Last thursday i bought a 03 F-350 XLT FX4 Super Duty 150,000 on the clock, Bone stock, for 7,000. - very bad choice. this is my first diesel, so i am new to all the issues. when i bought the truck, she hadn't bben started in a week, and after two minutes of running, started blowing white smoke / Steam. after i ran it, she cleared up. brought it home and started it the next morning.. two minutes later, white smoke /steam. after driving it for a few minutes, she cleared up and periodically, she would smoke while driving. but when left to idle for a few minutes, white smoke would come right back. i called a few people who know diesels, they all said head gasket was bad, and to throw in head gasket repair to the coolant and if the smoking stopped it was head gaskets, if not, EGR cooler. well i did it, no change. i was alos told i could drive it and there would be no risk of further damamge (couldnt have been more wrong). so after driving it a few hundred miles (yes, i know it was not a good thing to do) the smoking got progressively worse. at one point, i was driving about 55MPH, and she started to chug.. stepped on the pedal and it cleared up.. it did that once more, and never done it again.. so after countless hours of research, i bought a Scan Gauge II, and a pressure tester to put in the cab for the Degas bottle. while idling for 15-20 minutes, the coolant pressure never went over 7-8 PSI. i released the pressure, and immediately got on the throttle, within a minutes she would settle at 10PSI, then when giver WOT, would spike to 16PSI almost immediately, then as soon as i left off the pedal, it would drop right back to 8-10 PSI. my ECT never goes over 190 DEG, my EOT tops out at 235 DEG after a couple hard runs and stays there until the truck is shut off. boost in 3rd gear at WOT never exceeds 23PSI. This truck has loads of power, she will pin you to the seat and hold you there. i can put her in 4 High, dry pavement, punch it, and burn the tires off the rims... so there is no loss in power.
I parked the truck, and drove it a few miles every other day.. occasional performing some diagnostic tests. . hoping to narrow things down. well i went out yesterday, hit the key, she turned over once, then THUD.. doesn't budge.. the batteries are new, so i know that's not an issue.. my guess is she is hydro locked with coolant. i don't believe there is any injector issues, but i may be wrong.
i Figure ill come up with $2500, do the OEM gaskets, ARP head studs, BPD EGR cooler, stock oil cooler, Coolant filter, and be done with it. now i do have access to a garage with a lift, but cant use the lift for a week.. id like to pull the cab off to do it, but with sending the heads out.. its guaranteed to be a week. i know the heads have never been touched since there are head bolts, and not studs., this truck is 100% bone stock. now that the history has been laid down, i have a couple questions.
Questions:
1. is there a way to tell 100% if you have bad head gaskets, or an EGR cooler since both have pretty much the same symptoms?
2. whats the time difference in the repair process for the heads with cab-on VS. Cab-off?
3. Since i will probably be doing the Heads as well, is there a definitive parts list i will need? gaskets, O rings, etc...???
4. How do i go about Un-Hydrolocking the engine properly with being minimally intrusive since its in my driveway and 10 DEG outside?, and is there high risk of it hydrolocking while running after i do it?
I parked the truck, and drove it a few miles every other day.. occasional performing some diagnostic tests. . hoping to narrow things down. well i went out yesterday, hit the key, she turned over once, then THUD.. doesn't budge.. the batteries are new, so i know that's not an issue.. my guess is she is hydro locked with coolant. i don't believe there is any injector issues, but i may be wrong.
i Figure ill come up with $2500, do the OEM gaskets, ARP head studs, BPD EGR cooler, stock oil cooler, Coolant filter, and be done with it. now i do have access to a garage with a lift, but cant use the lift for a week.. id like to pull the cab off to do it, but with sending the heads out.. its guaranteed to be a week. i know the heads have never been touched since there are head bolts, and not studs., this truck is 100% bone stock. now that the history has been laid down, i have a couple questions.
Questions:
1. is there a way to tell 100% if you have bad head gaskets, or an EGR cooler since both have pretty much the same symptoms?
2. whats the time difference in the repair process for the heads with cab-on VS. Cab-off?
3. Since i will probably be doing the Heads as well, is there a definitive parts list i will need? gaskets, O rings, etc...???
4. How do i go about Un-Hydrolocking the engine properly with being minimally intrusive since its in my driveway and 10 DEG outside?, and is there high risk of it hydrolocking while running after i do it?