Hi all, new to the forums.

Ive got a 2000 F250 5.4L here that has a cracked exhaust manifold and some broken studs, some flush with the head. It sounds terrible from the exhaust leaks, and I cant stand it anymore.

The cylinder heads are going to have to come off, and I have a few questions before I dive in to this thing.

Is it better/easier/necessary to pull the engine out of the truck then service the heads? Or can the heads be pulled with the rest of the engine still in the vehicle? Reading the service manuals it says to pull the engine first.

Anything to look out for when removing the heads and timing chains? Any special tools I will need? Machine shop will be taking care of the broken studs, and checking the heads.

Thanks for the help!

 

The heads will come off no problem with the engine in-chassis. There's not any special tools necessary for working on these engines, just a good set of standard tools, some flexibility and much patience.
JL

 

Good deal. I wasnt looking forward to pulling the engine to do this, unless absolutely necessary.

My last question, does the timing chain have to come completely out, or can I match mark it and unbolt the sprocket from the camshafts with the chain still attached? I would just set the sprockets in the front cover and then bolt them back on once the heads were on again and align the timing marks. I guess this would depend on the type of tensioner these engines use.

Thanks for the help.

 

You really need to retime the engine if you pull the heads. It's far too easy for the chain to lose it's position on the crank.
JL

 

quick note you'll have to get a harmonic balancer remover to get it off, depending on how creative you are you might have to order a tool(can't remeber what it's called but do know it exssit's) to remove the fan/clutch assemebly.

 

I already have both a harmonic balancer puller, and a set of ford fan clutch wrenches (hopefully one of them is the right size).

Is there anything I need to get to line the chains up?

 

Nope,the chains have sets of marked links,and there are marks on the crankshaft gears and camshaft gears. There are some Ford "cam holding tools",but they're not needed.
JL

 

I got the heads off today. Not all bad, but next time I think I will pull the engine and do it on the stand. Many things would have been much easier to get with the motor out -- especially the power steering pump, and the wiring and heater hose bolts on the rear of the passenger head.

Today they are going to the machine shop to be decked, check the valves, and have all the broken exhaust manifold studs removed. Like to thank the state of Michigan for all the rust on the mechanical components in this truck...lol..

 

Ford has a TSB on the manifold studs breaking and have a stainless steel studs for replacement on the 5.4.

 

Done and running tonight!! No more exhaust noise!! This is definitely not a job for the faint hearted...high on the difficulty scale. Swapping the heads and chains was easy, but assembly/dissasembly of the engine difficult. Especially having to lay or lean on the radiator support for hours on end. I had around 22 hours total on it, if you dont count running around for parts.

I got the new manifold studs per the Ford TSB. They are quite pricey ($8 each), hopefully they dont rot away like the old ones.

 

I had to replace my header gaskets on my 01 last week. I am a seasoned auto tech but I was very worrried about doing the job after reading some of the horror stories.I ended up cutting off the heads of the header bolts with a torch because they were rusted to hell.Once the header was removed what was left of the bolts unscrewed by hand! I installed percys header gaskets, stainless bolts and and plenty of never seize. Long story short not a fun project.