3 Valve V10 or 2 Valve?
 

Hello- Does anyone know how to tell if a certain V10 has the newer 3 Valve Heads? Here is the situation - I currently own a 2004 Excursion with the 6.0L PowerStroke. It's a great truck and I like the power, but it's beginning to bleed me dry financially. I've decided to move on. What I would like to find is a 2005 Excursion with a V10. However, after hearing the horror stories of the V10's spitting spark plugs and popping exhaust manifold studs, I have been told that I should only consider a 2005 because that was the first year of the 2nd generation heads with the 3 valves. Is what I hear correct in that the 3 valve heads DO NOT have the spark plug issue? I am limited to the 2005 model year because that happens to be the last year of the Excursion. While the v10 lived on, the Excursion did not. I need the power for towing and I would melt down a 5.4L. What say you all? Should I pursue the 2005 Excursion or move on to a Suburban with a 8.1L? Thanks in advance for your opinions.

3 V
 

The 3v will have more power. 05 and up would be the 3V.
On the spark plugs ford did add more threads to the the head for spark plug before 05. The best way to tell if your not sure is look at the EPA sticker on the engine.


The rating on 2005 and newer is below.
2005–2010 Ford F-Series Super Duty, 3-valve SOHC, 362 hp (270 kW) and 457 lb·ft (620 N·m). 2011 MY only available for F-450 & F-550 as a Chassis cab.

A 2005 Excursion will have a 2v v10 or 2v v8 (gas models) or the 6.0 diesel.

You are correct - Thank You
 

Yes, you are correct. Had a lengthy conversation with my Ford Dealership. Apparently there is a "middle" generation of the V10's. The early engines had the 2 problems with spitting out spark plugs and snapping exhaust manifold studs. There was a revision of the heads that gave more thread contact area for the spark plugs. He was not sure when that occured, but thought it was around late 2003. Those heads appear to be most sought after. Then came the 3 valve and that brought about new and improved problems. Spark plugs actuall snap off in heads. He told me a 2005 V10 prior to the 3 valve heads were the ideal engines. Sort of like the early 2003 Excursions with the 7.3 PowerStroke and not the garbage 6.0L like I have...

Don't let spark plugs scare you away. The 3v only had bad plugs from the factory and even then it was only up to a certain build date. The plugs that break are a 2 piece design, Ford has a one piece design that has been available for a long time. My truck has a build date of 9-07 and had the one piece plug, changed all ten in 90 minutes. Do not let your plugs stay in longer than 50,000 miles.

If you look through the tech folder, I believe I have the spark plug information in there.

The Excursion never got the 3-valve V10.

An easy way to tell is the 2-valve has plastic valve covers, the 3-valve has aluminum valve covers.

Thanks for the help!
 

Thanks for all the clarification.

Had a 99 which blew a plug. Short thread area.
Have a 2003 with more threads and still blew a plug. Also has needed exhaust manifold stud work.
Good news, the newer head did not need removed to fix. Snap on has a set of inserts and tap which can be fixed on the vehicle. Takes a mechanic which has experience with this and the snap on set but it is not a big deal and once fixed it takes a standard plug. My 2003 has a one piece plug, so I know nothing of the later 3 valve head problem.

Can a 3-valve V10 (model year 2005) be replaced by an earlier 2-valve v10 engine? I am concerned that this F250 I am considering to buy had that done, because the seller is not sending me photos of the engine, where the aluminum valve covers for the 3-valve V10 would make it obvious it was or was not a proper new engine installation.

Going from 3 to 2 valve, or vice-versa, you need a different computer, and potentially a different wiring harness if you're going to do it "right" and not hack-and-slash the wiring.

Exhaust is different, intake plumbing, etc.

Be careful with the plastic-vs-aluminum valve covers... A while back I did some research finding pictures of 3-valve and 2-valve engines, and I came across 3-valve'ers with plastic covers, I believe.

The way to tell no matter what is that the 2-valve has classic-shaped valve covers - basically a big rectangle. The 3-valve has a wavy side, to go around where the COPs and fuel injectors fit into the head/intake.

2003 and up have the newer heads
1. If you pop a plug on a pre-2003 99% of the time it was under torqued or torqued so hard they striped the threads, don't use factory torque specs which were incorrect, use those in the tech folder.
2. The newer 2v heads have more threads but they are only stupid resistant not stupid proof.
3. The 2v V10 is a monster with a few proper mods. Notably exhaust, and an SCTB96-98 Throttle body.
4. 2v v10s the throttle body is mounted at a 45 degree angle pointing towards the driver side headlight. 3v v10s the throttle body points straight forwards.

MasterX, #4 is probably the best way to tell, kudos! :-X22

22 year old V10 excursion
 

I have a 2v v10, highly recommend changing the stock cast manifolds for JBA shorty headers from California. Straight bolt on, noticeable hp jump, and they move better with the cast aluminium. Original manifold blew some bolts, noisy, no guarantee didn't warp, so likely needed machining, easier to just remove and replace with JBA. That happened about 60-100k, haven't had a problem with the bolts since. Over 300000km, and figure she will last another 10 years.
Never had a problem with spark plugs blowing, in fact the last plug change was around 100k. ( If it ain't broke...)
Change oil between 8 and 10k, uses about half a litre.

Thanks but i change my oil religiously at 3000k miles on every motor i have, probably why they last so long. If you looked at the build for my Excursion you will see why, I build my stuff once, such that it should last almost forever.

You change your oil every 3,000,000 miles!?!?!? How long does it take you to cover 3 million miles?

I couldn't help myself. "k" means 1000, so 3000k = 3000 times 1000, which is 3,000,000.