I had the heads rebuilt on my LTD with 335/400 engine. I put them on following (what I thought) was the correct procedures) and when I started it up, white billowing smoke out the exh. I also have visible hole/port above the intake deck on both sides about half way down. It appears to be a water port but with nothing leaking. Did I put the heads on wrong? Plugs on the left are slanting back and on the right slanting forwrd. HELP>>>>

Jim in CS

 

Hey.....I really would like to know if I am on or off track - can anyone help???

 

Try the engine specific forums.

I'm a little confused by what you are describing, are you sure you got your original heads back? Who did the rebuild?

 

A local reputable machine shop rebuilt the heads. My qn is this: Could I have put the left hand head on the right and Vice Versa??? Why do I have two (what appears to be) water ports visible (one on the left center head and one above the right center head) above the intake deck??

Jim in CS

 

OK, first off I have not worked on a 335 series for...decades. Hopefully Colo79Ford will chime in, he races one.

Second, a generality: Ford does not cast a left and right head. One casting works on either side. I'm sure there are exceptions, I just don't know enough to name any.

Third: I had to skim a couple FAQ threads to find out, but the 335 series has a dry intake. The ports you see sticking up are most likely for the exhaust crossover under the intake. Here is a link to one FAQ thread, maybe you'll get more help in that forum as well:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...es-motors.html

The fact that the inake does not line up and there is a coolant leak makes me think the heads are not properly seated. There should be "dowels" in the the block or the head that surround at least two bolt holes. These steel tubes align the head to the block, the bolts pull the head down to seal.

That's my wild *** guess. If the dowels are there, the head is not properly seated on them.

HTH, Mike

 

Well, they fit down over the dowels....snugly and nice...torgued properly.... I still think (because of the two port holes mid way on the top of the inner heads is an issue insisting on the heads being improperly set...R vs. L. When I put the head gaskets on I called the machine shop as they were both the same #. They said blue side up on one side and the other side as long as the front was facing front just flip it...it appeared right.

Jim in CS

 

The 400 does have a dry intake manifold, there is not a drop of coolant that flows between the heads, and the intake manifold, so do not worry about anything there.

why did you have the heads rebuilt?

is the coolant that is being burned off coolant that might have been in the exhaust from when the heads went bad before? Coolant that was in the cylinders from when you did the head swap? Pull your spark plugs to see any differences in coloration from one to the next..

How long have you had it running total since putting the heads back on?

Did it smoke right off the bat after firing it up? Was it running normally, then the coolant temp spiked, then it started burning coolant?

Did you use new head gaskets? torque the heads in 3 steps until you got to the full torque spec?

As far as putting heads on the "wrong" side... not gonna happen. Think about the spark plugs.. the pass. side is angling back, the driver side is angling forward. If you were to move the pass. side head to the driver side, the spark plugs would be facing forward, and vice versa.

IM not sure about the 400 heads in specific, but i know with some heads if the valve guides werent installed properly, or if the wrong size valves (stems) were used tons of coolant can pass them and enter the cylinder and burn off.

If its not left over coolant that is in the exhaust from when and if the heads went bad, or swapping the heads it may be a problem with either the valve guides, a cracked head...or a head gasket / warpage issue. Only other possibility i could think of would be cracked cylinder wall with coolant seeping from water jacket into the cylinder.

 

It doesn't smoke right away but after running about a minute. Machine shop is top notch. New guides, valves are stock 1 1/2 and 2 inches as mfg states. Plugs are all clean. I am going to do a compression check this am to see what the readings with the new heads are. Are both head gaskets the same part #? When I went to put them on the left side was blue side up with front marking front. I called the shop because if I put the gasket on the right side it was marked front but I had to put the blue side down, shop said OK on this and that was what to do. All ports were alligned is that OK to put blue side down?? Thank you very much for your info.

Jim in CS CO

 

Well, the end of the 400 Head saga. I checked Cyl compression - all checked in at 120... all plugs still clean and pretty. I sat back and asked myself what can it be. The bulb went off......I had not checked the transmission modulator for leakage... That would explain the weird smell (tranny fluid is dirty). I ran it up on ramps crawled under and took the vacuum line off...fluid ran out of the vacuum line freely. Walla!!! $13.00 later problem solved. I do want to thank everyone for the valuable info about the 335 series engines. Thanks again from Colorado.

 

You are welcome. Good job of eliminating the most likely suspects.

Give a hollar if you head North. You are just likely to find John at Bandimere, thrashing 'ol reliable...after he grenades his shivee again. LOL


You're more likely to see me at Fordfest.

 

What color stripe transmission modulator did you put on??

Hypoid..lol... 10000 mustangs and that ford fest and my truck stuck out like a sore thumb..