Hey Guys,

I have a new-to-me 2008 F250, 145,000 miles. Bought it with a slight coolant leak at the horizontal EGR cooler supply. I got under it and tightened the clamp where the leak was showing one day after work last week, drove home 20 miles, and parked it in the driveway....I then noticed coolant pouring out of the front of the vehicle when I got out. Inspection shows it to be the original radiator hoses with black end connections.The lower one (driver side, #11 in the diagram) is leaking at the top where fluid is pushed into the coolant pump.The hoses were replaced on the truck under warranty but a long time ago, before the updated parts and the 11-12-04 TSB. My truck sits until I get it fixed, as I lost about 1 qt. of coolant as I watched it drain and inspected for the the source. I want to replace all of them to the newest upgraded versions.



I searched around, but could never find an answer to what parts I need to order for the repair? I know the two hoses, but what about the other half of the lower radiator hose (#13)? Also, do I need to order the clips and seals (#10, 12, 14)?

I also plan to do the "full-day" flush procedure....but I have to find the write-up I read last week. Something about getting a Cummins dealer product "restore" for cleaning the system with? And also I need to find a place to go with 30gals of contaminated fluids and water! What do you guys do with it all? Or should I follow the Ford TSB 10-7-5 for flushing the system? Anyone on here done either of these or a different method? How did it work for you? Any pointers?

I'm also thinking of a coolant filter - good, bad, indifferent?

Thanks for all the help so far!

MT


p.s - anyone in the area that wants to help, free homebrew will be available during the procedure.

 

do not use the cummins crap in there... You will have a rotten front cover in no time... My suggestion to you, pull the water pump and inspect the cover. Usually every single truck i get with either hyper extended thermostats or missing thermostat hold downs in the housing, the radiator leaking, or the hoses leaking i pull the water pump and find the front cover to look like someone went in there with 00 buckshot... Theyre easy for me, but for someone whos never done a front cover, Dont break the plastic tube... Youll know which one...The one that requires the intake to be removed to replace... I never break that one, broke one back in 08 or 09 never will i ever make that mistake again... I usually break the other plastic one when i try to remove it from the front cover...

 

I have never heard this. They are only acid and alkaline cleaners plus corrosion inhibitors, and should have no impact on parts dependent on what company makes the engine. Ford has VC9, which is also an acid cleaner/corrosion inhibitor.


I was under the impression that front cover degradation like that was a result of cavitation caused by the system sucking in air due to low coolant levels. The correlation is not the front cover caused the leak, it is that a low coolant condition caused by the leaking radiator/hoses/etc. and the resulting sucking in air caused cavitation that resulted in front cover damage.

Mine never had low coolant, as I knew it was leaking and I chose to not drive it until it was fixed. It has been a month now and there is no loss of fluids, either dripping or disappearing into the oil system...so I assume my front cover is still intact. I'm sending some oil in to Blackstone from oil change this past weekend, so we'll see after that.

Thanks for any further comments on the issue,

MT