Cracked & warped cylinder heads

[CrAzEd412]

Hello all,
Recently pulled the heads off my explorer because of a slight head gasket leak. Come to find out it was worse then i had expected, the heads on the driver were warped, and the passenger side was cracked. Called around local salvage yards no one has any heads for the explorer. Apparently they are a very popular item. Well long story short, i am looking to get a re-manufactured engine. I've looked at Parts Train and i will probably give the local ford dealers a call to see if they can possibly order one for less.
I've searched the forums about my next question, the explorer that i have was from California and has the California Emissions on it. Parts Train lists 2 motors, one federal emissions and one California, what mechanically or electronic difference is there between the two if any?

 

[ranger7ltr]

What color are your injectors?

If the engine is indeed a California calibration setup the engine will have white injectors...They are a lower pound/hour flow rate than the Federal calibration which run 19 lb/hr...And the programming in the PCM is a bit different than the Federal calibration...

Now to the heads...Cracked heads on an OHV engine is common...I have an OHV in my 99 Sport and the head gasket on the drivers side has a little tiny leak of collant and next month I am pulling the heads, the timing chain cover, and the oil pan to replace the heads, the timing chain, and the oil pan gasket...I am replacing the roller lifters as well since I have the heads and the intake off...

Frankly, unless the bottom end is fouled up I would just replace the heads and call it good...My engine has 167k on it and the engine runs good enough despite the coolant leak... I bought the truck 14 months ago and bought new heads at the same time on the advice of the shop I bought the truck from...I replaced the fuel pump. fuel tank. oil pump and the normal tuneup stuff and the truck ran fine so I didn't see the need to change the parts I bought for it.. Until now...And I still have a V8 for the Explorer transplant but the original engine runs well enough I can't justify swapping it now...

I bought my heads from J & C cylinder heads.. They sell both remanufactured and new heads and the new heads are thicker and stronger than stock Ford heads...Here is a link to what they offer...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[wisneski7]

If you do a search on Ebay you will likely find several companies that have remanufactured heads for sale. This is likely your best bet in terms of cost.

Aaron

 

[CrAzEd412]

Thanks for the replies! Ended up purchasing a motor tho. ranger7ltr, i will use them as a reference in the future tho! I'm kind of glad to be getting a new motor, it seemed to have the notorious knock in it that our 91' had before it threw a rod and punched a hole the size of your fist in the side. Going to be spending this weekend pulling the old motor out and getting it ready to be sent back to receive the core on it. woo! haha. Again thank you very much for your helpful replies!

 

[john93rangerstx]

lmc trucks try them

http://www.car-part.com/

 

[dmc80]

Not to hijack but is there a problem machining the heads and replacing the gaskets with out doing everything else. My engine runs great but loses coolant internally(out the exhaust) real slow. I got someone to inspect and machine the heads for under 100 bucks and i'm out of work right now so replacing more than that is not in the budget.