are you saying the water pump wore out from high mileage and leaked the coolant out on ground which caused the motor to overheat and cracked a head ?

What is "contaminated" or how did that contribute to a failure ?

 

"Anything else I should do now that I'm this deep" hope this helps your???

 

Thanks all for the observations.

I am not sure about the cracks. I will pull the other head tomorrow. Then give them both a cleaning along with the cylinders. Then post some more picts. Maybe it will help a little.
I plan on taking the heads to a machine shop and getting a rebuild price. I also plan on checking the level of the block surface for warpage.

I did not see any evidence of gasket failure either.... of course this is with my novice eye.

 

Does anyone know the numbers for the head surface. The tolerances?

 

I would get the specs from ford or a machine shop familiar with the v10

This isn't your old school SBC, I'd guess it is less then .003 checked using a machinist straight edge.

Surface roughness also has a spec on those motors. You need to clean the block and heads carefully using the correct method. Fairly easy to ruin if done incorrectly.

Also worth noting, new TTY head bolts are required.

 

I have a 4.0 SOHC Ford on the stand in my garage that had a pressurizing cooling system and good compression. Took the heads off and cant see real clear where a head gasket was leaking, but I know for a fact the previous owner overheated it. This warped the heads just enough and allowed the pressure to escape into the cooling system. It doesn't take a very big leak for this either. Definitely let a machine shop check and possibly plane those heads and take care of that block surface before sticking them back on. Before you do that though, price out a replacement engine. It may be cheaper. It was in my case by the time I factored in the timing components and tools I didn't have. It doesnt say in here that I could find, but; Did you overheat this engine at all? like even once into the red when this started?

 

It has overheated and wentertainment into limp mode.
Here is the sequence of events.

I was headed out of town on a family trip. So did the usual prep. Change oil and check fluids. The coolant was warm not hot and it was a little low. I had been monitoring it for a while likes months and saw it really really slowly going down to the point that before this trip I decided to add some. So I pulled the cap off and I believe it burped and spewed some coolant. I did not think much of it. I just added to a mid point between min and max. Jumped on the road with the fam and within 3 miles of leaving home it went home and in limp mode. I pulled over and noticed it had burped again there was a coolant trail and it was wet under the hood.
Turned truck offor and on again and ti was right back in normal temp range and out of limp mode. I thought it must have just been a air pocket from the original coolant add and continued on the trip no problems.

I believe a month later I had the truck do the same sequence of events burp then limp. I turn it off and on and it's normal.

I change fluid, water pump, therm and fan clutch. It does it again burp , limp off on and normal again.
So I check the freshly changed fluid and notice a exhaust smell. And think head gasket.

 

I plan to pull the other head and price work at a couple of machine shops. Once I get some prices I will know what direction to go next.

 

At least the timing components are easier and cheaper for the v10. As long as the block isn't full of stop leak or head gasket in a bottle you might come out ahead cleaning it up and sticking your refurbed heads back on it. These engines really are tough and I am amazed at the mileage I see on some of them. Let us know what the machine shop says.

 

Do you have pics of the head gasket for the first head you pulled? That first pic you posted looks like it may have been leaking coolant into the cylinder. Can't tell from the pic though, it may just me gunk.
Were you using coolant but not seeing a leak? Or were you going by how the degas bottle looked? Was the X overheating? Those degas bottles get nasty looking with high miles!

Sorry, but I personally think you jumped the gun on his one. I'll bet there was absolutely nothing wrong!

 

Had to be something wrong. Degas bottle was continually puking.
Changed all the water parts and put fresh coolant mix in and it turned front yellow to dark yellow with and exhuast smell within 2 to 3 days.

What do you think it was if not the head gaskets?

 

 

Have you invest aged the possible cracks I pointed out ?

 

I checked the head for cracks. It was just carbon flaking off and in the pict the contrast makes it look like a crack.



Did some research.
New ford engine 4700
Rebuild mine from a machine shop. Cheapest price quote 4500 to 5000.

I have new head gaskets and tty bolts. Gonna pull other head clean and reinstall. Worst case they don't seal and I am out 300 bucks. Best case I get another couple grand miles out the motor. Then spend the 4700 for the ford replacement.

 

At least have those heads checked for warping at a machine shop. You don't have to do anything else other than having them planed if needed. If they are warped it will fail shortly after assembly.