I've got a bit of a dilemma right now and would love some sage advice!

Truck: 1979 F159 351m

I was driving down the highway on Saturday night when I noticed significant clouds of smoke coming out of my tailpipe. I pulled over to find coolant pouring out the tailpipe, smoke coming off of my 220' motor, and milky colored oil on the dipstick. I was stuck on the highway, so I filled up my radiator and added oil so that I could limp my way .2 miles to a gas station. From there I got a tow back home. All signs seem to point towards a blown head gasket and now I'm trying to decide what to do, any input would be very helpful.

I am fairly mechanically inclined and do nearly all the work on my vehicles myself. I am a quick learner and have been able to get things done on my truck that I've never done before, simply by being careful, thorough, and getting advice from "those who know." However, I'm really not sure if I should try to repair this myself or if I should just fork over the money to have a mechanic do it.

I do use it as a daily driver, but also have a motorcycle that I can use for most things while the truck is out of service. In addition, I currently don't have a garage and so this would all have to be done in my apartment parking lot. I would really love to save some money (the one quote that I got from a mechanic - hasn't actually seen the truck - was about $850) and would love to learn how to do this, buy I also don't want to screw it up.

So, simply put here are my questions.

1) Should I try to do this myself? I know its not the most simple job, but seems doable.

2) If I do it myself, what all should I plan on replacing? I think i would probably take the heads into a shop to have them check for cracks and warping and possibly have them do the valve seals too?

3) Do I need to to diagnose the truck BEFORE I do any work to it (compression test, radiator pressure test, etc)? I am fairly certain its the head gasket, but...?

3.5) It seems important to figure out WHY the gasket blew. It seems like it just happened out of age. The overheating seems to have happened after it blew as I have not seen any signs of overheating lately.

4) What questions am I asking that I should be asking/what are your thoughts?

I do eventually want to rebuild the entire engine with performance mods and so what to get significantly more hp out of it, but I'm not currently in the financial position to do so.

Thanks for the input!

 

I think you have more problems than just a blown head gasket. Sorry to say.

Liquid "pouring out the tailpipe" sounds more like a cracked cylinder wall/block than a head gasket. A milk shake in the oil means it's time to yank the engine. If it was a one time deal, maybe you could get lucky and get away with new oil and filter. Are you monitoring the coolant/oil levels?

Oil and coolant flowing through the main and rod berrins, cam journals and lifters does not make for a happy engine.

Runnin' that hot could most likely warp the heads. First, start by yanking the heads and take a peek.....If you have a reliable straight edge, check the heads and block. If not, or, even if you do, take 'em to yer friendly(?) neighborhood machinist and have them check 'em.

How was she runnin' before all this crap came down? Runnin' on all 8? What do the plugs look like? ....And it was just liquid coming out of the tailpipe, no (white/blue) smoke?

 

You could very well be right.

I am pretty diligent in checking the fluid levels and haven't seen any unusual consumption of coolant or oil lately. When I first noticed somthing was wrong, it was because of the white smoke choking out the cars behind me. I can't imagine it had been smoking long at all before I noticed. It started running rough, so I pulled over quickly and shut it down. Before all of this happened it was running fairly well. The only issue I have had this winter was that the engine struggled starting in the freezing temperatures and took a while to warm up. I had been wanting to check and see if the thermostat was stuck open and replace the electronic choke. Other than that, it has run really well.

I'll go out and check those plugs here in a little while.

 

If yer plugs look nice and pearly white clean, and no liquid in the combustion chamber, chances are good you might just have a head gasket problem. Smoke (white) is coolant, but what threw me was that you stated liquid was pouring out the pipe. That's a might big "UH-oh" if it was.

I'd still pull both heads and check 'em out, and get yer nose in the lifter galley, etc, to see what else might be kaflooey.

I know your vehicle is a '79, but do you know when the engine was cast? The casting numbers are on the block by the oil sending unit and on the side by the starter. Engines cast in the Michigan plant before and up to 14 March, 1977 had a history of the blocks cracking in the lifter valley.......Just a thought.

 

The plugs all look pretty dirty with carbon deposit.

I'm going to try and pull those heads later this week and see what I find. We'll go from there.

 

I've now pulled the heads off, but I can't see any obvious cracks. Like I said before, I'm not very experienced with this particular engine work.

Here are some pictures. How do I best find cracks in the block? Brake cleaner? Wire wheel? What are the chances that I just need to install a new head gasket and have the heads milled?

Let me know what you think. I could use all the help i can get!




Drivers Side





Passenger side

 

Any update? Did you just mill the head and replace the gaskets?

 

Just a quick update, I did pull the engine apart and had the heads faced. I cleaned it up nice and replaced all the head gaskets among many others. The truck runs excellent now and seems to be good to go for a while longer.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

Great to hear you're back on the road !

 

OMG! Are you telling us that a head gasket caused all that coolant in the cyls?

Rings look good, and I can't even see them.

 

Lol you're joking right?

 

I ain't joking about the "OMG!" That appears to be a HUGE freaking leak, and I've never seen a sudden catastrophic head gasket failure. As for the rings, they seem to be doing a pretty good job of holding the coolant out of the crank case. Kind of joking, but they ARE working, and I can't see them.

Looking at the pics, I'm surprised he didn't hydro-lock it.

 

Looking closer @ the pics, I ain't seeing a catastrophic head gasket failure. Any more info OP?

 

Yea the rings hold coolant good. What you see is what happens if you don't drain the block before taking the heads off. He didn't have that much coolant in the cylinders running it. I thought maybe you were joking but if you didn't know you didn't know.

 

I haven't removed more than a dozen water cooled heads in my life, but have always drained the block lower than the heads before removing. Coolant in the cyl bores is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Not cool to me.

Blech!