6.0 headgaskets, oil cooler, stc, ARP studs w/cab on

Crawler

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I’ll work on some more detail as time allows. Feel free to ask any questions.

My intent of this thread is to show that some of us do replace headgaskets without removing the cab or doing any unnecessary removing of extra parts.

This is my usual process for 6.0 head work.

~Wes S.~
 

Crawler

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firat thing first the engine was bathed in oil, coolant, and dust/dirt/grime.

It was soaked down with simple green and then washed off.

It’s still nasty. But it’s better.

The coolant and oil are drained.

View media item 529
 

Crawler

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Batteries are disconnected. The air box, degas bottle, inter cooler piping, upper radiator shroud, and alternator are removed. The bolts securing the rear shroud are removed to allow movement. The fan and rear shroud are left in unless I’m doing a water pump replacement.

Engine wiring harness and injector harness are partially disconnected to open up the top of the engine. Eventually they are laid in front of the engine. I do not unhook the sensors on the block or front cover.

The FICM and glow plug module along with their associated brackets are removed.

Valve covers are removed.

Fuel lines disconnected at the housing.

Oil and fuel filter housings are removed. The oil filter base and tower remain. For now.

Turbocharger is disconnected and removed. Pedestal must be removed on early 6.0 trucks.

Intake manifold and eve cooler are removed.

Early 6.0-disconnect high pressure stc fittings under valve covers. Remove stand pipes.
Late 6.0-remove stand pipes and dummy plugs.

Remove high pressure oil rails/manifolds.

Loosen drivers side motor mount from frame.

Remove coolant plug on drivers side of block.

Remove manifold to up pipe hardware.

Remove up pipe.

Place a jack with a block of wood under the truck. This will be positioned wherever you desire and are comfortable with to lift the drivers side of the engine. Now lift the engine as high as you can without contacting the evaporator box located on the pasenger side.

Using the ford/otc fuel injector harness tool (or a 19mm deep socket), press each injector wiring plug from the valley into the rocker box.

Loosen but do not remove all 10mm headed bolts in and on the drivers side head.

Break loose all headbolts on drivers side.

Now remove all 10mm headed bolts that were previously loosened.

Completely remove all headbolts from drivers side except the rearmost bottom bolt. It will not physically come out due to contacting the firewall. Just make sure it is free of the block and the gasket. It should slide up and down freely in the head. Place a zip tie around the shank of the bolt and tighten the zip tie to keep the bolt from resting in the gasket/block.

You can now remove the rockers, pushrods, and rocker to valve bridges. I lay them out in the order they are removed to facilitate placing them back in the same locations they came from. Some people believe they have worn into each other and should not be mixed. I do not entirely buy into that. However, I prefer to do things the best possible way.

Secure a chain to the head by looping the chain through the exhaust manifold and using a few of the intake manifold bolt holes (with your own hardware, not the trucks bolts).

With a picker lift the head from the engine bay and secure the head.

You’ll notice that I did not remove the injectors or the glow plugs. They protrude from the deck of the head. So, do not sit the head on a flat surface. Two blocks of wood on the floor or your workbench work perfectly. As long as you leave a gap between the blocks, you will have a safe place for your injectors and glow plugs to protrude.

Now completely remove the drivers side motor mount from the truck. There will be four 13mm bolts securing it to the block.

Lower your jack and allow the engine to lay over to the drivers side.

You now have adequate clearance on the passenger side.

Repeat the bolt and valvetrain process on the passenger side.

The three rearmost lower headbolts will be blocked in by the ac evaporator housing. These bolts will be secured using the zip tie method as well.

Repeat the chaining and lifting process.

As it’s now 4:30am and I need to grab a couple hours sleep before an 8am appointment; I will have to pick this up later.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. This does not cover every little thing. It is just an overview. However, at a later date, I will do my best to give a complete in-depth guide to walk you through. I’m sure along the way, I missed something important. I will edit as I can.

Thank you,
~Wes S~
 
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Crawler

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pic worked for me


Glad to hear it.

I've been swamped in the shop lately(this is the earliest night I'v had in quite a while), so I haven't been able to write up the next portion.

But, feel free to ask any questions and I'm happy to answer them.

A couple things I forgot to mention-
1. Every truck gets a pre work diagnostic unless the truck is unreadable and/or will not safely run.
2. If the truck runs without causing damage-we do one or more cooling system flush(s) prior to work that includes oil cooler replacement.

Back to point 1.-This will help you from being down and waiting on parts while the truck is torn down. Often times due to age and wear and tear, by the time someone brings their truck in for headgaskets, it is in fact hurt in more ways than one. Most guys will just keep adding water or coolant until the truck starts to run poorly. It may be because the gaskets are absolutely torched, however it is often because a sensor finally died or they hydrolocked it, or it finally mixed coolant and oil, etc...

