My 2002 6.8 V10 issues... need some opinions
#1
My 2002 6.8 V10 issues... need some opinions
SO I bought a 2002 Excursion 6.8 with 200k on it. Got it pretty cheap, understanding it had some issues. Little body work and paint... and a rough idle. I get it back home and change the coil packs on it that showed misfiring (2,3,9,10) and clean the MAF. It cleared up ALOT.... but it was still not right. So I took it to the professionals, IE Mechanics, for true diagnosis. He calls me today to say that it appears the head may be bad, he's going to runs some compression tests tomorrow to let me know for sure. He says if it's the head, he'll have to refer me back to FORD for replacement... since they have to 'lift the body' to do the work.
My heart hurts a little right now... but I need to plan things out.
1. Do I find a craigslist motor and have someone put it in?
2. Do I spend the money on heads, for a block with 200k on it? I see some info about 2v heads and 3v heads... apparently 3v's are better, can I put 3v's on my truck which apparently came with 2v's?
3. I wont be towing anything, would swapping in a 5.4 for budget reasons be 'easy'? (you can find 5.4's with low mileage super cheap now)
4. Should I drive it the way it is until it blows up and I NEED to replace it?
5. What else am I not thinking about that might be an option?
My heart hurts a little right now... but I need to plan things out.
1. Do I find a craigslist motor and have someone put it in?
2. Do I spend the money on heads, for a block with 200k on it? I see some info about 2v heads and 3v heads... apparently 3v's are better, can I put 3v's on my truck which apparently came with 2v's?
3. I wont be towing anything, would swapping in a 5.4 for budget reasons be 'easy'? (you can find 5.4's with low mileage super cheap now)
4. Should I drive it the way it is until it blows up and I NEED to replace it?
5. What else am I not thinking about that might be an option?
#3
I bought my '02 X V10 with a miss. I expected COP's. Replaced all 10. Still misfiring. Come to find out that my #5 cyl had a bad intake valve. It would not seat. The engine only had 152k mi on it. I took mine to 2 different dealers (mostly because the first one told me "new engine was the only option" at a tune of $5k+). The second dealer thought that maybe a rocker had loosened or broke, so they checked that out. No problem there.
At this point I had 3 options: new crate engine, pull heads and repair, or wrecking yard replacement. New engine was not an option, because that would make me upside down in the vehicle. Pulling the heads would required 20 hours labor for one side and 23 hrs for both sides. The route I went was to locate a wrecked X with lower miles on it and have that installed for only 10 hrs labor. I got my engine through a search on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market
I paid $1700 for the engine and $500 labor. I went ahead and had new exhaust manifold bolts and gaskets installed while the engine was out. Total for me was less then $2500.
At this point I had 3 options: new crate engine, pull heads and repair, or wrecking yard replacement. New engine was not an option, because that would make me upside down in the vehicle. Pulling the heads would required 20 hours labor for one side and 23 hrs for both sides. The route I went was to locate a wrecked X with lower miles on it and have that installed for only 10 hrs labor. I got my engine through a search on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market
I paid $1700 for the engine and $500 labor. I went ahead and had new exhaust manifold bolts and gaskets installed while the engine was out. Total for me was less then $2500.
#4
I bought my '02 X V10 with a miss. I expected COP's. Replaced all 10. Still misfiring. Come to find out that my #5 cyl had a bad intake valve. It would not seat. The engine only had 152k mi on it. I took mine to 2 different dealers (mostly because the first one told me "new engine was the only option" at a tune of $5k+). The second dealer thought that maybe a rocker had loosened or broke, so they checked that out. No problem there.
At this point I had 3 options: new crate engine, pull heads and repair, or wrecking yard replacement. New engine was not an option, because that would make me upside down in the vehicle. Pulling the heads would required 20 hours labor for one side and 23 hrs for both sides. The route I went was to locate a wrecked X with lower miles on it and have that installed for only 10 hrs labor. I got my engine through a search on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market
I paid $1700 for the engine and $500 labor. I went ahead and had new exhaust manifold bolts and gaskets installed while the engine was out. Total for me was less then $2500.
At this point I had 3 options: new crate engine, pull heads and repair, or wrecking yard replacement. New engine was not an option, because that would make me upside down in the vehicle. Pulling the heads would required 20 hours labor for one side and 23 hrs for both sides. The route I went was to locate a wrecked X with lower miles on it and have that installed for only 10 hrs labor. I got my engine through a search on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market
I paid $1700 for the engine and $500 labor. I went ahead and had new exhaust manifold bolts and gaskets installed while the engine was out. Total for me was less then $2500.
#5
#6
I paid $5600 for mine. Came with '05 front end, new tranny, and some other good stuff, but bad engine. I put new Michelins on it at $1k. I am now into it at $9100. I bought it knowing that I would keep it for a couple of years at least. Ours fits our family which makes it priceless.
Anybody ever done the 5.4 swap? I could throw one of those in and rebuild the 6.8 while it's out.
#7
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#8
3V started in 2003 right?
#10
Art has put together some good links in the Tech Folder of the V10 Forum. Here are some that might interest you:
Replacing a V10 - lots of great info about E-series vs. F-series engines, 2-valve
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ue-solved.html
A 3V in a 2V truck:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...2000-f350.html
edit... Fixed... I copied and pasted the text instead of copying the url. Oooops.. my bad
Replacing a V10 - lots of great info about E-series vs. F-series engines, 2-valve
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ue-solved.html
A 3V in a 2V truck:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...2000-f350.html
edit... Fixed... I copied and pasted the text instead of copying the url. Oooops.. my bad
#11
Art has put together some good links in the Tech Folder of the V10 Forum. Here are some that might interest you:
Replacing a V10 - lots of great info about E-series vs. F-series engines, 2-valve
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/94...2000-f350.html
A 3V in a 2V truck:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/85...ue-solved.html
Replacing a V10 - lots of great info about E-series vs. F-series engines, 2-valve
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/94...2000-f350.html
A 3V in a 2V truck:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/85...ue-solved.html
#13
#15
Congratulations. Plugs and Boots are much cheaper and easier then the whole engine. Good luck on the paint!