My old boss told me to skip the coolant test on a 6.7 and just toss in the water pump, cost me $1,900

Phoenix Moore · 2026-10-08T12:40:03.712683+00:00

Back when I was still green at a truck shop outside Amarillo, my lead guy told me to stop wasting time pressure testing cooling systems on 6.7 Power Strokes and just throw parts at them. He said the test kits gave false reads and the pumps were the weak spot anyway. I believed him for about 8 months because he had 20 years on me. Then a 2015 F-350 came in running hot with a slow leak, and I swapped the pump without testing a thing. Two weeks later the truck came back on a hook with a cracked EGR cooler and a warped head, and the customer had the invoice from my first visit showing we never checked the system. It ended up costing the shop $1,900 in parts and labor to make it right. Now I pressure test every single one before I touch a bolt, and I keep the printout in the ticket. Anybody else get burned by a shortcut someone swore by?

Guest Forum

Loading…

My old boss told me to skip the coolant test on a 6.7 and just toss in the water pump, cost me $1,900 | Diesel Mechanics - Guest Forum