The Diesel Garage banner

puking always means headgasket?

2K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  imported_fast_and_furious 
#1 ·
if your truck is puking with a programer installed does that always mean that you have a blown head gasket? truck is a 2004 f350 with 6.0
 
#2 ·
im not a Ford man,but Im pretty sure it doesnt always mean head gasket.It can be EGR cooler as well, im pretty sure.Hopefully someone with more know how will chime in.
 
#3 ·
This needs to be moved to the 6.0 general forum so you'll get more answers...

Puking just means that somewhere in your cooling system, coolant is boiling.

It can be caused by many things including the following and more...

Warped heads
Bad head Gaskets
Damaged/clogged Oil Cooler
Damaged/clogged EGR Cooler
Bad Overflow Cap

Hope that helps.
 
#4 ·
also high cylinder pressure right? mine never does it unless a race tune is installed and a long hard run.....
 
#5 ·
also is it just coming out of the degas cap or out of the engine?
 
#7 ·
Maxxis, That is exactly what I said...

High CP's can cause the other things, which cause puking, like stretching of the headbolts.

A High power tune generally puts more fuel, and air into the engine, which creates a larger/longer explosion which equals more power. It also means higher Cylinder temps. Therefore the coolant is at a higher temp, which increases your chances of a hotspot being hot enough to boil. Therefore puking.

The tunes are just one of the contributing factors.
 
#8 ·
6L strokin said:
also is it just coming out of the degas cap or out of the engine?

LokiWolf said:
Maxxis, That is exactly what I said...

High CP's can cause the other things, which cause puking, like stretching of the headbolts.

A High power tune generally puts more fuel, and air into the engine, which creates a larger/longer explosion which equals more power. It also means higher Cylinder temps. Therefore the coolant is at a higher temp, which increases your chances of a hotspot being hot enough to boil. Therefore puking.

The tunes are just one of the contributing factors.
Possibley both , if you have the contributing factors that Wolf spoke of above, you can have a leaking cooler tube, leaking cap or all of the above.
 
#10 ·
it was coming out of the degas bottle when the programer was installed on high performance. i took the cap off after driving normal and did not see any bubbles. the programer has been off the truck for six months now and no problems whatsoever. ive heard the sct (livewire on its way) will not make the 6.0s puke as much as the other programers. thanks for all the replies. so much info here i love this site:bow:
 
#11 ·
Extended Power said:
If your coolant is too full, your truck will puke it out until it finds it's happy place...
When your truck is really warm, slowly loosen, and remove your coolant cap. If you see bubbles...not good, prolly need gaskets etc.
Well when i take my cap off it bubbles.... and i was wondering where my coolant was going.. Does this mean that is my headgaskets??
Thanks
 
#12 ·
NOOOOO, Any puking can be caused by any of the above factors that Maxxis and I mentioned.

It can also be multiple like Maxxis said. You could replace your headbolts with headstuds, and it might puke less but still puke. Therefore it could be caused by one of the other things mentioned above.

Puking is just a symptom, caused by your coolant boiling some where in the coolant system. Gas takes up much more volume than liquid, therefore the pressure increases, which causes the puking.

Yes taking the programmer off might stop it...because the Cylinder Temps aren't getting as hot, which decreases the likely hood of the coolant boiling.
 
#14 ·
EP, I don't disagree with you...it could be the headgaskets...but not neccesarily. People seem to jump right to that, without investigating to see if it could be some of the other causes.

I have talked to several people that have replaced the headgaskets, and done studs, and still puked...after, with the same tune loaded.
 
#15 ·
I agree with you as well.
It could be quite a few things.
But I think if you pull the tune out of it, and it still bubbles...I think ya narrowed it down to a couple of thngs that it could be.

But yes, several people have installed studs, new gaskets, even o-ringed the heads, and have still puked after. (My god...would I ever have a coniption if I did all those mods, just to have it spew again...I think the truck would burn to the ground right then and there...):ph :pissed: :bang
 
#16 ·
Extended Power said:
I agree with you as well.
It could be quite a few things.
But I think if you pull the tune out of it, and it still bubbles...I think ya narrowed it down to a couple of thngs that it could be.

But yes, several people have installed studs, new gaskets, even o-ringed the heads, and have still puked after. (My god...would I ever have a coniption if I did all those mods, just to have it spew again...I think the truck would burn to the ground right then and there...):ph :pissed: :bang

you would think that during all those mods they would have deleted the EGR cooler..

I am doing studs,o-rings,sticks,fuels sytem egr delete..she shouldnt puke anymore..lol
 
#17 ·
Well see this is my problem.... When the truck is cold there is no coolant in the overflow bottle..... When i get done from running it and the coolant get hot, if i take the cap off it bubbles to just the front part of the bottle and also at one point when i was just idleing in the driveway is was boiling... now i am loosing coolant but i jsut dont no where anymore... can anyone help me out??
Thanks
 
#18 ·
F&F, You probably have a head issue. If it isn't coming from around the bottle, and you are still losing it, I would guess the heads, but hopefully somebody like John G, Diesel71, or Doc will come along and confirm. Do you get any white smoke? :shrug:
 
#19 ·
LokiWolf said:
F&F, You probably have a head issue. If it isn't coming from around the bottle, and you are still losing it, I would guess the heads, but hopefully somebody like John G, Diesel71, or Doc will come along and confirm. Do you get any white smoke? :shrug:
I dont get any white smoke.... and the truck runs fine but its just that i have some coolant missing... and yes i have still had little drops from the overflow cap and i had plenty of pretty big pukes before so i dont kno what do u guys think??
Thanks
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top