just wanted to share my recent success with head gaskets and studs on my 05 f350. first off i have to say i could not have done it without the help of many of the members of this forum, really made life easier. i started the job one weekend while home from school and had the heads off after about a day and a half of work (much time spend cleaning and keeping things VERY organized) and discovered my gasket was blown between all four cylinders of the passenger side. then i ordered my parts and waited...for almost 3 weeks...for my parts. there had been a damaged gasket shipped to the company so they had to return it and get a new one for me. finally all the parts were in and the reassembly began. i spent a good half day just cleaning the block and head mating surfaces to get a good seal, but i did not get the heads milled due to lack of funding (being a broke college student...no truck=no income) i did check the heads with a very true straight edge and they were within ford specified tolerances. with the help of my dad, a friend of mine who is in training to become a CAT mechanic, and an engine lift we lowered the heads back into the engine bay and very carefully placed them back on the block. with the ARP studs, injectors, and all the rocker arm components installed we began torquing the heads down using the sequence specified by ARP. after breaking my torque wrench on the last stud of the last sequence on the passenger head we had to rent one from auto zone to complete the sequence and do the drivers side head. after this we saw it as all down hill, valve covers, A/C box, intake manifold, etc. we finally called it a night around 1:30 that morning. the next day we finished the job with a few minor troubles, mostly exhaust flanges on EGR and turbo not lining up with the Y pipe. then came the moment of truth...start up. after about a minute worth of cranking, giving the starter breaks throughout, she finally fired off and ran, but was rough. backed it out of my garage and held it at a higher RPM (around 1000-1200) and the idle began smoothing out as the oil rails built up more pressure and bled out the air. i could not have been happier. i have been driving it for a week now and the water temp has never gotten higher than 204, which is a big change from the constant overheating i was facing with the blown gasket. i am convinced that the job turned out to be a complete success and i would like to give a big thank you to all of you on here who have chimed in on my previous posts with helpful advice. also, to anyone who is facing the same job but is unsure if you can do it, trust me it is not as hard as we have been made to believe. im only 19, and have had no formal diesel mechanic training, just what i learned growing up working on jeeps with my dad. just be careful, take notes, be organized, be thorough, and take your time, and you too can most likely do it yourself!
04-19-2012, 09:13 PM
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