Failure mode - Ford 3.2L Power Stroke Diesel (Transit 2015-2019)
EGR cooler failure: overheating and coolant loss (three Ford field actions)
Reliability tier: aggregated - verify before ordering, see /disclosure/
Symptoms
- engine overheating with no obvious cause
- coolant loss without an external leak (cooler leaks internally)
- white smoke / coolant in the exhaust on advanced cases
- MIL with EGR-related DTCs
Compare with the other causes of the same sign on this engine: white smoke from the exhaust · losing coolant (2 causes) · overheating or temperature creeping up (2 causes)
Root cause
The compact engine bay's thermal load takes the EGR cooler past its limits: Ford issued an overheat TSB (16-0146), a factory-correction TSB (17-0009 - an incorrect EGR cooler may have been installed at the factory on early builds) and three field actions - 18M06/18M06-S1 (EGR Cooler Replacement, MY2015-2017) and 19B03/19B03-S1 (MY2015-2016), then 21M03 (EGR Cooler Replacement owner letter: 11-year/120,000-mile cooler warranty extension, MY2015-2019).
Diagnosis
- check for unexplained coolant loss and pressure-test with the EGR circuit in mind
- look for exhaust white smoke at idle after warm-up (cooler leaking into the exhaust path)
- verify VIN coverage against 18M06 / 19B03 / 21M03 before paying for a cooler
- inspect the oil cooler while the front end is apart (same thermal bay)
Fixes
EGR cooler replacement (updated part); on field-action VINs the replacement may be covered ()
- egr-cooler - more than one option: 3.2L Power Stroke EGR Cooler (CK4Z-9U433-D, current), 3.2L Power Stroke EGR Cooler Valve Assembly (CK4Z-9U433-B)
Prevalence
very-common