Have been repairing some things on the truck,2002 f250, 5.4, including the pass. exhaust manifold..few studs were snapped off in the head and needed to be drilled and ez'd out. was on the last stud, and the drill bit drilled through to the head.dont even know how because i never felt the drillbit punch through the stud so i knew to stop...long story short, my heads ruined. and since ive been having so many problems with this motor, at this point im just gonna swap it out. so my first questions of many is, how do i start? is there a sticky or tech write up of any kind? where can i find a motor? will an 04 and up motor be better than the one in there now? i have endless more questions soon to come, just overwhelmed at the moment, so any tips are appreciated and certainly welcome

 

If you just hit the water jacket you can tap the whole way then use a set screw with thread sealant on it to seal the jacket. Then put the exhaust manifold stud in.

In 05' Ford went to the 3V engines and changed quite a few things so a swap would be much more complex with a 3V. Best to go with an 04' engine IMO because you will be ensured to have the updated heads.(added thread length in spark plug holes)

 

Are you sure you punched into the water jacket? Was there coolant coming out? I thought I punched thru on my 6.8 but found there was dead space behind the stud to the bottom of the hole. Probably about a half inch.

 

http://www.fordcummins.com/99-07Ford5_4and6_8.pdf

 

Whoa there, I would try this first! Don't be so quick to tear out the whole engine.

 

I did the same thing on my 2000 Excursion. Knew I did it because coolant starting dribbling out. Even used the left hand drill bits so I didn't need an easy out. Was able to find a low mileage head on ebay and swapped it out, complete with new chains and gears in one day. The 5.4 is really easy to time, teardown and rebuild. Best gas truck engine I've ever worked on.

 

I did this on my chevy head and sealed the exhaust stud with thread sealer. It held up good. I like the idea of the set screw if you have enough thread depth

 

are you sure the hole was blind to begin with?

 

yea it must have juuust touched into the jacket its just a small drip but its weird...the coolant came out it seemed before the bit punched through the stud...we started small then increased the bit size, so maybe the smaller bit did go through the stud and we didn't feel it until we went up in bit size?

 

I was wondering if we could do that, im in the heating trade and we have all types of good thread sealants...like stuff that once its on it will literally never ever come out lol..would you be able to clarify this process a little? what could I use for a set screw? maybe cut one of the old studs down and cut a notch in it then send it in with a flat head screwdriver? or can I just put dope on the stud itself and use that for a seal?

 

yea I can get another head for free, but I figured id have to take the whole front of the engine apart anyways right? and my #7 cyl has been dead for like 3 years so I figured I might as well either rebuild mine or put a new motor in...maybe im just being a pus cuz it looks like so much work in such a little space

 

what do you mean??

 

If the threads are ok , sealer on the stud would be fine . Many engines have bolts entering the coolant passages that require sealant .

 

I would tap straight thru with the same thread that the stud is.(metric) Then get a few standard stainless metric set screws of different lengths.(ACE hardware would probably have the set screws) Use a metric wrench to install the set screw. I would use a set screw long enough that the stud can be screwed tight against it to prevent loosening. Use a good thread sealant that can handle handle some heat and coolant exposure and you should be good. The combination of the sealant and stud up against the set screw should keep it in place permanently.

Good point. The stud does have a shoulder and about 5/8"-3/4" of the stud screws into the head so that should seal fine with sealant.(with good threads in the hole)

They are blind holes.

 

That sucks man! When you drill you really should mark the bit with how far you want to go (Use an old stud as reference). OR get one of these


Hindsight is always 20-20 I guess! Interested to see what you do.