Changin' Heads
 

Hey everybody. I have a 98 F-150 (in gallery and sig) with 144,000 miles on that big ol' 4.6. I also, unfortunatly, have a crack in one of the heads. My question is - what all is invovled in changing heads? By the looks of it it would be alot easier to pull the motor, but can it be done without pulling it? My dad and I may try and tackle this ourselves if it isn't too tough. Thanks for the input

Jake

Actually, from what most of the Ford techs say, it is easiest to pull the body up off of the frame if you have access to a lift.
The 4.6 may be a bit easier to get the heads off in the truck thought, because the 4.6 is shorter and narrower than a 5.4L. But only by about an inch hight and 2 inched in width.

IMO it's way too big of a job, plus all the parts that can get broken (coils ect.). I found a place that will put my new heads on for 500 bucks labor. Think long and hard about trying it yourself. Any other motor I'd do it in a heartbeat but not this one.

jseim44 - I changed the heads in my '98 4.6 with the engine still in the truck. Pulling the engine or removing the cab certainly would have made the swap easier, but I didn't have access to that type of equipment.

I was actually surprised at how much room there was once I got everything out of the way.

Swapping the heads wasn't really difficult, but it was time consuming. If you can be without your truck for a few days, then if you take your time you should be OK. The timing is the most critical thing to get correct. But there are ways to verify that before bolting the engine back up.

Here are some pictures from my swap. Let me know what questions you have and I'd be happy to answer them from my experience.

Head swap

If mine wasn't a van I think I would attempt it. There is just no darn room and things are hard to reach except the parts on the rear. Looks like you did a great job. Congrats !!!

Thanks guys, but I got this taken care of Dec 21-23 of 2004 so I'm good to go.

Ted98 - good site. Did the PI heads make a huge difference?

yes, the heads made a significant improvement.

FYI... Access to Heads, O2 sensors etc can be made much easier by removing the plastic inner fender.

yep...I believe Ted mentioned that in his "how-to" website...

Ted98'

Great how to pics...
What are the diferances between the old heads and the3 "PI" heads??? I am new to these Modular motors and am just wondering.

From the factory, the PI heads will out flow the non-PIs. They have a 2mm larger exhause valve and the combustion chamber is smaller as well. The ohter major difference is the shape of the intake port.

If you scroll down the page in my link, you can see some pictures of the two.

hi ted98, just want to let you know that the elbow i got form you; with the 75mm tb i got helped out a lot with the power of my truck. i was looking a cams and valve spring next and what to ask if you thought it was a good idea to do the work myself? keeping in mind that i will go thur steps very close to what you did in your head swap. as long as i take my time it seems to be a good idea.

furrby

furrby - I would read the articles on Modular Depot first, and if you are comfortable with all of that, you shouldn't have any problems doing the work yourself. As long as you can take your time, you should be OK.

What year is your truck?

it is a 2001 with 4.6. so i feel like i have the room to do it. i realy feel more comfortable about after looking at the way you done yours. i gave me a lot more information on what to do with all the wires and vaccume lines. thanks again.

furrby

Just something to consider - once you tear the engine apart far enough to change the cams and springs, it doesn't take much more to pull the heads.

So if you got a spare set of heads from eBay (~$200-$250), you could get them ported and drop in the cams. Then just bolt them up.

From what I've read on modulardepot.com, changing cams&valves with the heads on the engine is not a fun project.