6.0 oil cooler inspection question

[Donwan]

ordered a new oil cooler from sinister, already shipped, removed my oil cooler, inspected it and found deep grooves in the water side. what do I do now? order a new oil cooler?

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[79jasper]

I would replace the cap.

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[Donwan]

Well one pic is a cap. The other pic is actually the cap built into the whole top of the oil cooler.

 

[bismic1]

First thing I would do is return the sinister oil cooler. They have a track record of poor cooling right out of the box.

The OEM units are MUCH better.

Oil cooler: 3C3Z-6A642-CA

http://www.ficmrepair.com/index.cfm...duct_id=76/category_id=-1/mode=prod/prd76.htm


Next, what coolant are you running and what has been your maintenance practices regarding coolant? Clearly it is not providing the necessary corrosion protection.

Would also look into this:
https://fixur6.com/p/description

Not sure of the part numbers for the oil cooler housing, cap, etc .... maybe someone else will have that.

Edit - Is this one of the corroded parts?

3C3Z-9P458-AA

https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-egr-valve-3c3z9p458aa

and this

3C3Z-6881-CA

https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-oil-filter-adapter-3c3z6881ca

Oil cooler housing assembly part number - 6C3Z-6881-A (if needed)

https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-kit-6c3z6881a

 

[Donwan]

This is so overwhelming. One person says something is good the next says it sucks...

1st. How can an oem cooler be better if that is a oem cooler on my truck that is going bad?
not trying to be a smart ass, just don't understand that part.

2nd The coolant- Its been in the truck since it had 27k miles when I bought it in 2006, and ive never done anything to it. it has 125k miles now.

3rd Thanks for the links! the 1st iam sure I can use and the others looks like the parts I need, just seem expensive, but ill shop around.

Thanks for the help

 

[bismic1]

1. Because it isn't the coolers fault. It is the coolant that plugs it up. Fix the real problem. Sinister stuff doesn't help, their cooler does not have the surface area needed and even when new, it probably will run hot.

2. Ford Gold coolant does not hold up to the heat, does not hold up to the acidity of combustion gasses if you have even slightly leaky head gaskets. Ford revised their recommendations and stated that it needed to be flushed and changed every 60k miles. Even so, it is prone to gelling and solids settling out. Both will plug up the oil cooler passageways. Get an ELC coolant that carries the CAT EC-1 rating. It holds up very well and will not plug the oil cooler.

3. Most of those prices in my links are well discounted below regular dealership prices. If you go aftermarket, you will probably regret it. Even Ebay and Amazon have been known to sell inferior counterfeit OEM parts. To get the lowest price possible, set up an account with AutoNation at White Bear Lake and order your parts from them. They are cheaper than Tasca, but not by a whole lot. Sunrise Ford in California is another deralership with CHEAP internet pricing. I agree that you can probably find a cheaper backflush mechanism than that on fixur6.

If you are sour on the whole idea of a "coolant-cooled" oil cooler, then BulletProofDiesel makes a great air-cooled unit. Now IT is expensive. I can't justify their oil cooler, but I really like their EGR cooler.

If you can't afford quality components in the 6.0L, plan on future headaches. I really like the 6.0L's, but there are a number of areas that need to have upgraded components to be reliable and lots of junk options out there. Coolant type is one of the main ones that has to be changed (or babied with FREQUENT flushing and NEVER overheated, never mixed with other types of coolant, never exposed to combustion gas, etc).

btw - the price Sinister has on their oil cooler is $309. My link was $319 and Tasca sells it for $292. Seems to be close to a price that were OK with .....

https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-6-0l-diesel-engine-oil-cooler-service-kit-3c3z6a642ca

All the other links are there ONLY if you actually damaged that particular part w/ corrosion from the poor coolant condition.

 

[bismic1]

The more I think about your corroded system, the more I think that an air cooled oil cooler might be the wise solution. Some people have replaced the oil cooler 5 times and it still kept plugging up. Once you get corrosion in the whole system, it seems to be almost impossible to get it all out. Since the coolant passageways in the oil cooler are so small, all the crud ends up there - plugging it up. This includes the sinister oil cooler as well .... it is the same design as the OEM.

Lastly, I have not seen an oil cooler sold in a LONG time that included the parts that you show as corroded (housing, etc). Ford and International used to sell a complete unit, but they quit. Now you have to buy individual parts. The sinister part is only the heat exchanger core also. It wouldn't have all of what you need.

 

[Donwan]

Great advice. Thanks. I actually had the air cooled unit in my cart. Then cringed at the cost. May re think that because I really don’t want to do this again.
I CAN afford the upgrades. I just don’t WANT to.
But the truck has 120k miles and I intend to keep it till the wheels fall off so it may be worth it

 

[bismic1]

If you don't mind me asking, what year model is your truck? What caused you to tear into it? Have you ever seen coolant puking out of the degas bottle (coolant reservoir) cap?

Since you are in to it down to the oil cooler, there are some other areas that might benefit from some upgrades. Which upgrades to install depends heavily on the engine year model. If it is a 2004 truck, then you need to do a little more research since there was a significant design change in late September of 2003 (note - the 2004 model years were produced beginning in June of 2003 and had the 2003 model engine).

The easiest way to tell is to locate the ICP sensor: 2003 engine has it behind the turbo and the 2004 engine has it on the passenger valve cover.

