The manual says 50lb-ft then 90º.




You could do the 50lb-ft, mark the bolt heads, then slow walk the bolts to 90º with an impact. The 90º rotation makes it hard to keep the crank from rotating. Even at the 90lb-ft of the ARP bolts the crank walks.

 

Yeah I would need to somehow keep the engine from rotating. Maybe pull the inspection cover on the transmission and try to get something to lock up the flex plate? I’m not too worried but it would be good to torque these to spec. Hopefully I didn’t over stretch them

 

There are tools for those work. KS tools 1503152 for example.
This is the tool I use. If you search for it on Google, you will certainly find a tool that is available in the US.

 

Man, I'm surprised there's a strap wrench that would hold up for that, but German ones must be strong. Typically, I think of strap wrenches for filters.

SRMastertech has a video where he states you can wedge the flywheel to the bell housing or use a 15 deep socket to jam the torque converter nut against the bell housing, maybe the lower opening. I've used two of the 10mm threaded holes and run a pry bar across them to hold the pulley; I was worried about the rubber bond of the dampener.

Over here, we have two strap wrenches that might work, but I've never heard of them being used for this on a 6.0.

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

I change from TTY to the ARP bolts for in-frame, as they only require 90lb-ft.

Wedgies, but never used them.

Amazon

Amazon

I've not seen anyone recommend a tool like this for the 6.0, but I've got a cost request to my steel supplier to see what he would charge me to laser cut flat stock specifically for the 6.0. I mentioned making a spanner wrench to hold the damper in my not published video for the front cover install.

 

I noticed someone was using an impact to get a degree of rotation after they did a torque step on a semi engine build recently. (At least I think that's what I was watching)

I just cringed because I can't think that using an impact gun and the knocking or rapping (sp?) force that is being applied to the bolt or nut is good. Perhaps I'm wrong but this can't be good can it? I know that the amount of overall rotation is still the same but wouldn't it be "seating" the bolt or nut differently with the knocking force applied by the impact gun?

 

As long as the rotation is the 90º, the amount of bolt yield is the same. You are thinking in terms of torque, the measurement of friction.

 

Jack you and bismic had suspicions that are right! I got to thinking about the combustion gas theory and did some testing. My head gaskets are compromised. I don’t see the issue unless under heavy load and throttle but it’s there. I can literally see the needle more with the torque curve which probably correlates to peak pressures. There’s a spot around 1500-1900 where I pay into the throttle and the needle creeps up. I couldn’t hit 16 psi but I bet on a steep grade I could. Bummer. guess it’s O ring heads and studs time.



I had coolant from 192-196f nowhere near close enough to cause thermal expansion to the level off building excessive pressure.

Crap! 250,000 mile on stock head bolts. She’s throwing in the towel. Crazy how you can drive around on bad gaskets and not know it around town

 

Which aftermarket heads are recommended KDD are 8-12 weeks out which is a bummer.

looking at powerstroke products 6.0 loaded O ring heads. About $1100 each. ARP studs $475 Oil cooler Kit $350 Headgaskets $150

sounds like I’ll be in this thing for $3200 ish

now I could reuse my factory heads but I’m weary with 250,000 miles. I think O ring also gives me extra security for not doing the job twice. I don’t run extreme tunes just 35-50hp tow tune and I have a light foot. I suspect these were partially blown when I got the truck I just never knew because it barely puked and very rarely.

 

People have nursed your situation for a good while. But that depends on how much towing you do, and tuned.

 

yeah not towing until the summer and I don’t really have a heavy foot. Explains why it only puked a few times.

it it was yours how would you fix it ?

 

Jack, if I may give you some advice, make a tool that you can use for other HD applications. I built this tool many years ago and have been able to use it many times for different applications.

 

That's a good one Hartwig. I do not work on heavy engines enough to have a tool like that. I played with the truck yesterday do I took these images in case the OP needed another way to lock the damper to torque the bolts. The threads in the damper are 3/8-16 (Nav always surprises me with their mix of metric and imperial), so with 2 bolts you can lock the damper in-frame with a bar or extension and torque three of the bolts, change the position of the damper and 3/8" bolts, and torque the last. A cheap and easy way.

 

I'm guessing since it's NM, it's a rust-free truck. Mine being NJ, I never should have bothered working on my engine; it's why this was more of a science fair project that fixing a vehicle.

A 250k, I would expect the heads are compromised with cracks, the valve guides will need work, and valve seat inserts will have to be installed if the work is done locally. I like reusing heads since any tenting would also work harden them, but at 250k, it would take a good amount of machinist's work (cost) to determine that. So I'd replace the heads, although not an absolute.

If it was me, I'm willing not to use o-rings as I don't use programming, not a heavy foot, and occasional tow. And in my videos regarding heads, I've shown why I don't think o-rings are necessary under those parameters. When you look at trucks with high mileage, they tend to be stock. Those with repeat failures are tuned. It's an easy Go/No Go tell.

But if someone asks with 250k and tunes, my two sources of heads are KDD and UFC; both are o-ringed to give the added protection. Although with UFC, you are getting someone else reworked problem.

If I were getting an entire engine-long block, it would be Ashville. Ashville does sell new o-ringed heads, too, but I've never read a thread that talks about them. I would look over the entire spread of head versions at KDD. The aluminum heads maybe that far out, but my first choice would not be aluminum. The expansion worries me as the engine was not designed for the added expansion rate; fasteners, or in-block threads. But I'm conservative.

With all of that said, at 250k, I'd be tearing the engine out because this engine has a bad habit of taking out cam lobes and lifters around this point. So at 250k, I'd be changing out those, changing the bearings because I'm there, and maybe glaze breaking the cylinders with new rings if the bores were OK for another 250k. Or have the block gone through with boring and new pistons. And at that point, if you don't know of a good machine shop and are comfortable with that work, you have to look to Ashville.

