# 04 6.0L f350 bubbling coolant out



## Lawnman883

Hey guys,
Figured some of the ford guys here may be able to suggest whats wrong. i have a 04 with about 113,000 miles. my issue is the coolant seems to leak out the recovery tank lid especially after a long run or when i am working it hard. Once you park and shut it down you can hear and see steam hissing out of the lid. There is evidence of coolant all opver the outside of the tank and all down the inner fender wall. the truck temp gauge never really fluctuates and the truck seems to be running fine. i replaced the coolant tank lid to see if the old one was bad but still same issue. i add a gallon of coolant every month to keep it up to the normal range. Anyone have any ideas??


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## stroker79

WELLLLLLLL

Im not a big 6.0 knowledgebase HOWEVER, I know that coolant leaking out the lid is BAD, lol.

I forgot what causes it but umong the 6 oh guys its called "Puking". Do a search for 6.0 Puking and youll find all sorts of info.

May I also suggest looking at www.ford-trucks.com. its a great site with lots of info that will help you out. I hope its under warranty!!


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## Lawnman883

well, as far as i know the warentee from ford on these ended at 100k....
purchased the truck at 96k and didn;t really identify the issue until after 100k. just my luck.
thanks for the link i will see what they have to say.


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## Indy

I am no mechanic but a gallon a month sounds like a large amount of coolant.

Do you have any sludge or oil film in your overflow OR boiled over on the tank or does it look clear and clean??


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## stroker79

I found this on the site I reccomended

Common Causes for puking/overheating (not in any order) 
Thermostat 
Coolant Temperature Sensor 
Oil Cooler plugged or leaking 
EGR Cooler leaking 
Blown Head Gaskets from stretched TTY bolts 
Clogged Radiator (air side)
Water pumps fins are split where they go around the shaft:

They only spin for a while and when they get hot the spinning will slow down. An easy way to check for this problem is pull the hose off the degas bottle from the intake it should pump the same amount out hot or cold. This can make your engine puke if it is your problem.

Some suspect a collapsed radiator hose could be an issue with overheating 
Injector cup 
Glow plug cup 
Cracked head

http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68584&page=2 
Common Root Causes - turbo vanes stuck or warped heads (early on there were some torquing problems)


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## Lawnman883

WOW! interesting info. thanks.
the coolant looks green and no oil or junk in it...(maybe its because i replace a gallon every month?? LOL)
it never gets hot as i said. i never get any water in my oil and it does not smoke out the exhaust. 
The note about the turbo vanes sticking seems interesting because in the winter i swear it has that issue. if its really cold it will act like the turbo is dead and even if you floor it you'll hardly get power then all the sudden you hear a huge sucking noise and it just tears away with tons of power. Its only done this under 30 degrees. Once it tripped the engine light last winter but i've never seen the light ever since. This summer it drives normal with a lot of power. My dad is trying to locate a replacement turbo because he thought it was sticking vanes causing my issue in the winter. Could that be causing my coolant to bubble up too?


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## Dissociative

step one.....clean your turbo....google it...

step two....replace your up-pipe with a sneaky pipe...see above..

step three...weld your egr shut..

join here....ask questions...be nice....find me...it's all you need for the 6.0....less than 400 and your done...

http://forums.gogodiesel.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5


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## MickiRig1

A gallon a year you have a bit of a problem. A gallon a month is a huge problem!


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## Stove

Lawnman883;584002 said:


> Hey guys,
> Figured some of the ford guys here may be able to suggest whats wrong. i have a 04 with about 113,000 miles. my issue is the coolant seems to leak out the recovery tank lid especially after a long run or when i am working it hard. Once you park and shut it down you can hear and see steam hissing out of the lid. There is evidence of coolant all opver the outside of the tank and all down the inner fender wall. the truck temp gauge never really fluctuates and the truck seems to be running fine. i replaced the coolant tank lid to see if the old one was bad but still same issue. i add a gallon of coolant every month to keep it up to the normal range. Anyone have any ideas??


I had the same exact prob. last week, took it to the dealer, pressure test and a couple other checks. Could not find a reason. (03 6.0 120,000 miles)


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## SnoFarmer

my guess,

A bad head gasket.

