2006 E350 van with 6.0L PSD. Scangauge has indicated that the oil cooler is on its way out. Typical shop quotes start at $2k for just labor to replace the oil cooler, so I've decided to try it myself, shadetree mechanical style.
While I'm in there, I'll also do the typical "bulletproofing"(Coolant filter and BPD EGR cooler) and if a component I'm touching anyway has a design update, I'll handle that at this time.
After reading and digesting the service manual instructions for this job, I'm optimistic.
This won't be a photo-tutorial of how to do this job, but I'll try to document the bits that are tougher than they would be if I fixed engines for a living.
TL;DR I did it. You can too- you need: Some time (it took me 30 hours total), a place (you'll be removing a lot of parts and you need to put them somewhere safe), and a plan (the job can be broken up pretty easily into 3-4 hour chunks but you need to do things in the right order).
I spent $1668 on the essential parts, tools, and supplies, and another $723 on updates for parts I'll be accessing anyway.
Here we go!
I purchased a subscription to maintenance instructions from
http://www.alldatadiy.com read the procedure a few times while looking into my crowded engine bay. There's a lot of steps that start with "do this other step first" so I made myself a timeline plan so as not to waste time trying to get something out if it wasn't ready.
Order of disassembly / reassembly: New parts to install
Drain oil and coolant
Radiator stack
Turbo and pedistal
Cooling fan
Intake Manifold
EGR cooler
Oil cooler: new cooler, oil strainer, gaskets
HPOP : STC fitting
EGR cooler : New cooler, gaskets, IPR screen
Intake manifold: intake manifold gaskets, egr cooler hose, FPR, fuel supply lines
Cooling fan
Turbo and pedistal: Turbo oil tubes, new seals
Radiator stack: coolant filter, thermostat and housing
Refill Oil and Coolant: New Filters, Degas bottle cap
I purchased the following parts and tools:
I'll get started with disassembly while my parts are en route.