Looking for engine replacement advise
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New User
Joined: Jan 2011
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Looking for engine replacement advise
Hi. My coolant froze and I've got the tell tale smoke/steam coming out of the exhaust. A friend of a friend who used to be a Ford mech. advisied against taking the engine apart, that due to tolerances and the technology, replacing a cracked head or head gasket on newer Fords is nearly as costly as replacing the engine. I'm hoping to get a second opinion on here. Also, if the engine should be replaced, is it something a so/so backyard mechanic like myself should tackle? I've replaced an engine in my '88 Ranger but don't know much about newer engines. Is it a relatively easy in and out or is there more to it (computers and such.) My truck is an '02 F350 with a 5.4 and 80k miles. Thanks in advance for any advise.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2010
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its gonna be fun. 5.4 is an overhead cam engine, so you are going to have a timing chain going up to each head. it would be easier to pull the engine, replace the head, then put it back in than it would to do it in the truck. check prices on new heads(or getting them machined, vs the cost of a used engine and see which is cheaper
Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 214
Likes: 3
From: Montreal
Once you've got the engine stripped down to the heads it's really not so much more work to pull the bumper,rad, header panel,etc, so that you can get yourself into the engine bay and do the work without removing the engine. If you're capable of doing the work I don't see how replacing the engine is going to be cheaper.
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