Have you considered having AAA? It has more than paid for itself with towing my hoopties around. If you have a receipt for having it repaired, and it turns out not to be repaired, they will tow it again for the same issue. It is an easy check to write out for me. Sorry about your spark plug launching. Did they use a timesert or a helicoil? Helicoil won't do it for these imho.

 

This is the first vehicle I have ever had to tow, so I do not have AAA. Hopefully I wont need a tow ever again.

I asked the shop to use a timesert, and the guy at the shop said "yeah we can do that", yet my bill says helicoil...I got charged for two helicoils actually. Not sure if they broke one or what...How do people who have no idea what they are doing get jobs as mechanics?

 

Some people don't recognize the difference between the two. I would take it back and let them see why you wanted a timesert. They might not have the tools to install one properly.

 

***Update, PIC HEAVY***

So we have torn the motor apart and finally gotten the passenger side head off. It would seem the shop screwed up. They put the coil WAY too far into the cylinder, and they managed to crack part of the head off:



Since we can now prove that the shop is at fault, we will be seeking a refund on all parts and labor.

One thing that concerned me during the tear down, was how much oil and crud was in the intakes and head on all 10 cylinders. Is this much buildup normal for an intake? What kind of leak could be causing this? the bottom of intake manifold is also coated in oil/crud:









Any idea what could cause all this build up?

At this point, my options are a new set of heads (I wont just replace this one after going this far) off of Ebay for ~$1000 (, off RockAuto for ~$1400, or a WHOLE NEW ENGINE off RockAuto for ~$2760. It would be easier to just replace both heads, as removing the whole engine would be even more work than it already has been. But since the engine is almost out already, perhaps just getting a whole new engine with a new water pump and all the finishing gaskets is more cost effective in the long run, and provides the best piece of mind.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Replace just one head? Both? New engine?

 

How many miles are on this engine? That would help me decide between new heads (with later design more plug threads) or a new engine that hopefully has the improved heads. With what you have here though, that shop should be replacing that head for you as that clearly isn't right.

 

The Ex has ~220,000 miles on the odometer, but the previous owner told me that he was told the engine was replaced (with another used one) at around 100k miles, but that is all rumors as far as I am concerned. The previous owner only had the truck for about a year before selling it. He knew very little about what had been done to it.

I highly doubt the shop will pay for a new head. I'll be lucky just to get a refund on the labor for the helicoil.

 

In that case. I vote new engine. The used one could have 300k on it for all you know. While these are stout engines, I wouldn't want to sink a bunch of money on top of an unknown bottom end.

 

I should also note that aside from the 2 plugs it has blown since I got it, and the smoke on start up, along with the oil it burned, the engine ran and sounded smooth.

 

I have torn apart a few of these motors. My first was for a supercharger install. Took intake off and all was clean. Motor used no oil to speak of.

Second 2000 V10 uses about 1 qt every 1000 miles. It had about an inch of oil in the bottom/lower intake. I think a bad PCV and or PCV hose will cause oil buildup in lower intake. Also a motor with excessive blow by will build up oil in lower intake.....IE poor rings.

Ford sells new and remanufactured V10 motors. New ones are around 6 to $7000, and remans are around 3 or $4000. They also sell new and remanufactured heads.

If it were me I would put new bearings, rings, oil pump and timing chains in short block and buy new heads from Ford. But I know my way around this motor. If you don't than you cannot go wrong with a new Ford motor.

 

The state of the rings is what concerns me. Is there any way to test these while I have the motor apart to verify there is no blow by causing the oil buildup?

I replaced the PCV valve last year, but it was likely going bad for a long time before I owned the truck.

 

Of the V10's I have seen that let go after a lot of miles, it wasn't the rings that did them in. It was usually the crank/rod bearings. If you were able to remove the oil pan, and pull one of the caps to see the condition of the bearings and journals, that might help you get an overall idea of the condition of the bottom end. It doesn't take long for a bad PCV valve to gum up an engine and that IMHO is what you are seeing in the intake. You didnt by chance have a K&N filter did you? That can also contribute to intake nastiness.

 

The truck did indeed come with a K&N CAI/air filter.

 

So, I've decided to just order a new pair of heads and keep my block. It appears to be in good condition and there is no obvious signs of oil leakage in the cylinder.

The question I have now is, since I have a year 2000 block, do I need to buy year 2000 heads, or can I get reman heads from a later model year V10 that fixes the spark plug thread issue?

The number on my passenger side head is RF-YC2E-6090-A20A. Other stamps just read V-10 14 PI.

 

Newer heads are fine. I personally would replace them in a set, but before I did that I would just replace the whole motor. No matter what you choose I wish you the best of luck! I'll keep an eye on this thread to see how it goes.

 

Fwiw

I had a small head gasket leak on my v10. It was presurizing the degas bottle. I went what seems like a month deciding on what route.... new engine, rebuild at a shop or diy. Called parts yards and all the v10s they had were high milage... well over 100k and priced at about 3k if i remember correct. Not a goos option in my opinion to many unknowns for the price. Ford reman was about 5500. Machine shop finally told me would be about 4k and recomemded i just do the gaskets and ride. I may get another 50k out the motor. I have over 200k on it by the way. And have 15k since the diy head gasket job.
All that to say. My opinion, buy heads leave bottom end alone. Worst case down the road if the bottom goes you buy short block and reuse the heads. Spread the cost.