Sometimes they don't show up when the pressure test is done on a cold engine.


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## Indy

SnoFarmer;584463 said:


> my guess,
> 
> A bad head gasket.
> 
> Sometimes they don't show up when the pressure test is done on a cold engine.


I thinks so as well, sounds like is heats and leaks, then cools and is fine.......hard to track down and you lose coolant. That's my guess, but I am no mechanic


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## brad96z28

Sounds like head gasket, I would definilty ck for co2 in the cooling system. With a combustion leak testor. A pressure test is usually not gona show u anything for a headgasket problem. It sounds like combustion is getting in the cooling system.

http://www.blockchek.com/instructions.htm


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## krazeehorse

Don't they usually overheat with a blown head gasket? Also if it is a blown head gasket you should be able to see the bubbles in the coolant as it's running.


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## Doakster

The most common problems with the 6.0 are the head gaskets and the EGR cooler. The reason why you are puking coolant is because it is getting pressurized somewhere. 

If you truck is stock I would bet it's an EGR cooler issue, very common with the 6.0. 

In your case you say it happens after running hard, this is typical because the coolant is getting pressurized more and more the harder you run. 

If you have the EGR cooler off, do yourself a favor and get and "EGR Cooler Delete Kit" they are commonly sold, and the perfect time to do it is when the cooler is off. This will solve you're problem in the future. 

Or like others have said, this could be a head gasket issue, also common on the 6.0.
If you end up pulling the head gasket, I would recommend stronger head studs when you put it back together, this will prevent your head gasket from lifting in the future.


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## Doakster

krazeehorse;585590 said:


> Don't they usually overheat with a blown head gasket? Also if it is a blown head gasket you should be able to see the bubbles in the coolant as it's running.


If you over heat an engine, it can cause a blown head gasket, a blow HG won't be the cause of the engine over heating. This mostly happens because the heads warp due to the heat and the head gasket isn't seated right anymore. And you may not necessarily see bubbles in the coolant with a blown HG.


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## Bigdadee

*Coolant leaking all over 2006 F250*

I am having the same problem with my 2006 F250. The truck has been at the dealer for 5 weeks EGR Cooler repl. Oil Cooler Repl. still does the same thing. I even offered to go for a ride with service manager to show him what it does and when it allways happens. They said that they had another truck with the same problem and ford authorized replacing Head Gaskets which fixed the problem But for some reason the still will not give auth. to replace mine. has anyone had any luck with fixing this issue


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## Lawnman883

*update*

Well, i never really did anyting about the coolant issue since during the winter didn;t seem as large of an issue. Now that its warming up again i'm going thru a gallon of collant per week. It pukes it out as soon as i fill it. i am going ot check the egr and water pump first then if i cant figure it out i will turn it over to someone more familiar with the 6.0l engine. Ford was talking $3,000 and up for the repairs...wow


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## stroker79

Well you definately do not want to keep driving it if its puking coolant. Its only going to cost more and more damage and run the bill up higher. GL, there is lots of good advise already on this thread.


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## ducatirider944

Lawnman883;584002 said:


> Hey guys,
> Figured some of the ford guys here may be able to suggest whats wrong. i have a 04 with about 113,000 miles. my issue is the coolant seems to leak out the recovery tank lid especially after a long run or when i am working it hard. Once you park and shut it down you can hear and see steam hissing out of the lid. There is evidence of coolant all opver the outside of the tank and all down the inner fender wall. the truck temp gauge never really fluctuates and the truck seems to be running fine. i replaced the coolant tank lid to see if the old one was bad but still same issue. i add a gallon of coolant every month to keep it up to the normal range. Anyone have any ideas??


Can you see antifreeze on the top of the engine drivers side under the over flow tank? IF you can it is probably one of two things both resulting in the same problem. 1. A bad cap or 2. a cracked reservoir. Both creating the same problem. It is a pressurized system and either will make it so it can't pressurize. when it can't pressurize the coolant expands more and pukes every where.



SnoFarmer;584463 said:


> my guess,
> 
> A bad head gasket.
> 
> Sometimes they don't show up when the pressure test is done on a cold engine.


xysport :waving: :waving: xysport Nice to see ya Mr. Farmer


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