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5.4 head replacement advice

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Old May 26, 2024 | 08:17 AM
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Clutchbuster's Avatar
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5.4 head replacement advice

Hey everyone. I have a ‘97 f250 5.4 with a bad driver side head, and I’m looking to replace it here within the next few weeks or so. More than anything, I just wanted to see if anyone could chime in with advice or pointers, as I’ve never done a head before. It seems like these trucks are aggravating to work with, so anything is appreciated.
 
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Old May 27, 2024 | 06:25 AM
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Replace the timing chain and all of the guides and the tensioners while you are in there
Use a procedure like from AllData at your library (or at least read through some if it)
 
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Old May 27, 2024 | 02:36 PM
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Makuloco Ford tech has a great vid on this

(2) FordTechMakuloco - YouTube
 
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Old May 27, 2024 | 09:37 PM
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IMO, if doing one...do both.
 
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Old May 27, 2024 | 10:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Clutchbuster
‘97 f250 5.4 with a bad driver side head,
Hit Man has a good point.

Can you share some details on the "badness"? If it's a high miles issue the other is not far behind.
 
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Old May 28, 2024 | 12:25 PM
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Learned that lesson the hard way on a pal's Turbo Buick many moons ago...we only did one head gasket, other took a crap shortly after. So, we had to do the work all over again to access the other head.

Agreed, what is bad?
 
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