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My son's 82 F-100 with a 300, L6, got hot and died on him, we towed it home and tried to start it and it turned very easy on the starter, ran a compression check and all cyl. had no or very low compression. We checked the timing gears and they looked good, steel too which is good, Will these heads crack easy, or warp.
I've never heard of the 300 heads cracking or warping easy however I've heard of early valvetrain failure maybe the valves aren't sealing causing low compression next I would lean towards piston rings or head gasket.
yeah i had a 300six in a 71swb f100(hence the name) and the water pump belt broke and it busted the radiator and i am guessing the head gasket, i did not keep it long after that but i know it had steam everywhere and white oil. it would miss very bad until upper rpms and it still missed then. i just got an idea maybe i will try to get it back. i traded it for a 76 mustang II with a 4 speed that needs title work.
Thanks for all the info, we pulled the head last nite and had a blown head gasket, and 4 cracks around the valves and part of one valve as missing, man we need a good used head.
I recently picked up an F-250 flatbed with a blown motor. I'm mentioning this as a word of caution - the motor had low compression due to a shaky valvetrain, so the PO had the head rebuilt to the tune of over $700. The rebuilt head caused the piston rings to go as the motor couldn't handle the newfound compression, and eventually one of the rods decided to exit the block stage left. Amusingly enough, he limped the truck 30 iles home and I drove it to my place like this - now just over 70 miles on a blown engine! Goes to show how tough these things are.
Why am I telling you this? I got a used motor out of an '84 van to replace my gem, and that pretty little head is up for sale. As I warned, it could cause other problems, but my motor had 208,000 on the clock when the head was rebuilt. The rebuilt head has less than 500 miles on it.
As for price, make an offer. If you look at my username it kinda hints what I paid for the truck - I'm hoping to get my expenses back on the replacement power plant. I'm not looking for a fortune, but I do know what they're selling for on Ebay.
this also happened on a 76 mustang that i traded my 71f100 for, newly rebuilt and ported heads sucked the rings off or what ever i was told. i know it didn't run.
Yeah, fresh heads+tired block=blue and grey smoke out the tailpipe and dirty plugs for sure. Neighborhood mosquito control. Even if the compression's good and the pistons aren't swimming laps in an Olympic pool, the oil control rings could still be worn enough to sneak a bit by...