Head gasket job

[ramon f350]

Ok so I known this is a stupid question but my right head gasket is leaking out the back pushing the coolant out of the block. I have been told by several techs that work at ford and IH that this is a common thing for the 7.3 to do.

Anyhow I have ordered the gaskets and new head bolts since I dont know if the heads have ever been off the truck i dont want to take a chance on them being stretched out.


My question is how hard is this going to be? I have lots of help and hopefully one of my friends who is a IH tech will be there for most of it but are there any pitfalls along the way that could be avoided by a little help from you experienced guys.

Thanks in advance
Ramon

 

[Exekiel69]

I take it You'll do it with the engine in the truck, You'll need a hoist, at least 2 pairs of hands and don't forget that on the cylinder 7 & 8 You have to put the bolt and rods inside before or it will not drop inside. the AC case if You have one may get on the way when You start getting things tighten down again.

 

[ramon f350]

thatnks fo rthe tip on the rods going in first. I can drain the A/C and pull the compressor thats no biggie but i just wanted to see if there are any pitfals along the way that can be avoided.

thanks for your help
Ramon

 

[RLDSL]

Shouldn't need to drain the ac. it's just the clearance is a bit tight on the evaporator housing. When I did the heads on mine, I removed the cover to the AC evaporator to get a bit more clearance to get to the bolts on that side ( good time to clean the dirt and pine needles out ). Fairly easy ( the lowest bolt is reached from the inside pass footwell ) With a chery picker the heads came out with the exhaust manifolds attached no problem.

You can remove the bracket that holds the vac pump, ac compressor and ps pump with 3 bolts and just drop it forward out of the way. Same with the alternator/ filter bracket

-------Robert

 

[Agnem]

I wrote a popular article before the advent of this site that is a good reference. Hate to send you over there, but if you go to thedieselstop.com and go to the articles you will find it. I really need to update the article and post it here.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Another little tip.

As long as you have the heads off, it's the perfect time to service the oil cooler O-Rings. It's MUUUUCH easier to do with the heads off.

 

[ramon f350]

thanks guys for all the help I will do the oil cooler as well since I already have it tore down.

Mel I will go over there and read the article I am sure that will be a major help. incidently the starter went out on the truck yesterday and man thatthing is easy to change it took longer to drag the tools out than to get it done.

Ramon

 

[Full Monte]

Yes...use the cherry picker on those heads. I removed mine by hand by myself and I wouldn't want to do it again. And I had to get a cherry picker anyway to put them back on because you have to put them on carefully or you can ding a gasket with the head. Once you do that, you have to get a new gasket.

 

[Diesel JD]

Be sure to take the heads off in the reverse of the torque sequence given in the manual. 1/4 turn or less at a time until you have most all the torque off of them. Many people screw up here and warp or crack the heads. Also have a competent machine shop pressure test and magnaflux the heads and measure the height of the heads from top to bottom and look for the minimum thickness and protrusion of the prechambers. It should work out OK as long as you pay attention to the torque sequence and torque values and be sure to get the heads and block spotlessly clean.