Tomorrow is the day, ima trade in and give him 1k cash for the truck. Anyways here my ? The truck has blown gaskets, 1 or both idk, when they blew he (owner) put in a can of block seal and drove it 8miles to the dealer and immediately traded it in. Without me taking it apart and seeing,,,, do you think the would be warped or cracked?
Do both. Don't waste your time/money doing one. Bad bad bad idea.
The very first thing you should do is flush out the cooling system using Restore and Restore+. If you have difficulty finding restore+, Ford sells a product called VC-9 that you can use instead. You will need 2 quarts of this VC-9 chemical. This flushing process will take you a full day and many many gallons of distilled water. In my signature line, there is a link for a flushing document that will detail the steps required. Disregard the "reverse" flushing portion of the document since that part will not help you.
When completed, fill your cooling system with a CAT EC-1 rated ELC coolant.
Once the heads come off, they must be sent out to a machine shop that is qualified to work on these heads. The must be pressure checked, rebuilt as necessary, checked for flat/straight. When they mill them to achieve flat, they can not remove more than 0.008" or the head will have to be replaced.
You should also have the mating surface of the engine block checked for flat.
Use ARP head studs to hold those heads on there, and use the stock Ford (or International) head gaskets.
Replace the oil cooler and replace (or delete) the EGR cooler.
You will also need to split the turbo and clean out the exhaust drive side of it, since the head gasket failure was probably caused by a leaking egr cooler, and coolant was being forced through it on that side. That side of the turbo is where the variable vanes are and coolant mixed with soot and heat create a sludge that will impede the free movement of these vanes.
If the truck is an 05-07, replace the dummy plugs and standpipes on the oil rails, replace the STC fitting on the HPOP, install the upgraded fuel pressure regulator spring. add an electronic gauge package such as the Edge CTS (or other of you choosing) to monitor your engine coolant temp, engine oil temp and your transmission oil temps, add gauges for fuel pressure, boost, exhaust gas temp (which could be added to the CTS).
Two other parts to consider replacing to ensure your turbo lives long are the turbo oil drain tube and the turbo oil supply line.
Do all the above and you should enjoy your truck for a long time. (FICM issues not included)
Ive got all those parts listed on my detailed cost list already. If the heads are cracked ima not going to be thrilled about buying another one. The machine shop ive alwaysed used for boring cylinders has all the necessary equipment, including knowledagble employees.
Do i need to strip the heads of valves, and springs when i take them to the shop?
Now on the subject of rebuilding this engine, how much of a pain would it be to just remove the engine from the truck then attach it to my stand? Chain hoist with a tractor loader can pick it up easily, done it before. Like 8 bolts holding it to the trans, motor mounts, electrical stuff, ac compressor with lines, removal of fan, fan clutch, radiator and intercooler should give me plenty of room right? Also the hood and cowling can easily be removed.
I had stoped by at advanced engine, and asked one of the guys what the approx cost of the heads would be, he said: $25 per head to clean, $20 per head to magnaflux and pressure check, $50 per head to machine flat if necessary. So roughly $200 is a dang good price if you ask me, provide a head isnt cracked.
Hey everyone thanks for all the help and information but the deal fell throu on this truck. The dealer was getting quite rude and insulting so i left. He seems to think his truck is worth tons of money with blown out head gaskets. No worries i found another just as i wanted and it runs like a top. Monday ima going down for the final inspection and pay for it. The only thing wrong with this one is the parking brake did nothing, their fixen it. And it make a strange noise while turnig. Another thread on the noise.
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