well i've got a real bad dilemma, today my water pump began to fail. i suspect as a result of all the junk i've been adding to the coolant just try and seal this head gasket. i went to replace the water pump and ran into a major speed bump. the clutch fan from my engine's water pump, won't fit. the coupler is too small. i went back to the parts shop where i got the pump and he informed me that the 1995 to 96 engines has a 31mm coupler. what i have is a 30mm, so it's from an older engine. but niether the parts man nor myself can figure out what year. this also tells me at some point this engine has been changed, so now all the parts i have for a 95 engine won't fit. now i have to figure out what year of engine i'm dealing with, or find a 95 engine in order to get everything back in order. it's a good chance i didn't strip this engine down, cause i' would've been in a world of trouble.

do any of you have any idea what year of engine carries the 30mm coupler for the fan? or any ideas on how to figure out what year of engine i'm dealing with? i guess this is what you get when you buy someone eleses troubles, you just don't know what you're gonna run into. now i'm really at a stand still till i get this mess figured out. so please if you have any advice or ideas on how i could get the year of this engine, it would be most welcome. thanks T.C.M.

 

can you post some details about your truck and what size engine it is? Maybe a picture??

 

Here is a link to a video of what my engine sounds like and what the exhaust gases look like



https://plus.google.com/photos/10488...KKHqqqFkeHo1wE

 

i just posted up a link to a video of what my engine sounds like. also in this video, you see what the exhaust from the tail pipe is like and the color of the fluid in the overflow bottle. i hope someone out there who watches this video and listens to the sound of the engine, will be able to tell me if i got something that can be saved or not. most importantly if anyone can identify what possible year this engine could be. for now i'm at a stand still till i get the correct year for this engine in order to get the proper parts to repair it. my fingers a crossed and hope someone can help. any and all advice will be most welcome thanks. T.C.M.

 

You said it was just 95 and 96 that had that different size coupler right? If so that would mean anything below 95 would have the 30mm coupler and would in theory fit your truck just fine and if it don't just take it back and swap for the next year down. Also in the video was that a cold start of the truck or was it already up to temp when you did the video?

 

Also one thing to note, take out that coolant tank and clean all that gunk out of there, my old one looked just like that after a bottle of stop leak to and it isn't gonna help your engine or do you any good having that stuff in there either clogging up the overflow tank and its hose or going around in the coolant system and building up in places it should not and hurting the water pump. Also you engine sounds fine to me, fix that head gasket and keep it full of good clean oil and it should last you a long time.

 

that was a cold start up, you've given me new hope, maybe now i,ll get somewhere.

as for the year for the clutch fan, the 30mm goes back quite a ways. but i don't know if noticed but the engine in my truck, doesn't have the '' air in the head '' instead it's in the intake. that's where i'm stuck at, none of the parts stores know when the air in head changed, therefore they are saying that i might not have a 4.9 liter engine. does this make any sence to you? do you or anyone you can think of know if there's a differance in these inline 6 head gaskets. i've read up on some things about the inline 6, and as far as i can understand, the 4.9 was introduced back in 1965. for sure my engine isn't that oil cause fuel injection wasn't around then. so if all the inline 6 engines '' without the air in the head '' should be pretty much the same. just guessing here, if that's correct then the parts should be fairly easy to get, i'm hoping. anyway thanks for taking the time and helping me on this matter. maybe now i'll have better luck. T.C.M.

 

Not to sure on what you mean by "air in the head" or intake but whoever told you that engine may not be the 4.9 is full of crap and should have his butt kicked for giving you false info like that. are you referring to air as in the tubes from the smog pump or the egr on that note? I doubt there is much of a difference in head design. heck if there is two style of heads out there I'd be almost willing to get both kinds of gasket and take it apart and see if one or the other fits.

 

yes that's what i mean, either smog tubes in the head or not. mine doesn't have them and i was just searching through some auto parts places on line and i started with a 89 to see if there was two differant size clutch fans. i didn't get no change up untill about 1993 and that's when it gave me two differant size clutch fans. i do have to make a correction on my part, instead of 31mm, it's suppose to be 40mm hex nut with a 36mm coupler. but when i cross checked for the cylinder heads, it gave me both kinds '' smong holes in the head '' and without, right back as far as 1980. so i'll just take your advice cause it seems to be the best, and get both types of head gaskets. heck all i have to do is bring back the one i don't use. thanks for clearing that dumb idea up too about the engine not being a 4.9, i also thought this to be a faulse statement.

so to sum things up then, in your opinon by listening to my engine, there isn't any need to do a engine overhaul just the gaskets right? once again thank you, you've been a wonderful help. T.C.M.

 

Based off the sound its making while it sounds like its in good shape for the most part please be sure to get all of that gunk out of your engine as soon as possible, while you get the head off make sure all that crap is cleaned out both in the head and the block and after you do the head gasket and get what you can out from up top get some kind of cleaner like seafoam for example that cleans out your engine and do a few oil changes in short intervals with something along those lines and get all that crap out. Once all that gunk is out and the engine has a fresh head gasket you should be good to go unless there is some other problem that comes up along the way.

 

yeah looks like i got quitr a job on my hands, but from the advice you've given me, it's worth the the time. as for cleaning products, here in Canada we can't get the product '' seafoam '' now i was something else that would clean my engine, but i don't feel safe using it. i was told by a macanic to use varosol in my engine, but i fear that this would only do more harm than good. i think i'm gonna look at some engine flushes, and see if i can find one close to this seafoam. i don't want to end up setting myself back by doing something stupid. especially now that i got some good news about this engine.

so thanks again for your awesome advice. once i get everything together, ill be sure to post some pics of the progress along the way. thanks. T.C.M.

 

well it looks like i may have to replace this dam engine after all. so far, any head gasket i get won't match up with my engine. i don't know what the heck is going on. i've determined that my engine has no smog tubes in the head,but for some reason the head gasket won't line up. either way i turn it, it covers up 2 or more of the water jacket holes, and i know this isn't good for the engine will only over heat due to lack of coolant getting to the engine. i've tried every thing i could think of, maybe this is why the dam gasket blew in the first place.

does anyone know if there's any differance in the heads with the smog tubes and heads without them? this is the only thing i can think of being the problem. i've looked at a few differant intakes, and none of them look like the one on my engine. maybe this is some kind of frankenstine mock up someone created and hoped it would work.

so if there is anyone out there who can unlock this mystery, andhelp me it would be most welcome. even some pics of what i should look for to be able to tell if this is a mixed up engine, would be great as well thanks.

maybe if someone viewed my album, they might get a better idea of what i'm talking about. thanks again T.C.M.

 

I don't know why you are in such a rush to replace that engine... you just have a wrong part. Take the head down to Ford and buy your gasket there, let them figure it out. Seafoam you can buy at any Canadian Tire and they can order it if they are out.

And/or take pictures of the head/block and how the gasket doesn't match up, maybe another member has gone through the same issue before.

 

I'm not in a rush to change the engine. The reply I got from the link I posted with the sound of my engine running told me that it sounded fine. Which set my mind at ease. It's just that I need to know if there are different heads for these inline 6 engines. I know so far that one has smog tubes in the head and one without. And the head on my engine has no smog tubes on it. But it seems like neither of the gastkets will line up with both the head and block. I need an opinion or exact answer on if I need to find another cylinder head that will match.

So in the mean time I will try to get some pics on the site so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

But if anyone has any good knowledge about the inline 6 engines and can give me some idea of what the engines compare through the years would be greatly appreciated

Thanks T.C.M

 

Take the head down to the Ford dealer and get the gasket from them, they will figure it out.