended up with a crack in # 8 cyl. I had $4800 in a used short block then had problems with the heads. So be careful. Ask them to do a black light test on the motor at tear down. There is a die you can put in the coolant that will show any cracks or any other coolant leaks. But you need to get the truck fired up and running to do it. Check your oil see if you have a milk shake.

The only other thing is see if you can find another motor.

Good luck

 

[DaveBen]

Those can run $6000.00 on eBay...

Dave

 

[W4RLR]

Checked the oil, it's looks normal. There is an independent diesel shop about 40 miles from here in Manchester, TN that says they specialize in PowerStrokes. The wife and I have to go grocery shopping at Arnold AFB on Wednesday, looks like I'll be talking to them after getting the shopping done.

I'm hoping it's just head gaskets, I assume it would be prudent while the engine is apart to replace the EGR cooler and the oil cooler at the same time. Anything else I should look for?

 

[DaveBen]

ARP head studs. You must use them if you don't want to re-do the hg's.

Dave

 

[RoyBoy]

You could just have an EGR cooler failure. Did you have coolant puking out of the degas bottle?

 

[W4RLR]

You could just have an EGR cooler failure. Did you have coolant puking out of the degas bottle?

No puking, the degas bottle was nearly dry when I checked it after I stopped the truck at Walmart. It gave a high engine temperature message on the center display, the Scangauge said the coolant temp was 245 degrees, but after I parked it and had it idle, it went right back down to 195. I stopped the engine, got some coolant from the automotive section, replenished the degas bottle, and restarted the engine. We drove home. Next morning, it started great, but white smoke was pouring out of the tailpipe. Since it was very foggy on the mountain, I could not tell if it was making fog or blowing coolant out the pipe. It didn't smell sweet. Thinking it was just making fog, I pulled out of the driveway and thought the white smoke would go away as the engine got warm. It got worse, so I turned around and parked it in the driveway and turned it off. That was the last time it would run, I tried starting it when the fog cleared in the afternoon, and it's locked up.
Even if it was only an EGR failure I assume the head would have to be removed to check for hydrolock, thus requiring new gaskets and studs, am I correct?

 

[RoyBoy]

Sounds more like EGR cooler for sure. You can remove the glow plugs and turn engine over (BY HAND at first) to relieve the hydrolock. As long as it turns over fine, I'd put an EGR cooler delete in and run again.

 

[BIG JOE]

Sounds more like EGR cooler for sure. You can remove the glow plugs and turn engine over (BY HAND at first) to relieve the hydrolock. As long as it turns over fine, I'd put an EGR cooler delete in and run again.

X2. One trouble-shooting step at a time, before the Big Bucks come in to play ?



Joe