Very strange situation!!!

[Dfennen]

My 04 6.0 is currently at the ford dealership undergoing head gasket replacement under the extended warranty that I purchased when I bought the truck with 108,000 miles. It now has 118,000 miles. I discovered the head gasket problem out of curiosity. I hooked up a pressure gauge to the return line and saw 16 psi pretty quick. The truck was running perfect with no smoke at startup or any time. It was even difficult to convince the dealership that I had a head gasket problem. It wasnt until one of the techs rode with me and saw the pressure building that he agreed that I had a problem. Here is where it gets weird....they tore the truck down and, when I asked them if they found out the reason for the head gasket failure, they told me that someone had been into the engine before and had left a screw under one of the heads. My question is this....is it even possible that someone could be so s*#t all stupid as to leave a screw under the head upon reassembly??? And if they did, why didn't I have SEVERE head gasket symptoms? So far the guys at the dealership have treated me very well and I really have no reason to doubt what they are saying other than the fact that it sounds so absurd. What are the chances that the head is still good....heck, what are the chances that the block is still good??? Any comments??? BTW, they are going to let me precision machine the heads and also I am providing APR studs.

[Pistolgrip426]

I guess anything is possible, but it is also easy to blame somebody else. Did they document that with pics ? That would be a rare find. Any history of who performed the last job,? Dont really matter since you have warranty.

[Dfennen]

The warranty may be a problem. I am scared to death that they are going to say that it is not covered under warranty because it was someone elses mistake or shoddy maintenance. I did purchase the truck from the same dealership that is doing the repares and purchased said warranty from them as well. I don't think they will try to say I had the shoddy work done. I mean, I have only had the truck for 10,000 miles and I certainly wouldnt have torn into the truck while it was still under warranty. In other words the shoddy work was done before I bought the truck. This reeks of a sticky legal issue....we'll see what they say.

[Dfennen]

I guess the main question is this. Whose problem is it? Is it mine for being the unlucky one who got hold of a screwed up truck, or is it the dealerships problem who missed the bad head gasket when they did their multiple point inspection that they say they do on all used vehicles that they sell? I fear this is gonna get complicated? Any thoughts???

[letitsno]

It would need to be a very small screw, would be flattened when heads were torqued down or pushed into head gasket.
Seems unlikly would want to see pictures & screw, if that was done at a dealership would hope they would go back to other dealership & say wtf.

[Dfennen]

Boy, you said it....WTF!!! The service writer actually told me it was a bolt, not a screw.....I am going in the morning to ask if I can take pics.

[Dfennen]

How do I get records of all work done on my truck by a ford dealership, without having to go through the dealership?

[letitsno]

Not buying what he's selling, no way it would seal you would have oil & coolant leaking, compression nioses. Wouldn't start either.

[Dfennen]

I agree! It sounds too absurd to be true. The truck was running like a top. I only discovered the problem out of curiosity after having read all the stuff on this site about the problems. I will kniw more tomorrow morning when I talk to them. I plan on asking them if I can take pictures...if they get nervous...then I will know something strange is going on....this is way to weird....

[justinmix]

Originally Posted by letitsno

It would need to be a very small screw, would be flattened when heads were torqued down or pushed into head gasket.
Seems unlikly would want to see pictures & screw, if that was done at a dealership would hope they would go back to other dealership & say wtf.

Exactly what he said. I find it very doubtful. You should have had some major sealing issues going on. I'd find out who supposedly did the head gaskets before, and how they know they were done. I'd also want pictures of everything or see it in person.

There are no small screws or bolts removed when doing the heads that could be in there, unless it was from something else. All the bolts/nuts removed when doing the heads would have been way to big to crush down and not cause an issue. I've done alot of head gaskets and I can't think of one screw/bolt in there that wouldn't cause a major issue if it got lodged in the head gasket.

I call BS.