With the condition of the coolant, I wonder if you had any overheating issues? The dash gauges are essentially worthless, so you would never know from them. All 6.0L owners need a scan tool of some sort to read engine parameters contained in the PCM. The most important ones (unless you are troubleshooting specific codes or a no-start) are oil and coolant temperature, transmission temp, system and FICM voltages, boost.

You need to know also that our injectors SHOULD last 200k + miles. However, low fuel pressure is the #1 killer on them. This low pressure can come from plugged filters, using some brands of cheap aftermarket fuel filters, weak fuel pump, leaking connections in fuel lines and/or filters (air intrusion), and a weak fuel pressure regulator spring. The weak fuel pressure regulator spring is a common issue. There is a cheap fix (called the blue spring). It is an upgraded OEM spring. The issue is that the owner has no way of knowing if he has a problem or if he ever fixes the problem without installing a fuel pressure sensor and gauge. Every 6.0L owner needs one. If interested, I can add some links to show you where to install.

Scan tools can be phone apps (ForScan is my favorite for i-phones) and an ELM327 wifi (or bluetooth for Androids) device. IMO BAFX makes the most reliable ELM327 devices. I like the Torque Pro app for Androids. The phone apps are great for occasional checks on the engine and for troubleshooting. You can have permanent mounted gauges, but some are quite expensive. A ScanGaugeII is relatively cheap, but it is "clunky" and only displays a few parameters at a time. The Edge CTS is nice, but expensive.

I am at 200k miles on my '06 and still have original injectors. Best truck I have ever owned, but I will say suspension and body parts are expensive! I don't recommend abusing them at the deer lease!

 

[Donwan]

2004 with the square egr.
Started to be hard to start. Rough idle and no power till it warmed up. Had to plug it in everyday just to get it to start semi-normal. Even letting it sit at job for 8 hours would make it hard to start. I constantly checked coolant level. It did use some but very little. It ran great when warmed up.
One day I was pulling out of drive and a huge thick cloud of white smoke came out. I took it to a desel shop. They said I had blown head gasket and egr. 6-8 bad injectors.
Not wanting to spend 8k for them to fix it, I tore into it. Heads are in a shop. Took injectors to a different place.they just called and said 8-8 injectors are bad. Possibly from some lubricant that the government banned from the fuel????

 

[bismic1]

I would suspect low fuel pressure before the low sulfur (or whatever) in the fuel. Hopefully you are getting Ford remanned injectors. They are better quality of rebuild than the others you can get. You can get them for $190 each at the places I listed above.

Are you getting rid of the square EGR cooler? It is a weak design. The BulletProofDiesel upgraded ones are VERY reliable, they went back to an internal tube design rather than the internal plates.

Also, have you updated the dummy plugs and standpipes? It is fairly cheap and easy to do, and these upgrades eliminate a VERY common failure point.

The 03's and 04's all had a weak HPOP. The swash plate design isn't the best. The Adrenaline pump (Dieselsite.com) is a very, very good upgrade. Unfortunately they are expensive, but 03 and 04 pump failures are pretty common.

Keep the system voltages up (good batteries and good alternator). The FICM won't last long if you start to suffer from low system voltage. Many people feel that a 190A alternator is the minimum size needed in our trucks.

 

[Donwan]

Iam slow. Trying to keep up with all the info you are giving me. Some I knew. Some I forgot or didn’t know.
Pretty much fixing everything you mentioned.
Thank so much for the time and info you have given me. I rate you with 5-stars

 

[bismic1]

I don't mind a bit. I've been at this for quite a while and a lot of people have helped me over the years.

If/when you get the fuel pressure gauge, the minimum Ford spec is 45 psig at WOT (maximum fueling), but IMO it should be 50 psig.

When cranking, the voltage will drop pretty significantly. Even healthy batteries will probably dip below 11 volts when cranking. The starter and the glow plugs take a lot of amps. If you see the cranking voltage dip below 10.5 volts, it is time to investigate (battery health, wiring condition, ground wires, alternator health, etc). The FICM raises the voltage to 48v and it has to work harder when the input voltage is lower. If you ever have a failed FICM, I highly recommend having it repaired and upgraded by FICMrepair.com. They are expensive, but do great work. Very reliable repairs/upgrades. You can get a slight (but safe) performance boost if you have them program it with the Atlas 40 FICM tune).

If you ever need an alternator, Leece-Neville makes a good one. FICMrepair.com sells it also. I understand there are quite a few internet counterfeits on this alternator. I believe that FICMrepair.com guarantees theirs to be the real deal. Again - not a cheap part, but very well made.

Interesting thing about batteries ..... The ones you buy at the dealership to replace the ones that came with the new truck are not the same as the original ones. The original ones were made to higher standards. A person connected with Ford years ago learned that they may have the same part number, but the replacement ones at the dealership weigh noticeably less. Most of us hardcore 6.0L owners like the Odyssey Extreme series batteries, but they are VERY expensive. A lot of us bought into them and then learned that Odyssey tells you that you need a very specific charger for them. Another expensive toy. Seems to never be an end to the upgrades, lol.

Good luck with the work. You are on a good track!

 

[Donwan]

Did have questions on the fuel pressure gauge. No idea how or where to install
Thinking of getting the scangauge ll
Will it display the fuel pressure?

 

[79jasper]

It will not. You will need a aftermarket gauge for that.

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