An example of this is a 6.0 truck that I just completed. The truck was brought in for headgastkets, but by the time the client brought it in, it would barely start without burning up the starter and had ecm communication issues. due to the ecm issues, the truck could not be scanned. So some things were diagnosed based on experience and some things could not be diagnosed easily (sensor readings, injector balance rates, etc...)

Back to point 2.-The cooling system in these trucks can be a real pain to get clean. One that has had oil intrusion is actually not that difficult to clean up. We have a few tips and tricks for that. But, a cooling system with heavy silicate and/or rust deposits is tough and takes a bunch of flushing to get clean.

By flushing the system one or more times prior to oil cooler replacement, you have a much better chance of not immediately clogging up the new oil cooler. Often times people don't flush the system at all and just add coolant after work. Many people get away with it. But, I have seen a ton of oil coolers clog up in short order.
Others will wait and do all flushes after the work is done, this is way better than no flush at all, however you may have already pushed a ton of sediment, silicates, and rust into your new oil cooler. This can usually be seen by monitoring the temperature delta between oil temperature and coolant temperature.

If you have the time and the truck is running well enough to not cause damage to the engine, do a flush(or multiple to get out ass much "debris" as possible, prior to dissasembly. With additional flushes following the perfomed work.

If you have a blown egr or oil cooler, then this is typically not a viable option and you'll just have to do post work flushes. If that is the case and your coolant has quite a bit of debris in it, you may consider buying two oil coolers. One cheap one(dorman,XDP,etc..) and one good one (Motorcraft is my preference).
Install the cheaper cooler while doing your work. Perform flushes on it until the flush comes out clean. Then install the Motorcraft cooler and pour in your coolant. I have a few good used coolers in the shop that I will use as the "cleanup" cooler to save having to buy two. Then install the Motorcraft after.
 

lotzagoodstuff

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If you have a blown egr or oil cooler, then this is typically not a viable option and you'll just have to do post work flushes. If that is the case and your coolant has quite a bit of debris in it, you may consider buying two oil coolers. One cheap one(dorman,XDP,etc..) and one good one (Motorcraft is my preference).
Install the cheaper cooler while doing your work. Perform flushes on it until the flush comes out clean. Then install the Motorcraft cooler and pour in your coolant. I have a few good used coolers in the shop that I will use as the "cleanup" cooler to save having to buy two. Then install the Motorcraft after.

Great write up. Just wondering: knowing that these are pretty notorious for clogging OEM coolers repeatedly, have you done any with the external oil coolers? After doing all the flushing/updates, and plugging a second cooler in just over 100K, my buddy did the external one, I believe it was a Bulletproof product. He was really happy with it and it eliminates the whole coolant side clogging issue completely.
 

Crawler

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Great write up. Just wondering: knowing that these are pretty notorious for clogging OEM coolers repeatedly, have you done any with the external oil coolers? After doing all the flushing/updates, and plugging a second cooler in just over 100K, my buddy did the external one, I believe it was a Bulletproof product. He was really happy with it and it eliminates the whole coolant side clogging issue completely.


I have done some of the external coolers before. I still do them on occasion if requested.

I believe that the clogged oil coolers can be avoided a second time in 90 plus percent of trucks if the cooling system is completely cleaned up, the proper “red” coolant is used, and cooling system maintenance is performed properly.

With enough miles/time I can see another cooler clogging. But, most of the time this process will work.

I’m also a firm believer in having a way to monitor the temperature delta between oil temp and coolant temp.

I provide my clients with detailed numbers showing these temperature deltas on their truck post work. So they have a benchmark. Then if their delta starts to climb, they know that they need to do a flush/back flush.

By not allowing the cooling system to crud up, they extend the life of their cooler.

The external is a cool piece. But it is pricey and adds some complexity to the truck. However I will install them by request.
 

Crawler

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I’ll grab some photos in the next few days in the next one I do some flushes on.

I’ve already done his pre work flushes. So these will be post work and show you how much hunk is in the factory cooling system.

This truck did not have a blown egr or oil cooler. It is purely blown headgaskets.

I think y’all will be surprised how much crud there is, even after several flushes.
 

lotzagoodstuff

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I think y’all will be surprised how much crud there is, even after several flushes.

That's what nice about the external cooler: no coolant side to plug at all. My buddy is very particular, did a ton of flushing and made sure it ended up with the correct coolant in it, and a coolant filter. Still had it happen again in another 50K.

Just remember: even with a coolant filter in place, if it goes into bypass for just a short period of time, the coolant side of the factory air to water cooler gets exposed to that debris. Any partial plugging can't really get anything but worse, then the delta starts to increase, and then the expensive stuff breaks.

I was really surprised my buddies truck did it twice as he really flushed it and used all the best parts, including a monitor to keep an eye on the oil and coolant temps.
 

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