I have a quick question, I just replaced the head gaskets on my 4.6 with 301,000 miles on it and now my battery only charges when you punch it and when you lift off the gas pedal, in town it does fine, but on drives 25 miles on the highway the battery guage goes to the line on the bottom. What could be causing that?
View 2 RepliesNew truck to me. Truck was advertised with a slow coolant leak. Figured I would trace the leak down and get it repaired no issues. Anyway, working on it this evening I take a close look around the oil filler area and notice the dreaded milkshake color.
I drained the oil out of the truck and the oil actually came out nice and black. Is the headgasket the only area that would cause the oil/coolant mixture? Supposedly the truck has never been overheated.
At any rate, on to find articles on how to pull apart a 4.6L Triton head. I'll see if I'm up to this challenge.
I have a 98 f150 4.6 4x4 with 175.000 miles, I suspected the intake gasket is leaking, I'v never done this before. What is involved with this type of repair? Will the intake gasket leak bad enough to leak antifreeze on the floor? Is it okay to continue to drive with this problem? Bad weather is on the way.
View 7 RepliesI have a 1997 Honda Civic that I was given by an elderly neighbor's daughter after the elderly lady went to the grocery and ended up 100 miles away when she could not figure out how to get home. The car was smogged at the beginning of the year but when I got it ran very rough and the temp went nearly to overheating on the drive home when I was stuck in stop and go traffic.I found the radiator fluid level low and an oily residue inside the radiator water bottle. I took it to a mechanic to check it out and was told it had a blown head gasket and maybe worse.
I am thinking of buying a rebuilt cylinder head and replacing it myself but I am not sure how to diagnose if any other damage could have been caused to the engine. It's hard to know but I am guessing that the engine was damaged during the 100 mile road trip due to low coolant level. It turns out short term memory loss was the diagnosis for my elderly neighbor. I filled the coolant level and ran the engine for a bit and the temp stayed normal but the rough running remains. The oil dip stick shows no signs of coolant in the oil and the coolant looks bright green when I looked in the radiator after topping it up with some water.
Any way to detect if I could be facing bigger issues like failed bearings? I am OK to do the head replacement but an engine replacement starts to get into the realm of what it would cost to get another car of the same age.
My 97 f150 5.4 started missing on 5,6 it had antifreeze on top of the spark plugs but i cant figure out where its coming from my truck has been loosing coolant and it seems like the system is holding pressure because every time i take the cap off the radiator overfill i can hear it hissing then i see the antifreeze level plummet there's no visible leaks that i have seen when the truck is running an missing it steams out the exhaust but when its no missing it doesn't seem to be there's no milky oil or anything the thermostat doesn't seem to be leaking either the truck has over heated a couple times due to the antifreeze disappearing or the temp wont move at all then it shoots all the way to hot and cools down within seconds to normal i just put a new thermostat in. Also it sometimes misses on 4 and my exhaust smells like straight gas i put 4 gallons in it got 29 miles out of it .
View 10 RepliesI just bought a used 5.4 for my 99' F150 4X4. My current engine has a blown head gasket. Anyway, I was able to hear the engine run before I bought it, and was able to check it out some. (oil, anti-freeze) I was told that this engine was bought from a salvage yard with 50K, and 50K more put on it before I bought it.
I was also told that the intake manifold is newer, from Autozone, and it has newer Accell coils. My question for you all, is ..... What do YOU think I should do otherwise before I install this engine. Oil pump? water pump? seals? ...
My wife has a 2002 F-150 King Ranch 5.4l. Recently I noticed a oil smell and I had the mechanic take a look. He said the head gasket is leaking oil. Not a bad leak but it is leaking. The truck has 160k miles on it. I can't decide what to do...
What generally happens with a head oil leak? Will the engine crater or just keep leaking? My plan was to buy my wife a different truck and I would keep the truck, but I don't wont to keep it if the head leak is terminal for the engine...
