I've got a 2008 F550 4x4 chassis that is a motorhome conversion. It was blowing coolant out of the degas bottle so suspected that I had blown head gaskets. I'd started a thread looking for a shop in WA that could work on my rig.
Possible Head Gaskets & Recommended Shops in WA | Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum
I ended up going with Specialized Diesel Northwest just outside Spokane, WA. I drove it over to him on Monday and he pulled the engine Tuesday. He did find out that the engine had been removed at some point prior to this.
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Got the engine on the engine stand. The engine already had ARP head studs but some older Malhe head gaskets had been used that were known to have issues with not sealing properly.
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Once he got the heads off he found out that the exhaust valves had been contacting the pistons on #3 & #4 cylinders.
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During the teardown he found that some of the head studs might not have been torqued properly which might have been causing the blown head gaskets also. He also inspected the turbos and both need to be replaced. Checking the piston height also showed that the reason for the valves hitting the pistons was due to them protruding from the block too much.
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He has a block that has been machined already is going to build me a new short block. So my question is are there any things that I should be asking him to be doing to the engine since it is always hauling heavy? The motorhome runs around 18K lbs as it rolls down the road. He's recommending to use the stock cam and to replace the turbos with stock Ford parts. I'm inclined to follow his suggestions at this point unless someone can point me in a different direction to go with this build.
Possible Head Gaskets & Recommended Shops in WA | Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum
I ended up going with Specialized Diesel Northwest just outside Spokane, WA. I drove it over to him on Monday and he pulled the engine Tuesday. He did find out that the engine had been removed at some point prior to this.
Got the engine on the engine stand. The engine already had ARP head studs but some older Malhe head gaskets had been used that were known to have issues with not sealing properly.
Once he got the heads off he found out that the exhaust valves had been contacting the pistons on #3 & #4 cylinders.
During the teardown he found that some of the head studs might not have been torqued properly which might have been causing the blown head gaskets also. He also inspected the turbos and both need to be replaced. Checking the piston height also showed that the reason for the valves hitting the pistons was due to them protruding from the block too much.
He has a block that has been machined already is going to build me a new short block. So my question is are there any things that I should be asking him to be doing to the engine since it is always hauling heavy? The motorhome runs around 18K lbs as it rolls down the road. He's recommending to use the stock cam and to replace the turbos with stock Ford parts. I'm inclined to follow his suggestions at this point unless someone can point me in a different direction to go with this build.
