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Head gasket and stud install

89K views 128 replies 50 participants last post by  devster55 
#1 ·
Hey Guys I started a tear down of my 6.0 to install studs and new gaskets along with an egr delete, new oil cooler and a 4in turbo back exhaust. And I figured I would post up some pics and let you guys know what I thought about it.
So far I have 15 hours into it and have gotten the heads off and to the machinist. I have an oil cooler on order which will be next to go on. All I did it with the cab on engine in the truck and it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. If you have worked on cars and done similar repairs, it is nothing new. Dont be afraid it isnt bad. I will attach some pics of my tear down so you can see how I went about it. If you have any questions or helpful hints for me Id love them! Thanks guys and good luck with your own 6.0.

















 
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#35 ·
Hey Thanks guys! Yeah I was a bit surprised the first time I tried going to 250 ft lb And when the wrench broke I got real pissed but it only took me an hour or 2 to find a buddy with a nice snap on that went to 250.

Truck has 39,000 miles on it, disassembly started with pass. inner fender and worked my way in.
 
#39 · (Edited)
I tried to leave my evaporator housing in but there was not enough space to get a socket on the head bolts to remove them. Then there was the rear outside head bolt on the drivers side that I had to take a hammer to the firewall to put a little dent to give clearance for the socket. That bolt had to come out with the head and will have to go back the same way. I considered drilling a hole on the firewall to feed bolts or stud through but did not. Afterwards thought that was probably the way I should have gone. Passenger side I was able to install all the studs then set heads on. Drivers side is not so easy. Your post with removal of evaporator was a real help to me. THANKS!
 
#40 ·
Im glad you did it and glad I could help a little! That bolt was very tight to the firewall, and when I put the studs in I went a bit to fast and got the head on and in place ready to put the rest of the studs in before i realized I had the stud upside down, so off came the head. PITA twice lol but It worked out. It really is a pleasure to work in that area with the evap housing out of there, and for the time it takes to get out its worth it! Is your truck all back together now? I just got back from a trip to cap cod and averaged 19.8 mpg on my RCD hot street tune! Hand calculated, mostly hwy 480 hwy, 70 city with a little idling.
 
#41 ·
hey gotta ask, did you set the heads on then install the studs, i just dont see any other way to do the rear bolts cab on, this may be a stupid question, you torque the studs into the block and then torque the nuts themselves correct, i got my drivers side head off tonight, waiting on the studs to arrive, thanks
 
#42 ·
Hey I was reading your thread just a little while ago and it looks like your doing well! The drivers side head I put on with the lower rear stud in the head taped up so it was flush with the bottom of the head, Make sure you have the aluminum rocker holder bolted to this head at the same time. The rest of the studs slid in fine after the heads are on and in place. I put the driver side head on by itself, then put the studs in, then put the aluminum rocker holder on last. I dont think that part matters much you can get the studs in without problems. And yes I tightened the studs into the block first with an allen wrench, if you turn the stud slowly it goes in with no effort at all and it is very obvious when you've got the stud all the way in. Lastly I torqued the nuts, it was 3 equal increments to 245 ftlbs which is very tight, make sure you have a good torque wrench, I was using a china made and it broke on the 3rd stud at 245 ftlbs. Also I read some place someone was complaining about the moly lube that comes with the studs, All I can say is it worked wonderfully for me, dont be cheap with it. The nuts and washers turned easily with no chatter whatsoever. Good luck with the rest of your project! Make sure to put new orings and crush washers on the injectors, and have the heads milled. If you have any other questions ill do my best to help out.
 
#43 ·
awesome, thank you!:thumb: i wrote down your list of parts you got, going to do the same except the glow plugs as they were done not to long ago..

oh by the way..you wernt kidding when you said the heads were heavy:doh: i'm going to tear the pass side completely down before i take it off in hope of doing it myself, as long as the injectors are out i shouldnt have to worry about doing too much damage (other the dropping it) if i have to suddenly set it down.

IMO the job isnt too bad at all, ive used nothing more than hand tools so far (mostly 3/8 drive, except on the head bolts, 1/2" breaker bar with cheater pipe:hehe:) All the bolts are 1/4 turn and finger loose..i like it! like you said just time consuming! Thanks again:icon_ford:
 
#44 ·
Glad I could help! I cant wait to hear how it ends up for you! When you do get ready to start it, Have more then 15 qts of oil ready if you do the oil cooler, i think i put 17 or 18 qts in all said and done. It takes a lot of cranking to fire too so be patient!
 