I have a 03 5.4 F150 SCrew... The intake was leaking on the passenger side (water outlet tube meets plastic).
Putting in the Dorman replacement and noticed that the front cylinder drivers side (#5) had a decent amount of coolant in it.. None of the others did. I've drained the coolant already and was wondering should I just put this back together and see?
The water outlet crossing has a hole right next to this cylinder and I can't see any cracks and not sure if the gaskets were leaking under it.
Seems like if the head gasket was blown I would see it in more cylinders? It never smoked or run bad before I got this leak... Drove it maybe 10 miles with it leaking out onto Cyl#1. Ran fine, never missed.
I just don't want to put this back together if the head gasket is blown but I don't know what to do.
I have my 4.6L engine on a stand in the garage. I think I have a blown head gasket. I am ready to remove the heads.
My Haynes book says: "Caution:Use the required camshaft retaining fixtures to lock the camshafts and leave the tools in place."
A google search shows nothing. Why, what does it do?
The problem is my new-to-me 97 Ford F150 5.4L SOHC engine, auto transmission, is overheating after driving it for a short while. Seems to be fine at idle. I have read previous posts with the exact same issue, but the consistency seems to be all over the map from burping the system, head gasket, thermostat, and possibly a plugged radiator.
Backstory:200,000+ miles.
Truck sat for 6 months after previous owner broke the shift cable.
Truck was in a front end collision. Frame looks bent underneath the engine.
Previous owner had overheating problem. He said he changed the heater core. Looks like brand new coolant in the system so story probably checks out. Desperately needs an oil change. Very black oil.
Previous owner thought the system needed a burping. So I'm largely assuming the problem started after the heater core change, or he misdiagnosed an overheating problem and thought the heater core could cause it. I have found a radiator cap and thermostat in the truck which seems to indicate he tried many things to fix the overheating and was unsuccessful. Engine looks pretty clean for the miles.
Symptoms/Backyard Tests :
Blows cold air with heat on highest level and on defrost.
Blender door fuse intact.
Doesn't overheat at idle.
Ran the truck for 15 mins with the coolant bottle fill cap off on level ground to try to burp it after draining some coolant and checking the thermostat orientation. Coolant level increased in the bottle. Large air bubbles came out. (Another session before this one, I ran it for 30 minutes with no coolant cap, and eventually coolant overflowed the fill bottle. Normal or no?)
Seems to overheat after the thermostat opens. After doing the 15 minute warm up/burp, I took it for a test drive. I drove it about 20 blocks with the temperature gauge on the dash reading the same as the warmed-up idle temperature. Got to the 20th block and the gauge immediately spiked to overheat with the oil pressure dash light coming on. I could be mistaken as the oil pressure light almost looks exactly like the overheat dash light. But I'm pretty sure the temperature icon was on the right side of the oil can icon and not the left.
After the above drive: Upper rad hose too hot to touch.
After the above drive: Lower rad hose medium warm. Could hold on to it if I felt like it.
After the above drive: Upper part of rad pretty hot. Not Insta-burn but hot. Tempature decreases to warm to cool as you go lower down the rad.
After the above drive: Both heater core hoses going to the cab luke warm.
Coolant looks brand new.
Radiator looks slightly bowed. Probably from the accident? Otherwise looks clean and minimal bent fins.
Drained some coolant and pulled the upper rad hose to see if the thermostat was upside down. Looks installed correctly.
No signs of weep hole leaks from the water pump.
Fan seems solid. Has maybe 1-2mm of play in the bearings.
Something that looked like steam from the muffler at startup, that disappeared after getting closer to a normal range warm engine.
I have driven crap cars for many years and I've never seen a plugged radiator which makes me skeptical of it being that. All the radiators I have changed were because they were eventually leaking from cracks in the radiator.
I would also be interested in doing an informal poll if you have read this far and have had this era of F150 that overheated. Have you ever repaired the head gasket? And/or have you ever changed the radiator?
