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Rawze

FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!!.... As soon as it started having coolant loss .... SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE FOUND OUT WHY!!!... instead of driving it around like a fool!.

At this point, ... and the FIRST TIME YOU SAW IT LEAKING!!!.....you should have ...

== Pressurized the coolant system to 20 PSI and let it sit over night. FIX ALL external leaks that are found, and SINCE YOU SAW WHITE SMOKE>>>>>>WHICH IS VERY SERIOUS in the context of colant leaks... you should have ...

>> yes... pulled the exhaust piping off the egr cooler on the back side and check for coolant pooling up.
>>AND YES ... if your coolant levels were dropping several inches in the tank and/or being pushed out of the overflow .. considering the age of the engine... DROPPED THE OIL PAN AS WELL AND LOOKED FOR COOLANT SEEPING AROUND ANY PISTON RINGS on each compression stroke for each cylinder while someone turns the engine by hand, while the coolant system was still pressurized at 20 psi.. after sitting all night.

That is how you prevent it putting you on the side of the road (or stuck on a ferry in your case) .. or worse yet,.. it suddenly hydra-locking at some point and bending a connection rod, or putting a piston right thru the side of the engine block.

(so what now) ...
Before you go around making assumptions like a fool (or letting your obviously under-trained mechanic guess like an idiot) ... DO THE troubleshooting (including pulling the pan, etc.) steps that I mentioned above before making costly, blind man decisions. FIX the egr coolar leaking issue if it is indeed seeping.. and ALSO do the test for the pistons with pan off it.. then go from there.

IF IT NEEDS AN INFRAME>>>> here is how it should be done to guarantee another million miles if that is what needs to happen...
ref: https://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?...6#pid70606

Good luck however on finding a mechanic that is actually willing to do the things mentioned in that post, as most of them are too da%mn in a hurry, speed-gun happy, downright lazy, or too arrogant in their ways to do anything beyond the minimum these days.