I have a 2004 f-550 it in use a a tow truck since i bought this truck 9 months ago it had its share of problems 3 injector went bad that caused misfiring of the engine then the ac system was hell to deal with after $1200 later and a month finally got it working right. Now i have a problem i always have to add coolant everyday it seems to go dry like nothing there no leaks to be found Ive been adding coolant everyday for the past 4 months. Because it is a tow truck it put under more stress than your average super duty it has a 6.0 which is problematic. before i bought this truck i didnt know about the 6.0 issues we had a 7.3 which had no problems at all. Then after i bought it i found out how problematic it actually is. Well here my problem i noticed water leaking from the exhaust if i had to say how much water id say about 3 bottles of bottled water. Im now thinking that the egr cooler might be the cause for this but i dont know about the egr cooler and how to diagnose it. The next problem after the truck being running for a hour to two hour i hear the loud i cant describe it other than a "vrooom" coming from the engine most likely the turbo it stays like that after its warm and it goes away after 50mph but as soon as i drop back down under 50 to a dead stop and take of again it comes back can someone please help me or lead me to the right path about what happening to my truck id really appreciate it. Thanks in advance Nick.

 

I'm no expert but it sounds like EGR Cooler is leaking in to the exhaust.

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That needs fixed quickly.

 

yeah from everything I have read on this site.. It looks like your EGR cooler is shot. Which leads to other problems if not taking care of right away. Dont take any chances. Have the cooler checked.

And if your not in California or other SMOG STRICT states get rid of that EGR and do a delete kit. As for the vroom sounds I have no idea. Loose turbo downpipe? I know others will have something to say about teh vroom. Just hasnt happned to me yet.

 

could be head gaskets and if it is not head gaskets running it buring coolant is asking to blow your head gaskets.

 

Try these videos

 

If your trying to earn a living running a 6.0 Powerstroke Ford your going to have a very bad season. I've owned 25 Fords in my life and always thought the mark was the best available until I bought the 2005F250 which I'm now battling with. Same problem consuming coolant. EGR cooler dead, oil cooler also dead, probably head gaskets too. can't afford to fix knowing there are a horde of other issues with this POS. 2 options 1. trade it off and buy a Dodge,or 2. go to Ford/Cummins.com and fix it. Ford doesn't want to know me anymore, well Fine. I have friends that spent upwards of $15,000 trying to fix one machine. Turbo's, injectors, Head gaskets, oil pumps, and the above can be repaired multiple times. Basically there are no permanent Fixes. I'm truly sorry for your problems but DON't try and fix that engine, just get rid of it quick.

 

Nothing is a permanent fix no matter what brand you drive. Your post is quite ignorant and your lack of knowledge on the subject is apparent. You can fix it up to be quite reliable. It sounds more like you're venting about issues you've had, as most of us have as well, but rest assured there are fixes. Many have fixed them and many still run them. My guess is if you have owned 25 Fords, you are going to be quite unhappy in a Dodge truck anyways.

FYI, oil cooler goes first and takes egr cooler and headgaskets with it, chances are if your egr cooler is shot, your oil cooler was the culprit and resulted in the mess you have/had. It's a package deal so yes all three of those being bad at once are quite the norm.

Also, it's pretty common knowledge that fordcummins.com is not a good choice to go with, or at least that is the opinion I've formulated after reading the forums for the last several years. Destroked.com is where it's at.

 

25 Fords? ok over how long? and you say you dont have the money to fix it? either you haven't owned 25 fords or you just like to bitch. to tntwreckerservice i'd probly guess mdub's second paragraph covers your situation. its always a good idea to have guages so you know a few more specifics on whats happening. If i could make a suggestion i would probably say for what you do which is a job that requires you to stress your truck at times that going with an 06 up 6.0 would be better but i would say the absolute best would be what you already had. the 7.3 powerstroke. an engine that was used for a long time and a very reliable engine that was tested to its limits and held its own over those years. the only reason it's no longer in the new trucks is because of emmissions standards. i would say that is the best for you but if you need a newer truck for the reasons of presentation and profesionality then you could repair this truck for a certain amount and make it reliable but i dont think you'll beat a 7.3

 

I've owned Fords since 1964. I currently own a 08 Navigator, an 08 Mustang, and a 2010 Mustang, a 66 Lincoln Continetal conv. and a 64 Galaxie 500/XL. I always buy the premium engines in vehicles that I purchase and thus the 6.0 in the 05F250 Lariat. My truck has 82,000 miles on it and now I'm looking at spending possibly as much as $5,000 to get it running. Yes I'm angry because when I contact Ford, there screwed up design is my problem. Turns out this Navistar supplied engine the VT365 was originally designed for 175 Horsepower not the 325HP sold to me by Ford. Yes it can be repaired but no not permanently, at least for extended mileage, and why should the customer get stuck with the bill? I've studied this engine carefully, and there are severe design problems that cannot be addressed. Thus it's a dead engine line and discontinued. For example this engine has only four studs per cylinder which do not effectively surround the combustion chambers to retain combustion pressures and thus head gaskets prematurely deteriorate. Another major flaw is to be found in the valve train. These are four valves per cylinder engines with two pushrods activating those requiring a bridging system which causes side loading on the valves themselves and premature valve guide destruction. Current fixes for the EGR cooler involve removing and blocking out that system, which is basically illegal as that defeats the polution control motive for having the system there in the first place. To go back to a 7.3 engine also goes back to an engine that was allowed in the past but no longer meets polution control standards in newer vehicles so that is not a wise decision either. Ford should sort this out as those who bought premium items from them and maintained them as required should be retained as customers. It's only a matter of time until Lemon Laws come into effect on this item and they will be forced to do something.

 

The thing that kills me about people who buy 6.0's (not necessarily your case), but I don't think there is another vehicle on this planet where you can go online and learn every problem it will have before it happens. What other car or truck can you do that with? I knew how to fix every issue my 6.0 was going to have before I bought it. I try to do a lot of researching before spending $30k+ on a truck (up towards $60k for a new superduty...) to see if there is any issues. Being you got an 05, I have to believe you had some time to try and research this. There ARE fixes. What state do you live in? Even if you live in Arizona or Cali where they actually check for those emissions systems you can always get the bulletproof egr coolers and still be legal and fix some issues.

Yep, 4 bolts per cylinder on these. The 6.4 is the same way and they seem to hold over 500 rwhp with no issue. They do use larger bolts, but it's still 4 bolts per cylinder... Not ideal by any means, but the true issue is like you said, the 325hp vs the 175 designed for. It was also designed for 175 without emissions items. Add that to the mix and you can see why we are where we are.


I think you should start your own thread and let us know your issues and we can probably help you out to get it up and running again for far cheaper than the 5k you suggest. Or we can at least try.

If this sounds rude, I don't mean to be. We're all here to learn. I've been drinking tonight