WOW!!! Dude your a little wound up!

I have seen my share of cracked diesel heads when I was in a machine shop. Most of the heads that cracked were the larger commercial diesel engines. Detroit 6-71's come to mind. I hardly ever saw a cylinder head that was cracked that was due to regular use and proper maintenance in none commercial use. Most of the heads that were cracked were due to neglect and abuse.


The 6.0 L is not a bad engine, it just needs routine maintenance and monitoring to not have/prevent issues.

To answer your question about the responsibility of the Manufacture to provide support and parts for a vehicle after the stop of production. The Federal Government requires all Automotive manufactures to supply parts for 12 years (IIRC) after the last production date of the vehicle.

From what most people that I have talked to before and after I bought my 6.0 L X all said the same thing. Take care of the known issues ie: EGR delete, Blue spring mod, coolant system flush and filter and MAKE SURE to have a monitoring gauge. Head gaskets should only be done when the issue arises.

They all told me not to beat on it like a gasser and DO NOT run a huge HP program without doing a bullet proof job on the engine.

It honestly sounds like you are upset that you didn't know what to look for when buying a 6.0 L.

I had to put 1500.00 into mine within a month of buying it. I wasn't happy about dropping 10k and then have to drop another 2k in a month, but hell it was a USED vehicle!

 

Agreeing with Cheezits last statement, I believe it's about how you treat it and take care of it, with any vehicle.

 

Alright if anyone can learn from this I'll post up the photos from the heads that were taken from my truck.

The work was done by a diesel shop in Mass just a few weeks ago. The heads were original as far as I know from 2003 with 273,000 miles. A magnaflux was done on them and I was told they had cracks and should be replaced. At the time I didn't question that fact and went with replacements.

They were removed once before in June 2010 at 190,000 miles. The work order says they were cleaned and planed. New Ford gaskets and arp studs were done then.

This post will be 5 photos of the 1st cylinder head and another post will be 5 photos of the 2nd cylinder head.

I believe the white marks are calling out where the cracks were found.

 

 

If I replaced either of these unnecessarily then at least I better get some reps from you guys

 

hey colm did you read my post about the work shop book being updated from the tsb on page 3?
the micro cracks you have are what they are talking about.

 

I think thats why he's called master tech ^

 

I guess I could have reinstalled those heads huh?

Well I didn't know that at the time, so hopefully if that is the case from today on there will be better educated cylinder head buyers on FTE.

Now where's my reps!!! I paid $2,000 so you all could learn something

 

was a master tech, not the one from you tube. im am for now out of the industry

 

colm i tried but it wouldnt let me.

 

Well curiosity got the best of me and I had to call and find out if they actually offered "new" heads. The heads as advertised are new. The next question is, are they better then the re-manufactured heads?

Thanks caskillet this was a great find.


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Cheezit you must be retired I got 3 more years and the first thing I'm gonna do is see ALL of the USA in my F 250 with my family,thats why it's got to be runnin' strong

 

way to young for that. I just moved on to something different. im now playing with cat and wakashaw powered stuff.

 

You bet I'm wound up! I purchased this truck with 65k miles for just over $35k. It now has 90k miles on it. The problem is, I don't what was done to the truck before I got it. I bought it from a Jeep dealer, but talked to the original owner after I bought it. He said he used it for pulling a horse trailer from Vancouver WA to Idaho and it was regularly maintained. I was able to get out of Ford that the turbo had been changed twice and there was a few other small issues. During the 25K I MAINTAINED the truck with regular oil changes, fuel filters, air cleaner, etc. You are right, had I known to put a Scangauge II on it when I first bought it, i could have avoided some issues. In fact, if I had a Scangauge II and knew what I was looking for, I probably wouldn't have bought the truck. Hell, if I had known about this forum, I for sure wouldn't have bought the truck. Had I hooked a Scangauge II up, it would have shown the FICM was going bad. It would have shown the beginnings of the temperature differences between the oil and coolant.
I pulled a small enclosed U-Haul trailer from Vancouver WA to Phoenix and on the way to San Diego, it blew the top turbo hose (Clamp cracked at the hole in the clamp) and blew water all over the engine from the reservoir tank going up the grade out of the desert to El Cajon. This within 5K of me buying the truck. From then on I did not trust the truck. I didn't pull any thing with it, and from the beginning I damn sure didn't "beat on it like a gasser and DO NOT run a huge HP program without doing a bullet proof job on the engine"! I drove diesel trucks in the Army and know their limitations.
So far, the forum has said Ford doesn't sell new heads. This after the Fords parts guy said they have a new head and by the way there will be a $350 core charge over and above the $1,250 for the re-manufactured head that he said was new.
I'm 64. I have worked on cars all my life. Built race engines from scratch, rebuilt transmissions, rear-ends and suspensions. I have even worked on... Foreign cars... In all that time I have never seen such an "African Buzzard F**K as this Ford 6.0!
YES! I am WOUND UP. This truck is seriously getting into my retirement funds and I am on a fixed income!
AND DON'T call ME DUDE...

Update: My mechanic just said went to a Ford Class last night. He asked about the new heads. The instructor said there is NO NEW HEADS... He also said get rid if the Ford Gold coolant and run the green stuff with an additive or just run DexCool. After all the BS and smoke has cleared, I believe the Ford Gold aka Zerex anti-freeze is 80% of the reason these diesels fail. "Zerex doesn't run out" but it plugs up every cooler in the engine. Probably another 10% attributed to crap diesel fuel (Use a recommended additive)
When I get my bad head back, I will post pictures of a head which can't be fixed or reused.

 

Sig, this is what I would do if I where in your shoes, Lord knows money is tight at my house too.Look into the new heads from Clearwater Fla. It will be your best bet for a multitude of reasons for a few major examples are warranty, better design and piece of mind.The best part will be you can use your truck for what you bought it for, to use it ! Sometimes being penny wise is dollar foolish (I don't mean it in a bad way ) believe me I'm going through some issues with my truck right now, I just don t have as much invested as you.Weigh it out with a clear head being that you used to twist wrenches, and you will see the way to go. I hope this helps...........Bill