Originally Posted by brickie

We have lots of new to me 6.0 owners that have asked about the dreaded blown HG.I will start s tread on the symptoms and similar issues that appear to be blown HGs.

First what it is and why it happens. The 6.0 more prone than a lot of motors to lift the heads because of the design of the motor(4 bolts per cylinder) and torque to yield head bolts(TTY). This is the reason that most that know the 6.0 will tell you not to run a tuner on a stock truck. There was also some issues in manufacture on early trucks. The robots were recalibrated to correct this at Fords request in the international manufacturing facilities. The odd thing is some early trucks still have stock bolts and gaskets without any issue.So it is hit and miss.

In the 6.0 unlike a gasser when the HG blows the coolant doesn't enter the combustion chamber on a running truck (18-1 compression)but it can enter the chamber with a in some cases once the motor stops running in small quantities.So if your truck is running and there is a plume of stinky sweet white smoke coming out the exhaust you have other issues (EGR cooler very likely). The 6.0 pressurizes the water jacket in the motor and that pressure is pushed out the degas tank with coolant in what is known as puking.

Puking a quantity of coolant out the coolant tank is not necessarily a blown HG as flash boiling of coolant in the EGR cooler can also cause puking. This can be caused by a restricted oil cooler or bad water pump. Though when the truck pukes a couple gallons of coolant it is most all ways blown HGs.

When the HG is blown the truck runs as normal and may not puke much or at all, until it is worked hard at that point it will puke until the load is off the motor.If a truck is run in these conditions it is only a matter of time until the problem becomes worse as the gasket lets more and more combustion gas in the water jacket.

I will leave this here until I have more time to type (I type and spell poorly),I gotta go to work. I hope this info will help others that are new to the 6.0 .Anyone that has more info to add Please do.

Originally Posted by KingRanch2004

Well, after replacing the head gaskets with BLACK ONYX head gaskets (dealer recommendation) I pulled for the first time with a tow tune and blew a head gasket. I am pissed, I just spent a ton of money on this engine and these gaskets don't even have 300 miles on them AND I am running ARP studs!! I am not running the truck hard at all either. So, now that I am stuck with a truck with blown head gaskets, what do I replace them with THAT WON'T BLOW? I am tired of this truck being a money pit!!!!!!!