twsmegacab

My brother inlaw deleted his 08 6.7 g56 3500 4x4 drw and just the other day he had some issues found that the head gasket was toast. Anyone have and Idea what might have happened? Too much boost? his was a full delete exhaust, block off plates, and smarty jr stock power setting.

YounanDiesel

I doubt that the engine will over heat because of the deletes, the deletes allow the engine to breath better and run cooler.

I'm guessing he missed some sensor, or something like that. The new 6.7 come with and hand full of sensors so you have to be careful when you do deletes.

But If he drove the truck with the temp gauge all the way towards "245" for more than 30 seconds, then he defiantly burned it up. But I doubt that's the case..

Good luck

twsmegacab

I was just reading in the stock 6.7 section about air pockets in the egr cooler causing overheating for a minute or two but apparently thats all it takes. It described what he said happened to his so I'll give him the print off.
Thanks

Circle B

What EGR Cooler delete kit did he use? Did he plug the EGR coolant line or did he use a by hose? I have heard differing points on this as some say just plugging the line can reduce cooling at the head.

1mathom1

That's why I fashioned my own bypass while installing an H&S cooler delete. The brass plug they provided worked great to plug the CCV hose going into the turbo.

Jim W

Does he have gages or a monitor installed to watch the Boost pressure, EGT's and such?
Does he tow? Did he delete the EGR cooler totally or just blocked off the cooler and left it installed?

You can fail a head gasket by over boosting the engine easily. The head will lift and the gasket will fail. Several users have failed the head gasket by over boosting. I monitor my gages constantly keeping boost under 35 PSI so far no issues. I have the Smarty senior set on level 3 with all parameters set at default except Torque Management, this is set to level 2. I now have over 32K since I installed the smarty with no issues. I have towed my 5er with this setting all over the US and driven the truck without the 5er attached without any problems. The only time I see high Boost pressure is towing and this is monitored closely.
Jim W.

Circle B

Yeah, it seems like those that had any overheating (air pocket) problems had just plugged the EGR coolant line, that's why I opted for a bypass hose.

Seems boost is always a big contributor, but since he was running just 'stock' setting, is that very likely? (genuinely curious)

megacab, in any case it's a real bummer the head gasket got toasted, but I guess it would be a great opportunity and incentive to replace the stock head studs. Seems there are many potential pitfalls doing the delete modifications. I've always been a proponent of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"; how'm so ever, in the case of the engine choking EPA junk, I saw it as broke from the factory.

nkennedy

The fuel mileage stock would cause me to want to do the deletes.

twsmegacab

I'm still planning on deleting mine and he didn't have a bypass hose just blocked it off. No gauges either but his friend/ mechanic said he'd be fine with out them lol I had an 04 and with the edge j/a and I watched that more than anything else. Oh well live and learn.

He put a new head gasket on and traded it in on a new tundra.

Jim W

Everybody states I am just on a stock setting. But it is very very ease to turn up the wick just once to see what the truck will do. This is when things will happen.
Jim W.

Jim W

Gages should be the first mod that anyone plans on doing if you plan on doing any performance modes like adding a programmer to the truck. You need to know what is going on and the only way is with information and the gages will fill this bill.
I run my Smarty on level 3 and per Smarty this only adds 60HP/120 Lb-ft to the rear axle. Which you would think the engine should be able to handle safely, will I have seen high boost pressure and high EGT's when towing in the mountains on 6 and 7 percent slops. So I know to get my foot out of the accelerator and ease off on the fuel to the engine by watching the gages. I do not want a blown head gasket 1500 to 2000 miles from home.
Jim W.

mega-engr

Same here! I tow on pretty much the same settings and have to watch the EGT's. I try not to let it get much over 1200 for any period of time..., and keep it below 1100. I seem to cruise between about 800 to 1000.

Scotty

I feel that gauges should be part of the pkg whether the truck is stock or not.

I learned this the hard way on my 98 Ram. I had no idea the lift pump had failed until my VP-44 injector pump failed. Bone stock.

I know of a few other folks that had failures on 3rd gens because of no gauges...heavy towing with a leaky intercooler boot can put some serious heat to the engine.

As for the cooler deletes. I have had the plugs in place for almost 100K miles and I run SW3 all the time. Air pockets can kill a head quickly. Perhaps I should reconsider a bypass.

08dodgemega

Took the advise from many posts on here and installed the bypass hose with my H&S cooler delete as well. Finished my delete last night and the truck runs and sounds like it should. Now to find a place to store all the junk.

In regards to monitoring, what are the key things to monitor other then the EGT? Tranny temp, Boost.

Anything else I should monitor to help prevent major damage?

Thanks in advance on this as well as all the previous posts I read, really does help a lot to have a well educated group to ask questions.

________________
08 3500 6.7L 6sp. Auto, 4x4 MegaCab, Imperial Red, MiniMaxx, H&S full delete from turbo back W/Stock Muffler, Home modified stock air intake, 35x12.5x17 GT Grabbers

Scotty

Fuel pressure.