I put it off as long as I could, but it had to be done. Word to the wise, don't wait if you have a problem. My number one cylinder almost cost me an even bigger repair as the blown gasket on that side was heavily damaged there.

 

Ugly pic. So what was the problem? How did you know there was a problem and how long did you "wait" when you knew you had the issue.
I see and hear h/gasket but was there other factors here?
Were you running diagnostics to see changes coming?
Like to hear more detail if possible. Thanks.

 

Was it just the gasket or do you have hard part failure too?

 

Suspected there could have been a head gasket issue even a few months after I purchased 3.5 yrs ago. I made it another 60,000 miles before it was truly evident. Until the past few months I would on occasion lose a little coolant out of the degas cap on long towing trips that involved an extended pull up a grade. About a year ago I added to my scan gauge an EGT and coolant pressure gauge from Isspro. Keeping a close eye on the pressure it would hover around 14 but never peaked over 16. Last month when I moved by old backhoe the gaskets really gave out and it was the first time my gauge went to 20lbs. After that I couldnt even tow my empty trailer without it getting hot. I also noticed at the end of the summer my oil temp spread increasing from my normal 3-4 to 8-9 degrees and the inside of the degas bottle had some black deposit on it.
There is a very slight line around a short section of the #1 cylinder indicating a very bad spot in the gasket. Both sides had been blown out but only in this spot was it really bad. Still inside the fire ring to all should be OK. New Gaskets, studs and related parts going back in with a new oil cooler as well. Flushed it really well before it was torn down to clean it out.

 

Any pictures of the old head gasket?

 

Picture of the driver side gasket and block

 

can you point to the bad area in these picts?

 

Looking at the #1 cylinder, it would be at about the 10/11 o'clock position. You can just make out a line around the outside of the cylinder wall. On the gasket I would say the shiny area in the pic. I didn't take the pictures, just sent to me. This is too much of a project for me, and with the time involved, I might as well stay working rather than take off work to fix the truck.

 

Is this a big shop doing the work for you by chance? Youll get a warranty?

 

Negative, I couldn't get a good feeling about any of the larger shops around me, dealer or large independents. So this is at a 1-2 man shop that does a lot of engine swaps and builds, ford/cummins swaps, 5r110 rebuilds ect.. Came by recommendation of a good friend of mine who went to Ford Tech school and works for a local bus company. I had asked him about 6 months ago if he wasn't going to work on his own 6.0 who would he let open the hood, and he sent me here.

 

They didn't use a die grinder and roloc pad to clean that block did they? If so it won't last. You need a 30rms finish at the roughest to use MLS gaskets, 600grit sandpaper on a block by hand. Any rougher and it won't hold.

 

Ditto,,, just spec'ed a block tonight that got cleaned like that,, bought from the Fayetteville area from a golf course owner. Had studs and the block was wiz wheeled. Yeah,, that block is getting disassembled and decked to fix it. It's not at my shop but they called me to check it out. Freakin shotty job for sure. Not saying yours is,, but the one I looked at today was trash.

 

Can't speak as to what he used to clean the block, but I do know he checked it to make sure it was in spec for square and flatness. I'm not one to over question a person's work, otherwise I wouldn't let them with on what I own. When I first met him he was working on heads for a different brand truck that is owned by the local town govt. So I was able to see some of his work prehand.

 

Can you expound on the "running hot" comment? Consistently above 207 degrees, even with fan on? Above 220 consistently? I've towed my 8K load a few times. I've seen water temperatures as high as 215 with upper 80s ambient. But the fan will always pull it down below 207 very quickly. On my last trip with mid 70s ambient, I only went above 207 up grades. My pressure gauge (which is plumbed into my filter housing port) can show anywhere from 14-16 while towing, and occasional higher pressures while towing uphill. I think my gaskets are good but was curious about your experience knowing you had failed gaskets.

 

Until 2 weeks before I put the truck under the knife, the only time I would break 200 coolant temp was towing up hill( more pressure on the engine). Fan would bring the temps back down when it reached 207ish to kick the fan on. Rarely got over 215 oil or coolant but I didn't beat it either. My pressure gauge would show as yours, 14-16. I didn't break 16 till my last tow before there work was done, hit 20. And that was confirmation for me. The most popular place for the pressure sensor is in the return line at the Degas bottle. Upon inspecting the gaskets that were removed, they were bad a long time. You may want to reconsider. Have you lost coolant? Do you have an egr cooler?