Can ARP studs be installed without removing the heads?
 

I have an '04 6.0 liter with about 300,000 kms on it and a couple of injectors that need replacing. Given the mileage on my vehicle it has been suggested that I replace all eight due to the labour costs involved with getting at the injectors under the valve covers.

After having two EGR's replaced I had the EGR deleted, installed a new oil cooler, coolant filter and SCT tunes and now am very pleased with the performance and fuel economy of the truck. I do not want to purchase a new (or newer) truck at this time so I am looking to prolong the life of my 6.0 liter.

The dealer tells me that they will be lifting the cab off to do all of the injectors so I'm thinking that I might as well do the ARP studs while they are in there. Can the existing bolts be removed and the ARP studs inserted without having to remove the exhaust headers, heads and replacing the head gaskets?

I had to have the FICM replaced last November and had a leak in the HPOP fittings for the fuel injectors under the valve covers so I had all of those parts replaced at the same time. If I am this far into the 6.0 liter, is there anything else you folks would recommend I do while it is wide open?

I am hoping to get another 200,000 - 300,000 out of the truck once this work is completed.

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It can and has been done, but it is not a very wise choise at this point in the game! If you go as far as to take the head bolts out then the only real step your skipping is replacing the HG's, and having the heads checked. There is no real reason to half a$$ the job your not even really talking about that much more labor to do it the right way. There is no real way to tell if your HG's are still in perfect condtion. Then you will end up redoing the job. IMHO it is a really bad idea to due studs, and not replace the $75 HG.

On a side note if your dealer is saying they have to lift the cab to do injectors, run, run really fast to another shop. That is not only un-heard of, it's just plane stupid to lift a cab for injectors.

^^^ Yep. You dont have to pull the cab to change injectors so that part doesn't make sense.
I have an 04 also and i have thought about changing 1 headbolt at a time with arp but in the end it is wise to go ahead and pull/inspect heads and install fresh gaskets so that its good once and for all.

X3 on running. you dont have to pull the cab. thats why in your other thread the labor is so high. if you do the head gaskets you should be able to get outta the dealership for about 5k or so. thats with studs and then just add the cost of injectors as the shouldnt charge you for the labor on them to replace because they have to pull them anyways.

I am a little curious about how one would go about doing studs w/o removing the heads....

I know I couldn't get a stud in unless I held it up while setting the head down...

there was a member that did it by taking out the motor mounts and tilting the motor to one side to make it work. Do a search for ARP studs without removing heads. I will see if I can dig it up for you. I still stand behind the fact that it is not a very good idea. Just doesn't make much since to do it that way.

edit...here you go https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...-hvac-box.html

pretty much how its done. even with bolts there are a few that we have to tie up and set with the head

I did it one bolt to stud 1at a time, why replace good head gaskets? A post by another fte member showed my the way. The pass side rear bolt won't come
out without twisting the engine or removing heater box/core, at lest on an 05 ex.

just remove the trans mount and cross member and move te motor as needed.and it the drivers side rear thats the issue.

First off, add me to the list that will advise you to RUN if the dealer you are taking it to, tell you that the cab needs to be removed to replace injectors. What's the name of the dealer? (I live in Brampton and work in Toronto)

Although some may disagree, I lift cabs only when removing either the engine itself or the cylinder heads. Some say, it's quicker to leave the cab bolted to the frame to remove cylinder heads, I say for the relative ease there is to removing the cab, why put one's body through more torture than needed. Those of you guys doing this job on your own rides on your driveways may end up doing this job only once. But for us techs, we do it multiple times.

BTW, I also disagree with gambling by attempting install one at a time.

I live near Orangeville so the dealer I use is Blackstock m-chan68. Prior to the warranty expiring, my truck had the turbo replaced and the EGR was done twice. At 158,000kms the heads were removed due to coolant leaks but Blackstock would not install ARP studs for me since the job was being done under factory warranty.

The truck is running fine since the EGR delete and installation of the SCT tunes. Despite the huge repair bills I actually like the truck now. What do you think it should cost to replace all eight injectors and install new head gaskets and ARP studs?

I am not tied to Blackstock and except for a rough idle for the first couple of minutes (due to the two faulty injectors) there is no rush.

you should only have to pay for the head job labor. the injectors you should just have to buy being that they have to pull the injectors out anyways. so that being said on the labor part all you would have to pay is for the head job. you would have to buy the studs and take them to the dealer more than likely

Has anyone done the one bolt/stud at a time? I just inherited a looks like new Jan. 2004 F250 with 40,000 miles that has been garaged but towed trailer and sat for quite a while. Getting the P0299 code. Fuel filters were black and will get the new air filter next week. Would like to put the ARP's in it one stud at a time and torque them to original and then torque them to ARP. Any successes? Thanks.

I replaced my head studs one at a time 30,000 miles ago and have zero issues. Of course my heads were not leaking or having an issue before hand so that's why. But what I did is replaced one at a time according to the torque sequence. I torqued them to the factory spec until everyone had been replaced. Then I torqued them in sequence to the arp torque spec.

There were two, if I remember correctly, that were tough to change because of the heater a/c box. I had to loosen motor mounts and lift the passenger side of engine to get them out. Spent more time trying to figure out how not to loosen the motor mount then I did just doing it.

I looked at it like this. Even on my race car if I had to remove one head bolt for some odd reason I would not even consider removing all of them and changing head gaskets. So why would I do it for this. If one bolt is replaced at a time in sequence and torqued back to factory spec than I don't see the difference between replacing one bolt vs all of them.

But that's just my experience. Good luck