SO I bought a 2002 Excursion 6.8 with 200k on it. Got it pretty cheap, understanding it had some issues. Little body work and paint... and a rough idle. I get it back home and change the coil packs on it that showed misfiring (2,3,9,10) and clean the MAF. It cleared up ALOT.... but it was still not right. So I took it to the professionals, IE Mechanics, for true diagnosis. He calls me today to say that it appears the head may be bad, he's going to runs some compression tests tomorrow to let me know for sure. He says if it's the head, he'll have to refer me back to FORD for replacement... since they have to 'lift the body' to do the work.

My heart hurts a little right now... but I need to plan things out.

1. Do I find a craigslist motor and have someone put it in?

2. Do I spend the money on heads, for a block with 200k on it? I see some info about 2v heads and 3v heads... apparently 3v's are better, can I put 3v's on my truck which apparently came with 2v's?

3. I wont be towing anything, would swapping in a 5.4 for budget reasons be 'easy'? (you can find 5.4's with low mileage super cheap now)

4. Should I drive it the way it is until it blows up and I NEED to replace it?

5. What else am I not thinking about that might be an option?

 

You can not put 3v heads on a 2v motor. Labor will be less to swap the motor.

 

I bought my '02 X V10 with a miss. I expected COP's. Replaced all 10. Still misfiring. Come to find out that my #5 cyl had a bad intake valve. It would not seat. The engine only had 152k mi on it. I took mine to 2 different dealers (mostly because the first one told me "new engine was the only option" at a tune of $5k+). The second dealer thought that maybe a rocker had loosened or broke, so they checked that out. No problem there.

At this point I had 3 options: new crate engine, pull heads and repair, or wrecking yard replacement. New engine was not an option, because that would make me upside down in the vehicle. Pulling the heads would required 20 hours labor for one side and 23 hrs for both sides. The route I went was to locate a wrecked X with lower miles on it and have that installed for only 10 hrs labor. I got my engine through a search on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

I paid $1700 for the engine and $500 labor. I went ahead and had new exhaust manifold bolts and gaskets installed while the engine was out. Total for me was less then $2500.

 

I guess that's not terrible, but it sure sucks thinking I got a deal and turns out I coulda got a nicer one for less than I'll have in this one. Oh well, such is life...

 

I paid $5600 for mine. Came with '05 front end, new tranny, and some other good stuff, but bad engine. I put new Michelins on it at $1k. I am now into it at $9100. I bought it knowing that I would keep it for a couple of years at least. Ours fits our family which makes it priceless.

 

I got mine for 3500, has 3 newer tires on it now and a spare. I was thinking I'd be all done around 6000 or so. So far I'm only in some change from the coil packs. I'll wait for the word tomorrow.

Anybody ever done the 5.4 swap? I could throw one of those in and rebuild the 6.8 while it's out.

 

Do a compression check and see what's up with it - it could be anything at this point.

As for the "can't put 3-valve heads on a 2-valve" - I don't think that's necessarily true. It can be done. With great difficulty

 

Got it... thats what they are doing this morning. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that one of the coils I put on it are bad either. With 200k on the clock it sounds like it's not worth head work. So if it is the head, I'll probably look for a low mileage used to put in. While its out I'll do any upgrades. I plan on keeping it for a while, so I want it to be solid and I dont want to worry about it.

3V started in 2003 right?

 

I believe 3v started in '05.

 

Art has put together some good links in the Tech Folder of the V10 Forum. Here are some that might interest you:

Replacing a V10 - lots of great info about E-series vs. F-series engines, 2-valve
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ue-solved.html

A 3V in a 2V truck:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...2000-f350.html

edit... Fixed... I copied and pasted the text instead of copying the url. Oooops.. my bad

 

The links arent working for me... I'll search. Thanks!

 

Fixed it.

 

Whew! All that worry for nothing! Changed plugs and boots and some other minor things and my truck runs like new! Woohoo! Now off to get some paint estimates... I'm sure I'm going to get beat up there... Just happy to know I don't need an engine!

 

3v was introduced in 05. You're in a pickle there friend. I'd look on eBay for a replacement motor. I've found a couple places with remans that are reasonable.

 

Congratulations. Plugs and Boots are much cheaper and easier then the whole engine. Good luck on the paint!