Making my 2005 6.0L Ford bulletproof

This fall I did a coolant flush after 100K miles, on my truck and found a lot of rust and sludge in the coolant.
I knew then that I was in trouble, and proceded to check some of the things that creates this mess in the coolant.

At that time I added an EC-1 (cat Approved) compatible ELC (Extended Life Coolant) coolant, and added a coolant filter, and in no way I was going to put back that Gold junk that is recommended.

Well I drove the truck for one month and did 500 miles and did a differential temperature check and found the ECT (Engine coolant Temperature) to be 190 while the EOT (Engine Oil Temperature) was in the 220's. No way I was going to pull the trailer with those numbers so I prepared to replace the Oil cooler and in the process realized it was time to replace the HPOP)High Pressure Oil Pump) STC fitting (Pump discharge Fitting) (Only 2005-2007 have this problem) that is located as deep in the engine.

Well both needed replacing and I am glade I did it. In addition I repaired the EGR cooler to assure dependibility.

Its not a small job as all my friends tough I was a courageous man to do it.
Well I needed to take the time to do a great job and I am very satisfied of the job I did.

I need to have the stores open to finish the job but these Fords need attention at 100K.
Wish I had changed the coolant earlier, but I was convinced that it was clear, it looked great but once the flush happened I could see all the junk collected in the radiator and around all the hose fittings. Never seen that in the 35 years I have been flushing my cars.

After driving 500 miles with the new coolant, the deposits was gone around the fittings, and the hoses were clean on the inside. So I am confident that the coolant will serve the truck well and keep the oil cooler clean.

I checked both my friends 6.0's and found one with 5 PSI differential (60K miles) and the other was 15 PSI differential (120K Miles). It will be a spring project. We will attack that one too.

These trucks require quit a load of materials to remove to get to the source of the problem. This job is a big one but I need to have my Ford last as long as the 6.5L Diesel GM I had before. My previous GM was known as a lemon but it was a great truck compared to these Fords, But I am convinced that with the repairs, the power and efficiency this Ford will satisfy me for a while yet.

I would Imagine that Ford still uses this Coolant on all their Diesels. While International has been using EC-1 all along.

Laurent, I think of myself as a "car guy" and even I can't follow along with all the acronyms in the post. Can you please decode them for me as we have the same engine.

2010augusta said:

Laurent, I think of myself as a "car guy" and even I can't follow along with all the acronyms in the post. Can you please decode them for me as we have the same engine.

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Me too Alan, I'll keep watching!!!

There is a campain on most of the Ford PSD forums to change this coolant because it breakdowns when exposed to hot exhaust at the EGR cooler. Mercedes had trouble with this stuff back in the early 2000.

It has been at the root of all 6.0L problems
Glad I was able to do it here as its a $3000 job out off warranty
and Ford only changes the Pump fittings if the truck fails to start,

6.0 Ford engines need to have the coolant changed at 50K and an aftermarket filter is a good idea. The openings on the coolers are very small and plug easily. Changed my coolers at 100K due to the temperature rise and will change the antifreeze again at 150K.

When you flush the 6.0 it is a bit of a pain as you have to pull the starter to get to the back plug.

The extra horsepower is sure nice over the 7.3 so that helps make up for a bit of the extra maintenance.

I use the Hypertech programmer and the programmed towing power of the 6.0L is very close to the programed towing power of the 6.4L.
So this baby will surely be of service for a while yet.

The Job is now completed and the truck looks to be very healty now.
It was a learning experience but I did appreciate the fact that those problems that I was concerned about are in the past and hope dependable driving for the next 3 years.

caissiel said:

It has been at the root of all 6.0L problems
Glad I was able to do it here as its a $3000 job out off warranty
and Ford only changes the Pump fittings if the truck fails to start,

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Thanks for decoding it all. Our '06 has to crank for 7-10 seconds the first start of everyday, is that a sign that the oil pump and fitting need to be replaced, it still has its power-train warranty, so we should be covered for those parts still.

There is no way to determine the failure of the pump discharge fitting but hard starting is one of the results of a leaky fitting.
When I called the dealer for the fitting the diesel mechanic mentioned that if I was replacing the oil cooler I better change the fitting.

My truck has 100K and 6 months after warranty I could have possibly been able to change the oil cooler if only I had the temperatures programed in my ScangaugeII before this fall because my cooler must have been plugging this spring. Some are saying that Ford replaces them when the truck will no longer start and its a $3000 dealer Job.

My fitting was very loose on the O-Ring and I feel it was leaking. But my truck's problem was cold start, it was bad for 3 years and the dealer never fixed it on warranty, blamed the batteries. After 3 sets of batteries I feel it was time to do something. But I will let you know tomorrow as it is freezing outside tonight.

We are now getting ready to go south on thursday before the 20's get here and stay. Been lucky so far.

I started the truck this morning while it was 32F.
The engine started right up without injector hesitation, they were noisy for a few second but the engine was smooth.

will know more tomorrow morning its going down to 20F in the morning.

before to start at freezing temperature I had to press the accelerator to start and the engine had no power for about 30 seconds.