Multiple misfire. Failed Coil pack test.

[EvilTheCat]

Is it possible that air could be leaking in around the injectors?

I'm answering my own question.
The injectors don't inject directly into the combustion chamber, as I originally thought.
They spray fuel into the lower intake manifold right next to the cylinder head.
Therefore, the injectors have nothing to do with air leak.
It makes complete sense, I just wasn't thinking about it.

 

[Dono]

to have 0 compression, it has to be a head (By that I mean, valve stuck open, etc)., or a hole in your piston.

Maybe pull the valve cover and see if a valve is stuck down? You pretty much have to take the head off no matter what to fix your issue.

Honestly, its a pretty straight forward thing to do on our ohv's.

 

[EvilTheCat]

Well I did it.
I didn't get them off in one night as I had hoped (I blame Ford's engineering).
However, I did get them both off the second night.
I'll do a complete write-up once I get my truck running again.

The passenger side heads, gasket, pistons and block all looked great.
The driver's side that I was getting no compression on, had an obvious issue once I got it off.

You can see why cylinders 5 and 6 had essentially no compression.

Cylinder 5

Cylinder 6

The gasket on this side appeared to be in fine condition.
The pistons looked good and I couldn't see any cracks in the heads.
I took both heads in to a machinist to check them for cracks, replace the 2 burnt valves, put in new seals, and re-seat the valves if they needed it.
I considered having him port and polish them, but $200 seemed like a bit much for me.
I might try to do it myself when I get them back if everything checks out okay, but that's for another thread.

The machinist said that the valves were "burnt."
Does anybody know what caused this to happen?
The pistons don't look like the valves slapped them.

 

[Dono]

I had a guy at a Cylinder head shop tell me that its the ehanol in the gas causing a lot of burnt valves.
Ive never heard anyone having this issue with this motor.
Im sure some others will post here. Its nice to see that you don't have to go in to the block to fix your issue.

 

[mcsteven]

Adding a "me too" so I can follow this. Mine was running fine when it was bought, so I don't think the previous owner knew of the issue. I drove it hard when I test drove it, and the issue showed up about a month later.

I was out of work for over 18 months. With that said, my Ex is currently my residence. And so while I'm driving it, and I'm very easy on it, my Ex has been having the same issue for a while now.

I have been recommended to someone who will take a look at it. I'm hoping that our mutual connection might get him to allow my to pay in installments or some trade (the guy needs a website and computer services, both of which I'm pretty savvy with).

Thanks Evil for being so detailed in your posts.

 

[Dono]

Look at your heads closely inbetween the intake and exhaust valves. Is there a crack there? It kinda looks like it in the picture(cylinder 5?)

 

[sean kane]

Lucky for you, you got the heads pulled off before they got any worse. You could have sucked a valve if one of those valves had got any worse and let go. Glad you got it figured out. Should run like a champ when you get it back together.

I knew it wasnt a stuck valve you would have had some god awful ticking with a stuck valve. I didnt mention a burned valve cause I didnt think it would be an issue in this new of a vehicle, especially to have 2 burned valves. When my head gasket was blown in between cylinders on my 5.0 mustang I had next to 0 psi on the compression test.

 

[sean kane]

I think Dono is right it does look like there is a crack between valves.

 

[EvilTheCat]

Sadly, I'm going to agree with you both, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow when the machinist does the leak test.
Both the heads are at the machine shop now, so I can't even go out and look at them.
Here's the only other picture of those valves that I have.

It too looks like it has a crack.
!@#$*^%#$^#@$%&*^&* (lots of cursing, which my wife has so kindly informed me that I do too often)
Can this be welded (by a professional of course)?
Or, am I stuck buying a new head?

I took photos of the other head, but they're too blurry to see anything.
Now I'm worried again.
I'll let you know what's up tomorrow when I know more.

 

[EvilTheCat]

Well it's all bad news from the machine shop.
The driver's side head is indeed cracked, but so is the passenger's side.
He also said that the push rods were all worn beyond tolerance.
Could that mean a worn out cam is in my engine also?

So here's my options:
A) Buy re-manufactured heads from eBay (will these work for my '97?)
B) get some heads from a junk yard and hope they check out okay
C) get an entire engine from the junk yard (considering the SOHC or possibly 5.0 swap, but need to do more research first.)


I'm a little pissed.

 

[Jason c]

And it all started as a possible bad coil. So sorry for all the bad news. If you pick up some heads at a junk yard or off craigslist, you can at least look them over before you buy them.

 

[Dono]

id have to say most, if not all, factory heads crack.

get a set of aftermarket heads, and a set of rocker arms and push rods. your cam will be fine, umless your looking for more power (thats how I ended up with my aftermarket cam.

Sorry for the bad news.