Hello all,
Need a little help. Story is A friend of mine has a 1997 4.6 F150. It has ~160k on it. He got it free from a family member. It has been sitting for the last 6 months. I changed all the fluids got a new battery rewired the starter (it was wired incorrectly and would not fire) and got it running. Thought that was it. But no, we have another issue.

He was driving and it overheated. He waited for it to cool and brought it over. (Tools are at my house). Got to looking and found on the passenger side at the rear of the block a steady drip of coolant. Took the inner fender off and found the exhaust manifold c-clamped to the pipe. (LOL) Also found coolant dripping out of the crack.
So looks like I have a head gasket to replace. Friend has been out of work for sometime so he cannot afford to go all out and replace everything. I want to get him going so he can do some side jobs to feed his family and pay his mortgage. First task this weekend is to do a compression test to check, but all indications point to the head gasket.

Background is I have been over on the diesel section for a while and while doing searches here I have not found a good write-up on doing the head gaskets. I need some help. I am looking for a parts list with numbers if you have them with recommendations. (I.e. ford or aftermarket) And the torque specks for putting it all back together.

What I have so far for a parts list is:
• Ford MLS Head gaskets
• Ford TTY bolts
• Intake gaskets
• Exhaust gaskets
• O-ring for injectors

My plan is to test compression and confirm the head gasket leak. Then tear down to the heads and visualize the cylinders and jackets, and rebuild. As I stated he cannot afford to have the heads checked and decked. With this plan I am also going to try and fix the 1 confirmed broken exhaust manifold bolt on the top of #4 and fix the c-clamp exhaust leak. Then just rebuild.

Should I even think about pulling the driver side? I am leaning toward doing it but since he is not going to do anything with the heads I am not sure if it is even worth it. No obvious broken bolts or issues.

I will be documenting as I go to post the findings and the build steps I use. Thanks in advance
Bill

 

Check the 8th "digit" of the VIN. If that is a "W", it's a Romeo version of the 4.6. If it's a "6", that's a Windsor version of the 4.6. Lots of different parts/gaskets.

The Romeo version is notorious for head gasket leaks, especially oil, and especially at the rear. Check the oil pan for coolant. Check the plugs for glazing. Check the coolant for oil. Compression test might help, but if the leak is to the outside, the test should be OK.

For step by step stuff, a Haynes book should cover all the stuff easier than someone trying to do it here. Just watch for cracks, warp-age in/on the head. As long as it will be apart that far, check all the coolant lines & hoses. Some are way easier to change then. Ford offers a head gasket design for Romeo engines that have leaky heads. It's not the same as OEM gaskets. I don't know offhand if yours is the Service Repair gasket, or one like the original.

Dave

 

Dave, Thanks for the reply I will check the VIN and figure that out. As i was trying to order parts yesterday that issue came up.

Are there any lines/ hoses in particular I should be aware of. when I work on my 6.0 there are many things you should do while you are in there. But this will be my first adventure down into the modular motor.

 

All the rubber fittings at the rear of the engine are prone to hardening and cracking. Coolant fittings on/under the intake also should be checked.

Equal amount of work dealing with the timing chains and tension controls.

If it overheated that quickly, you probably should suspect that either the thermostat or the radiator cap, or both, are bad. The head gasket shouldn't
have been the first thing to blow out or leak.

Dave

 

OK I will look for any coolant lines and replace as needed.

I am confused about the difference between the Romeo and Windsor motors
I have a vin 1FTDX18W9CA8238 and the 10 digit is not a 6 or a w so what motor is it?

I need to order parts and get these heads off.

 

That's the 8th digit. Yours ia "W", so you have a Romeo 4.6.

Dave