Hi All:
Just getting my feet wet on the site. Rough way to start. I have a oil leaking headgasket on the drivers side on my van. I understand the head can come off with the engine still in the van. Hope so. I wouldn't mind hearing from someone who has suffered through this, if it won't bring back nightmares. Some questions I have are:
Does it come out through the cab?
Any special tips short of burning the whole van in the driveway?
Thoughts on who has the best gasket.
Reuse bolts?
etc, etc
Ken

 

I have not done it but have seen some threads about it. You might try a search. The heads are HEAVY. You can do it in the van. Comes out the front with a crane. You can also search for gaskets, I saw threads on those too. Wish I could be more help. Good luck with it.

Welcome to FTE.

 

Are you sure it is the head gasket?
Rocker cover gasket I could see.
Oil filter leaking with the air flow blowing it up on the head I could see.
Oil pressure sending unit I could see.

No oil pressure in the heads though other than gravity pressure.

 

Are the rockers lubed via the pushrods like chevy small blocks?

 

That is what my lubrication passage chart shows.
The only oil passages I remember when pulling the heads were the drains for the oil to return to the oil pan.

 

Dave:
When I snake a light up and under the drivers head at the front it is discoloured along the head seam and the block below that seam is wet with oil. I have done a recent water pump, thermostat, and had the rocker cover off for a turbo install. At first I thought is was the oil cooler, sure would like it to have been. I could not see how a blown seal on the oil cooler could shove oil up and forward that far. It runs down from the front of the head to the forward casting of the oil cooler, along it to the back then down onto the front of the oil filter. At first I just thought the oil filter was loose, not so. Any further thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Trike:
I saw some threads on this but hunted and hunted and could not find them again. Sorry about re - inventing the wheel here.

 

Check the valley pan area, any oil laying in the valley pan will run out the front when going down a hill. If the truck is leaning to the drivers side it will run out at the head block intersection and follow the head gasket down to the side of the motor.

Alo if the oil filter is leaking on my truck while driving 60 MPH the entire side of the motor is wet with oil in only a couple of miles. Found that out by letting someone else change my oil once, they tightened the filter like it was a car filter. A bunch of my oil leaked out in three miles of town driving. What a mess to clean up.

 

Dave:
I'll take another look. We all look for the easy stuff first but most often it's just wishful thinking. What can leak into the valley pan? Hmmmm, maybe I'll pull the doghouse off and check my turbo to valley pan return line. Thanks for the idea.
Ken

 

Turbo return line
Oil supply line to the turbo
CDR plumbing
Rocker covers
Oil pressure sending unit depending on where it was relocated to with the turbo.

Fuel can also leak out of the fuel plumbing and wash the valley clean which can look like oil.

I am not saying it can't be oil leaking out of the headgasket, but there is no pressure on the oil that does go through the head. So it is kinda strange that it would leak oil where there is no pressure behind it.

 

Well, checked the valley pan etc. Nope, headgasket, some oil in coolant overflow tank. We all cling to these false hopes till the last minute. Now it's down to finding out if the head can come out through the doghouse side or the front, best gasket to use and oh yes latest thoughts on headbolts. Studs are out too tight in the van for the install so maybe a good aftermarket bolt that will take going from the recommended 75 lb torque to 85 to accomodate the turbo. I got a price at a local garage that works on ambulances (all ford diesels) and the quote was around 2 gs to do both heads. Looks like I know what I'll be doing for a week or two.

Thanks very much to those who were kind enough to offer some help.
Ken

 

That quote is not out of line at all.
The standard shop rate guide has the remove and replace heads in an F series as 22 hours in the truck.
It is cheaper and easier to do the job pulling the engine out in the truck line.

I seem to remember someone pulling the heads on an E series with a cherry picker from inside the van. Removed the seats and stuck the cherry picker through the door to get the heads. I think his only problem was dash clearance.

While you have it that far down I think I would also rebuild the oil cooler.
For engine oil to be in the radiator the oil cooler makes more sense than the head gaskets do. There is oil pressure in the oil cooler. Plus it should be easy to get out with the heads removed.

 

OK, I'm gonna provide some more 'false hope' here.

First, the oil in the radiator. When I bought my truck earlier this year (from a very good friend), there was some oil showing up in the radiator upper tank and the overflow jug. I was planning on replacing the radiator, but before I did that, I flushed out the system using a gallon of commercial heavy duty stuff that I bought at the IHC dealership. Followed the directions on the jug, replaced the radiator and cleaned out the inside of the overflow jug til it looked like new. That was in June. Since then, I've put over 12,000 miles on the truck, and there's no trace of oil in the upper tank or the overflow jug. Try flushing your cooling system. Use a _serious_ flushing agent, and then drive it for a week. If you do have an internal oil leak, the oil slick will return. No oil slick, no _internal_ leak.

Second thing - you mentioned that you had the valve cover off. This wouldn't be the first time a new VC gasket didn't seat correctly. And leak. Pop the dog house, take a can of spray-on brake cleaner, and thoroughly clean the cylinder head below the valve cover. Replace the dog house and drive the van for a day. Pop the dog house and see where the oil trace is showing up. It'll be pretty obvious on that clean metal. Yeah, I know there's road drafts under the engine blowing the oil around, but you won't be driving the vehicle long enough for that to be a factor. You'll be looking for trace amounts starting from a gasket surface. If there's no oil on or below the head gasket, then you can start looking elsewhere for a much easier-to-fix source.

Happy hunting!

 

Two Daves:
Great to have another set of views on this thing. After your posts I went out to the truck that has sat for a few days. Got a clean white rag and pushed it into the overflow rad tank, swished it a little and pulled it out, lots of oil. This is new coolant because I just replaced the rad and thermostat and coolant. Maybe 200 miles since. I think in the next few days I'll wrap the oil cooler with clean white rags and take it out for a little spin and see if the oil is falling onto the cooler or coating the underside of the rag wrap. Hope it doesn't catch fire, oh well, it wouldn't be all that bad, now would it?

 

OK, you have some oil scum in your overflow tank. What did you see when you removed the radiator cap? Oil scum or fresh coolant? I looked back over your initial posts - I don't see any mention of flushing out the system prior to installing the new coolant. Was there oil in the old coolant? Also, if you're worried about fire, simply do the brake cleaner thing, go for a short drive, and then check for oil. Fifteen to thirty minutes oughta do it. Hope this helps!