I just purchased a 2003 F150 Supercrew 4.6 that had been wrecked, but somewhat repaired. I knew the owner said it had a blown head gasket. It has water in the oil (small amount asi it is lightly milky) and water starts dripping from the exhaust after it has run for a few minutes. I did not run it long, but throttled it up to warm the engine. It started dripping soot filled water from the exhaust connections. I bought it to put a 4bt in it anyway, but want to sell the motor with the ability to tell the buyer the skinny on it. I drove it on the trailer and off with no apparent loss of power noticeable.
View 2 RepliesI have a 97 with a 4.6 Triton motor I need to replace the head gasket on the passenger side number 3 is leaking nothing else is wrong with motor so I have it torn down to timing chain cover and ready to remove. do i have to take the drivers side valve cover completely off to take timing chain cover off or can I take to first 2 studs out of the drivers side front valve cover and side the timing cover off. I just want to replace the passenger side head gasket and get rid of truck.
View 6 RepliesRecently bought a 2001. In the process of reading about this engine I discovered there is a some what regular breakdown of head gaskets causing water to leak into cylinders and oil pan, all of which is serious.
Given the vehicle is 12 years old and has 89K miles it appears it is in the age and range of where this leakage can occur. Any knowledgeable engine rebuilders that are familiar with this issue on the 4.2 have any comments???
1. Can this issue be avoided by replacing head gaskets now rather than waiting for future failure???
2. Are there new and improved head gaskets for this motor???
3. Does the problem occur on both heads gaskets?
4. Is that all that needs to be done or are there other seals that need replacement???
Ok I got this truck from my mother-in-law for free with a blown head gasket cylinder 6 driver side. I did the replacement had the heads machined put it all back together by the book. Now I can't get it to fire on all 6 cylinders only 5 I think. Thought maybe bad gas (it sat since late November) put 5 gallons (over double the gas) fresh gas and half a bottle of b-12 chem tool. Dubble checked all plugs wires connections (coils plugs wires all new). I drove for about 10 miles oil pressure and temperature stayed perfect but no change in running truck shakes a lot and no real power. Don't sputter or backfire no engine codes other than imcr bank 2 open. Engine is 4.2l v-6 170k miles.
View 2 RepliesWorking on a 2000 F150 with the 5.4 and as near as I can determine its leaking antifreeze externally at the front of the passenger side head gasket. Seems a little odd. The coolant is a nasty dirty orange color. With the truck running on the hoist it was dripping very steady off of the very front exhaust manifold bolt.
View 3 RepliesHad a little fender bender. Right after that i noticed the battery red light was on. When I got it home I took the solenoid off the firewall (all the battery wires meet here). When you put 12 volts to the small terminal, the solenoid pulls in and the two big terminals are connected together. That works. When installed on the truck and startup, I have no 12v voltage at the small terminal. Don't have a diagram, but service manual says something about fuse #14 under the dash feeding the "battery cutout".. Checked that fuse and its o.k. .... where does the 12 v signal to the solenoid come from ? I assume somehow it triggers after the alternator starts charging ?
View 12 RepliesI can charge it off someone else battery and it will start and drive, but by the next morning it's dead again. Truck charges fine while truck runs so I don't think it's the alternator. 1999 4.2L V6 ....
View 3 RepliesVehicle 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac with 4.6L
Ok, just did a head gasket replacement. Everything is now hooked back up. Now when we try to restart the car, we get lights, but nothing from the starter. Also the OBDII code puller can't communicate with the car. Also the security light flashes very fast when you try to start.
So, I blew my head gasket and have been looking for what to replace it with. From what I've seen, just an OEM gasket would be best.? I'm also putting ARP studs in it, unless there's another brand I should put in it.
View 3 RepliesI need walked through the take down to replace the head gasket on an 05 mountaineer with a 4.0. I've never worked on one of these so I don't even know. I havent even seen the engine to know where to start.
View 3 Replies2007 Sports Trac .. Does the motor need to be removed to replace head gaskets? 4.0 sohc
View 1 Replies