Head Gasket pops a 2 weeks after being replaced. Help.

[mysticblu999]

I really hate to start another head gasket story but, after reading and reading for days at a time on this subject I have to ask a few things.

First of all, At the first of the year I just got my truck back from the dealership. Truck was bone stock except for a MBRP 4" exhaust. The egr cooler went out and blew the head gaskets. So much coolant was in the cylinders that it wouldn't even turn over. My truck was ONE MONTH out of warranty so I had to foot the bill. Labor alone was $2200 and they warranted their work for one year. They recommended that I used ARP studs. So I got those and Black onyx gaskets. They even said they would do the EGR delete since it was out of warranty. They even loaded up a SCT with innovative tunes on it for me. (truck was stock tune before)

I got the truck back and it ran great. Except my heater didn't work like it should. It would fade out every once in a while. After a week or so the heater would barley work and never while idling. It would puke all the coolant out of the degas bottle. They said it was the cap. Nope. Tried a new one and same thing. It would build 18-20psi in the cooling system when I would barely pull out and the coolant would puke instantly.

First thing that troubles me is they only used a strait edge to check my heads with. Never sent it to a machine shop to be tested. Could be warped or even have a crack in it. Second is, can the head studs even be re-used? Should they make me pay for gaskets and head studs that isn't an OEM part?

I just received some troubling news and hour ago. My mechanic friend (at another shop) called me and told me about his cousin that works at our ford dealership. He told him that they were gonna try to screw me out of the warranty on their work (supposed to be for one year) because of my tuner (that they put on).

I'm really upset right now and could use any help I could get.

[willholl79]

Ouch!!!!!! Could be warped or cracked heads. I think the dealership ought to foot the bill for the labor. Sounds like they could've done a better job checking the heads. Good luck, keep us posted.

[KCS250]

The studs can be reused.

[mudrunninpig]

sorry to hear, stick to your guns, do you have the warranty in writing?

[Abrannan19]

hmmm..is your name Rob?

[mysticblu999]

Originally Posted by willholl79

Ouch!!!!!! Could be warped or cracked heads. I think the dealership ought to foot the bill for the labor. Sounds like they could've done a better job checking the heads. Good luck, keep us posted.

I agree and I will be going in the morning to see what I can find out. I'll keep you guys posted.

Originally Posted by KCS250

The studs can be reused.

I was hoping for that.

Originally Posted by mudrunninpig

sorry to hear, stick to your guns, do you have the warranty in writing?

That I will have to check. I hope I don't have to fight this.

Originally Posted by Abrannan19

hmmm..is your name Rob?

It sure is

[fordmasterdieseltech]

They should have sent them to be checked, ford now allows only .004" distortion max (used to be .002" until recently). checking the heads with a flat edge and feeler gauge is not perfect by any means, and in my opinion a good machine shop is the only way to go.

[Abrannan19]

Originally Posted by mysticblu999

It sure is

yea..the dealer called me..since I got the gaskets for you, wanted to know what type of warranty I had on the gaskets since it was back in less then a month (I think is what he said) I said, um...really, there is no warranty. But I also asked him if they checked the heads..his reply was, oh yea..we checked the heads, they are all good, very sure of his response ya know. I then said, so, you can provide me with a receipt where you sent the heads to a machine shop and had the vacuum tested, pressure tested, magnafluxed for cracks and checked for flatness, because that is checking heads IMO. He then stumbles and says well, um, yea, um, I don't think we did that, I said then you didn't check the heads at all. If the heads are cracked can you always see that? NO!! If the heads are leaking, can you see that? NO!! If the heads are warped, can you see that? Sometimes, but most techs don't take the time to check them good enough IMHO. I also asked him if they visually inspected the block for scoring or cracks to which he responds, well...um, no, I don't think that was checked.

All of this kind of baffled me since its a ford dealership, they should know of these types of things prior to calling a parts supplier, IMO. But it doesn't matter what gaskets you use or what fasteners (ARP or H11) you use, if the platform is bad, IE, cracked heads, warped heads or cracked block or bad surface area on the block, the gaskets will blow, plain and simple.

I told them if they provided me with a receipt that showed that type testing was done, i would see what I could do, but I already know what the answer will be. Sorry you are having issues, but the issue isn't the headgasket.

If they supplied you with a SCT tuner and loaded the tunes, then blamed failure on the tunes now, they are grasping at straws on how not to take care of the problem.

How did you pay for the tuner? Did you get a receipt?

[m-chan68]

Originally Posted by Abrannan19

yea..the dealer called me..since I got the gaskets for you, wanted to know what type of warranty I had on the gaskets since it was back in less then a month (I think is what he said) I said, um...really, there is no warranty. But I also asked him if they checked the heads..his reply was, oh yea..we checked the heads, they are all good, very sure of his response ya know. I then said, so, you can provide me with a receipt where you sent the heads to a machine shop and had the vacuum tested, pressure tested, magnafluxed for cracks and checked for flatness, because that is checking heads IMO. He then stumbles and says well, um, yea, um, I don't think we did that, I said then you didn't check the heads at all. If the heads are cracked can you always see that? NO!! If the heads are leaking, can you see that? NO!! If the heads are warped, can you see that? Sometimes, but most techs don't take the time to check them good enough IMHO. I also asked him if they visually inspected the block for scoring or cracks to which he responds, well...um, no, I don't think that was checked.

A VERY intelligent response IMO. Probably the most intelligent post I've EVER read out of all of yours so far, and I couldn't agree more. For this exact reason, I INSIST on having the heads sent out and checked on any 6.0L I've ever had off.

Originally Posted by Abrannan19

All of this kind of baffled me since its a ford dealership, they should know of these types of things prior to calling a parts supplier, IMO. But it doesn't matter what gaskets you use or what fasteners (ARP or H11) you use, if the platform is bad, IE, cracked heads, warped heads or cracked block or bad surface area on the block, the gaskets will blow, plain and simple.

Another very good point that needs to be clarified time and again.

Originally Posted by Abrannan19

If they supplied you with a SCT tuner and loaded the tunes, then blamed failure on the tunes now, they are grasping at straws on how not to take care of the problem.

How did you pay for the tuner? Did you get a receipt?

I would be very interested in knowing this myself too.

[Abrannan19]

Originally Posted by m-chan68

Probably the most intelligent post I've EVER read out of all of yours so far

damn..I guess I typically suck..LOL