Whining noise coming from engine compartment
 

I've had my 2005 6.0L for almost a year now, and have had no apparent problems up until now.

For the past few days, after I've been driving for a while (5-10 miles or more), when I turn the truck off it makes a strange whining noise. The only way I can think to describe it is that it sounds like a dying walrus :humm:. I'm thinking it's pressure escaping from somewhere, but it seems impossible to pinpoint. It also does not seem to be affecting the truck's performance.

Any advice on the situation would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

*Approx. 47,000 miles*

Need more info... Any mods on the truck? Any idea where the noise is coming from? Check around the coolant bottle, is there any white residue there?

As far as I know, everything is stock. The noise seems to be coming from the rear section of the engine compartment, near the coolant bottle and turbo housing.

I can't see any residue or leakage around the bottle.

Does it sound like it may be the turbo itself? You could possibly have a cracked y-pipe too, but that's usually a really high pitched and loud whistling noise.

No it's more of a low pitched groan .. it's hard to describe. It makes the sound multiple times, which leads me to believe that there's some residual buildup of pressure (?), and it's escaping repeatedly.

I'm reaching with a 40-foot pole here lol.

But even with my ear in the compartment it's still very hard to determine exactly where it's coming from, so maybe it's something behind/underneath the engine.

Suppose I'll make a visual inspection of the Y-pipe tomorrow in the daylight :/

I take it you're past the 5yr warranty right?

Yea no warranty on record w/ Ford :argh:

Is it coming from the coolant bottle, possibly the radiator cap venting ?:c:

:humm:





:c:

Can't see anything on the pipe, but then again I can't see much of the pipe either way.

And I can't really take it apart ATM, am away from home :/

Suppose I'll have to get it to NAPA or something AND get it to make the noise. But we'll see. Thanks for the replies, if I get a solid answer I'll post it up.

Hey Overseasoned,

I think I may hear the same noise when I turn my truck off. From what I can gather that is the turbo winding down. I'm not sure if this is normal which I would think it is since the turbo would be in an idle stage. I am in no way an expert in turbos or diesels in fact I'm still learning.

Update:

About 1.5 hours into a 2.5 hour drive, the truck began to heat up beyond normal temp, and the truck kicked the fan system into high gear. It did not overheat, it just heated up beyond normal. I hope it wasn't getting a false reading by way of an empty cooling system.

I pulled over and saw some drops on the coolant bottle, and it seemed to be empty. I could also hear the afore-mentioned noises, and they were coming from the coolant bottle. I will replace coolant as necessary and replace the bottle cap. I'm assuming I'm losing fluid somewhere else, as well as the bottle cap, but I've never seen any leakage underneath the truck.

If anyone has any other insights into this, they'd be appreciated. I'll update when something changes.

Thanks.

Could be a ruptured EGR cooler, or headgaskets, and in that case if it's a small amount it's just burning it off and you don't notice it. Do you get any smoke on start up in the mornings?

I used to get some blue when it started up cold, but the block heater took care of that. Otherwise, no.

yeah a little blue on start up is just fuel not burning all the way.

Bulletproof diesel has a cool video on youtube that looks like a cheap easy way to test to see if you have a bad EGR cooler, bad headgaskets, or both. Might be worth checking out!

If you're overpressurizing the coolant system and forcing coolant out, it's one of the two. OR your cap could just be bad. I think they're like $12 from Napa. Might be worth trying.

I checked out Bulletproof Diesel and it looks like they have some pretty good stuff. I did not see any information about checking the head gaskets, but I took a look at the EGR valve check.

I haven't been able to actually check the valve - I don't have access to any tools right now, but I've been doing a lot of research about this whole issue and some of it is confusing me.

I've taken a look at EGR deletes, EGR cooler upgrades, and coolant filtration + oil cooler replacement. What I've read leads me to believe that people either do an EGR delete OR an EGR cooler upgrade AND new oil cooler AND coolant filtration. Also, it would seem that most people have solved the problem with an EGR delete, but that doesn't make sense because the problem starts with a clogged oil cooler. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the system, but I feel like you would need to replace the oil cooler and get a coolant filter whether you did an EGR delete OR an EGR cooler upgrade, since the casting debris clogging the oil cooler is the root of the issue.

Sorry about the long-winded-ness, but as I get more information about the situation I'm getting more and more confused about it.

And, on top of that, like you said, it could just be a bad cap, but I don't really have any way of testing it.

I'm very :argh::argh::argh::argh: right now.

You're on the right track. Here's the video I was talking about, I should have just posted it originally, sorry about that.


A few other things to add:

A coolant filter is a good thing to add no matter what you have or don't have on there. It wont hurt a thing and is quite inexpensive.

A full delete setup (deletes the EGR valve and cooler) are a great idea and IMO the best solution, but if you live in a state where they do emissions testing, or you just want to keep a factory look, the bulletproof kit is a great choice, just more money than a delete.

A new oil cooler, or a rebuild kit is a VERY good idea, if you're already digging in. It wont hurt anything and in most cases is more of a necessity than anything. Yes, even if you're doing an EGR full delete, it's still good, since it can also cause headgasket issues.

Clear as mud?

As clear as green tea, thank you :tu:

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Actually let me ask you this .. how does an EGR Delete solve the problem if it has to do with the clogged Oil Cooler?

Again, let me know if I'm misunderstanding the system, I just want to understand how it all works before I choose an option.

*Never-mind .. it solves the bad EGR problem alone, I see now. The clogged oil cooler is still a problem and can still cause separate issues .. right?

Yep. EGR delete should more or less be done anytime, as long as the valve or the cooler is there, it can fail. If it "falls off" then nothing can happen right?

Clogged oil cooler can still mess with your headgaskets. An oil bypass filter setup never hurt a diesel either.

I think these trucks have a turbo.