#45 ·
what did the heads cost you to get done?(what all did they do) also how much were the head gaskets?
 
#46 ·
I bought the gaskets from RCD as a package with the studs for 650. As far as the heads, I had them tested for cracks, and milled flat the bill came to 350 but I paid 300 cash. I live in CT so the prices for machining could be more or less depending on where you live. I had 39,000 miles on the truck so I saw no point in doing anything with valve guides or seals nor getting a valve job.
 
#47 ·
mike, what intervals and pattern did you torque the studs, the direction with the studs say to do in intervals but doesnt show a pattern to follow nor give any examples on intervals..thanks
 
#48 ·
You need to tq the studs in 3 equal intervals, so basically like 80, 165, 245 thats as close as I cared to get. And you need to follow the oem tq sequence. I could draw you a picture and then try and post it. I can do that tomorrow if someone else doesnt already have it. You start with the top center, then bottom center, then the next closest to the firewall top, then bottom, then second from front of engine top, so on. Ill draw something for you.
 
#49 ·
i will search the org and see if it isnt already posted, i greatly appreciate your help:thumb:
 
#54 ·
I left the manifolds on both sides when i took the heads off just so i had more to grab onto and hold. I had my father there to help pull the heads and put them back on and its pretty easy with 2 people. Doing the whole project I just knelt down in front of the radiator and reached to everything. Good luck
 
#55 ·
So dumb question, because I didn't pay attention, just to make sure.. I marked the valve rocker arm bridge (bar that goes across the valves below the rocker arm) but didn't pay attention to the holes on the bottom side.. I assume the circular hole goes on the north side and the oval goes on the bottom (figuring gravity plays into effect here)..

Would you happen to know mikeproc??
 
#61 ·
i cannot say for sure on the powerstroke engine, but i work on cummins engines and as a general rule of thumb, the oval shaped hole on the valve crossheads always goes to the exhaust side of the head, so on the powerstroke they would go on the lower side facing the exhaust manifold obviously. if you ever get a chance to run an engine with the valve cover off you can see why you do this, the valve train will move in perfect unison, i have seen them in backwards and they tend to move around a little more sloppy if you will, i have never see anything fail if they wasnt put in correct so if you have put them in the other way i would get to bent out of shape about it but its best to put them in with the oval shape to the exhaust side. hope this helps.
 
#59 ·
Are you talking about the bolts for the rocker arm assemblies? There are 8 on each head correct? According to the ford workshop manual is says to torque the bolts to 23 lb-ft.

Ive got the book handy so if you need anymore specs let me know and ill try to look them up for you.
 
#57 ·
i wish i had the patience to do it myself like you.. mine just got put in the shop yesterday to replace the head gasket and egr delete. $2700 later..lol good luck with everything tho.
 
#58 ·
Unfortunately I dont really understand your first question, maybe a pic will help it make sense to me. As far as the rocker arm bolts tq, I couldnt find an actual tq setting. I think i went 20 or 25 ftlbs when I did mine, As long as they are tight it shouldnt really matter, the head bolts are really doing all the work, I believe the smaller bolts are just really there to stop any side to side play. Maybe a tech knows exactly, Like i said I search alldata for a while and came up with nothing.
 
#60 ·
Yeap, I actually subscribed to the motorcraftservice.com website for a month.. Found the workship manual to get that torque info. I completed putting my truck back together yesterday (well except for the broken oil indicator tube, destroyed the original getting it out).. I put it back together in about 10hours.. Too much much longer to disassemble, hah. Torquing those studs down to the torque spec was a big PITA.. Very hard to do in that area.

Managed to do the studs, deleted my EGR with a first coast diesel kit (whole reason I did the project, original one finally blew), replaced the oil cooler and my thermostat.. looking forward to get a tuner now!

This convo brings up an thought.. Everyone has always said how the drivers side head bolt is hard to remove and install a stud which has to be taped in to be able to clear the firewall.. I found an easier way which I'm not sure why anyhone else has not talked about. As there are dowels on the block that the head sets on, you can lift the head on the firewall end up a tad bit while the other end is on the block.. You can slide the stud right in easy breezy, I even took the old bolt out this way.
 
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