 

I will just say that although I didn't have a "leak" like you initially did, I do have a somewhat similar issue going on when boost increases in my 2005 6.0.

You can read more about my issue by following the link below but basically, if I'm towing something and I'm in a lower gear where I'm not needing to let boost get above 17 or 18 PSI, my coolant is fine and I don't have any issues with coolant loss. But, if I just try to give it a little too much accelerator pedal in a higher gear and create too much boost (over 17 or 18 PSI), I'll have coolant puked all over the battery area. (Not good obviously)

I'm trying to learn more about the 6.0 and getting help here myself so you can disregard what I'm about to suggest or take it for what it's worth but I'll just say that if you're going to even bother to do a head and/or head gasket repair, I don't think I would recommend doing one while reusing the old heads or getting remanufactured heads.

To me, taking a chance on using the old heads is probably just a big waste of time and money and also just asking for problems ahead.

I will admit, I'm going MAINLY based off of watching most of TooManyToys' YouTube videos AND I'M NOT QUOTING OR SPEAKING FOR THEM BY ANY MEANS HOWEVER, based on the research he did, it "appears" that essentially the design of the Ford head is plain crap from the start for the most part in terms of ability to provide support over the cylinders to allow adequate clamping force of the bridges (the support areas) of the heads to properly provide a good seal around the cylinders.

(Whew, that was a long sentence. Sorry)

Anyway, I'm paraphrasing here but from what I gathered from watching the videos, the original heads just don't have enough "beef" to provide what is needed in terms of ability to keep the heads flat and sealed to the block during operation.

Whether it's just long term driving or towing or getting heavy on the accelerator too many times over the years, it all ends up with the heads starting to "warp" or "bow" upwards (or "tent" as TooManyToys calls it).

And since I would assume that a remanufactured head is just the same head as one that came from the same factory as the original heads with the same mold and everything else or, they are just an old used original head that was taken apart, cleaned, and machined to have new parts, I don't think you would be gaining anything at all by purchasing remanufactured heads.

So, in my opinion, about the only way you can solve the issue with the heads and/or gaskets is to get a brand new set of heads from a company that completely redesigned them such as Kill Devil Diesel. I am not sure if there is another company that redesigned theirs or not but KDD apparently started with a brand new mold of their own design.

So, based on what KDD is claiming, there shouldn't be as many issues with warping or tenting due to a stronger, redesigned head that they offer.

They provide their heads with the O-ring around the cylinder area for better sealing.

Even if you don't use your pickup for heavy towing or a lot of towing or racing use, I can't see how these heads would be a bad thing to have due to their improvements over the original "stock" heads.

To me, unless you have the time to continuously take your heads off multiple times, I don't know why you would waste the time doing a head and/or head gasket repair without just putting a brand new set of heads on.

Although it's not a guarantee, as TooManyToys pointed out, with your mileage of 250k, I can't imagine that you don't have at least a few minor cracks that are already present in your heads. Or, if you don't currently have any, I would have a hard time believing that you wouldn't see any soon down the road if you reused them.

And so, I don't think it's worth it to risk taking the chance.

But of course, you can do whatever you want.

If you take them to a machinest and they swear they are good and you aren't going to be using your truck to tow things that are that heavy or you're not towing that much, then you might be okay.

But the problem is, you never know EVEN WITH only a really light load behind you.

You could still have an issue.

I know it sucks to have to spend at least $3k for a pair of heads from KDD or up to $5k if you want to get them done to the max but, it seems like it would be money well spent for the amount of time it's going to take to do the repair.

And although YOU MAY NOT EVER use the truck to tow heavy or tow frequently, I would suggest you think about long term.

TooManyToys mentioned something to me when I asked about how important it really is to use ARP head studs since he found that the original head bolts (the TTY bolts) are more than sufficient and even probably the same as or comparable in terms of clamping force to the ARP head studs that most people use. (There is a better version of head studs that you can get for $1200 and up but most people opt for the $400 to $450 version.)

He said although you probably don't "need" to use ARP head studs, UNLESS you are planning to keep the truck until death do you part, then it's probably best to consider things from a "sellable" perspective.

So, in my example, although ARP head studs and whether or not they are a "necessity" may have gotten blown way out of proportion over the years, the problem is, so many people now believe that they are a "must have" for pretty much any 6.0 that if you don't have them installed, it will likely decrease your chances of selling your truck or decrease the value in the eyes of "most" potential buyers.

In your case, if you are going to do the repair, it's probably best to just do it the one time and get a new set of heads so virtually ANY potential buyer will see the added value in going with something good like a KDD head or another good brand that had a good design for the heads. And also, to save you the headache of having to do the repair all over again in 1,000 to 10,000 miles or somewher around these figures.

(Not good)

Now, if you're potenially similar to me and on the fence about whether to do the repair or not or just don't want to spend the time or money to do the repair right now, then I would suggest to download the Torque Pro app, buy the OBD II adapter (if you haven't already) and monitor your boost pressure and set up some alarms to go off when the boost gets above 16 or 17 PSI so you can keep your coolant in check by backing your foot off the throttle anytime you get above 16 or 17 PSI.

I'm not sure if your truck is having an issue with coolant puking out at a lower PSI or not but you can adjust the alarms or warnings in the Torque Pro app however you want so they will go off at certain readings.


I have my own post/thread here if you care to read it:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post20325728

 

Great points. I am debating on doing the cylinder heads in cab or pulling the engine out. I think pulling the engine out gives a great opportunity to inspect and freshen up as I see fit. I would love to change out the lifters as well. I just got to figure out how to secure the engine to some kind of stand without breaking the bank. Good time to change my seeping ream main seal. Oh the fun!