Hello all,

longtime reader and lurker. Never found the need to join because so much great material already covered on these forums…

I recently just dug into my 6.0, cracked cylinder head-diesel in coolant issue. I have the motor out of the truck on a stand, gone over it, everything looks pretty good. I made the decision to go with two NEW ford cylinder heads, or at least I’m being told that, because getting remans or aftermarket are weeks out.
. Also one of mine aren’t repairable so getting a new set made sense.

So I’m about to put two brand new heads on, and upon inspection and a quick once over, there is a glaring scratch that goes across the whole deck on one of the heads. to me, the scratch appears to be leftover from the new casting and there wasn’t enough material taken off. Near the outside cylinder is the worst, you can feel it with a finger nail as you go from fire ring to waterjacket area. I didn’t zoom out and take a picture of the rest of the head, but the scratch goes across the whole head surface, worst spot in picture below.

my question: run with it or wait it out for kdd? Fords local machine shop(same shop that machined the heads from new castings) won’t touch it and says it’s fine, “seen worse”. I looked into getting something from KDD, everything is weeks/months away… The other option I’m pursuing is taking these brand new heads to another machinist and getting his opinion, and he said he would take a pass or two off if needed, at my expense of course… hard one to stomach, especially when your paying $$$ for brand new.

thanks in advance for any input!

 

Scratch or crack?

If it's from the Ford dealer, why not return for another?

 

it is a deep scratch, not a crack. I’d take some more pictures but the machinist has them currently. The problem returning them is Ford inventory shows zero stock anywhere…at least in Canada they don’t (I’m in Vancouver, BC). These were the last set of new 6.0 heads they had access to through their own approved machine shop. The dealer appears to be taking the machine shops word for it and standing behind them. That leaves me in a tough place because I don’t really have any other options, other then getting them machined by another shop at my expense…

I am picking the heads up tomorrow and taking them to another shop for a 2nd opinion, and possibly get resurfaced.

Or, seeing as I’m going to be into these heads for nearly $3.5k, should I consider getting a set of KDD’s icon series street ported heads? A little more money but I’ll be in the ballpark it seems🤷🏼‍♂️

 

I am with Jack . Return it.
Also if you want to prove crack or not just get a cheap Dye Penetrant Kit and check it.

 

Thanks for replies guys

TMT, I appreciate the content and effort you put in your YT vids, gives average wrenchers like me a shot at fixing their own 6.0’s!

My apologies for the lack of pictures but it is not a crack, it’s a deep scratch, deep enough you can catch your fingernail on it

The situation in a nutshell is the set of brand new heads I got from Ford is their last in stock, and if I return them I’m waiting 6-12 weeks for aftermarket alternatives (kdd’s leadtimes 8-12 weeks). My plan is to take the heads to another shop and get a 2nd opinion, and if they think it should be resurfaced (which they probably will), that’s probably going to cost another thousand on my dime. The dealer at this point is standing with the machine shop. The machine shop says “they’ve seen worse” and would run them…

would you guys even consider running this head or wait for a better alternative, regardless of price or time? I don’t want to rush a 6.0 job that’s for sure!

 

Thanks.

It doesn't cost $1,000 to mill a head, unless the valve recession is low, and then it still should not be that high.

Have you measured the depth of the valves? Have you measured the length flatness?

I'm confused by this: "Fords local machine shop (same shop that machined the heads from new castings)."

 

No I have not checked either of those specs, and I have limited tooling at my disposal. They are brand new castings, one would think they are good to go 🤷🏼‍♂️ I’m definitely an amateur when it comes to any of the technical stuff, still learning!

From what I understand, all the local Ford dealers rely on this one machine shop for all of their machine work. They are the ones that received new Ford casts and machined them on site; the heads never came from a Ford warehouse somewhere. By the sounds of it, you guys wouldn’t be comfortable running this particular head either?

 

From what I understand, all the local Ford dealers use this same machine shop. Said machine shop received new castings from Ford and then machined them on site. They are telling the dealer that the heads are fine. By the sounds of it, you guys wouldn’t run this head either?

TMT, I didn’t check either valve depth or length flatness of the head. I assumed brand new castings should be good to go…and I’m still an amateur when it comes to any mechanic work, I’m still learning.

appologies for duplicate posts, not sure if it’s my phone or just the delay on server

 

I personally wouldn't run those heafs from the picture you showed.

On a side note, KDD heads are available from other vendors. Some head the iron heads in stock according to their order page.

 

Maybe it would be ok but you paid for new, not probably ok. You shouldn’t have to worry about “what if”. If the condition was known ahead of time and negotiated for, that would be different.

 

Motohead911, which vendors are you referring to? Kc and kdd both have leadtimes, those are the only places I’ve checked. Appreciate any links to the vendors you speak of


rusty, right?! They came in a brand new box and I was told NeW NEW NEW! I have limited experience with this kinda stuff but when something comes from the machine shop, refurbished or new, you don’t see imperfections like this. Side note, they did give me a slight price reduction from their original asking price; I think to get rid of them

 

My referral about valve head depth was in reference is there is enough depth to the valve that light milling of the head would not require grinding of the valve seats to lower the valves. Such as, if they are at 0.025" and there will be 0.002" milled off the head, then a valve recession of 0.023" will not be a problem. If the current valve recession is 0.013" and they would take 0.002" off the head, then a 0.011" valve recession would be an issue.

I haven't been in a Ford dealership parts department for quite some time. So for this situation, are the dealers getting bare castings, then sending them to a shop for machining work, or just to install seals, valves, and springs?

The last time I bought a reman head from Ford (not the 6.0L), it came to them fully assembled, not a bare casting.

 

TMT,

I believe the dealer and/or machine shop is getting the bare casts from Ford, then the local Ford approved machine shop does the machining and full assembly, has them on hand for dealers that come calling.

I understood what you were asking but I don’t have the tools,time, or experience to check all of that. Easier to bring to another shop and have them look it over for me. Thanks for all the specs and details, I will definitely use that for reference tho! ( I do have some feeler gauges and a digital caliper, that’s all I got for now…)

 

One thing I just don't see adding up is Ford giving a casting to some local machine shop to do work that should of
been before delivery. I would be sure that they will stand behind it for the full two year warrantee. Get it in writing
and don't just take Joe the part man's word on it. Like I said someone thing is just not sounding right.

 

I don’t buy it that Ford is “selling” bare castings. Right now all I see them Offering is a reman head. The only “new” castings are China based or KDD aluminum.

try warren diesel they had a Facebook ad saying they had KDD heads in stock for a limited time.