How to: 1994 Head gasket replacement / engine pull

[arco777]

Ready for cleaning.

1. Hey, kids! How many vacuum caps can you count?
¡sdɐɔ ɯnnɔɐʌ uǝʌǝlƎ :ɹǝʍsu∀

2. Reconnected fuel line to FPR - don't want water in there

3. Bonus picture of my factory cam position sensor. Keep on trucking, little guy!

That's it for tonight.

 

[malohnes]

Good on you for getting 10.9 reusable head bolts!!! Beats shelling out 400 bucks for studs!!!

Your engine is so clean, I'm jealous...

 

[arco777]

Good on you for getting 10.9 reusable head bolts!!! Beats shelling out 400 bucks for studs!!!

Your engine is so clean, I'm jealous...

I wanted the heads studs. So many dollars though!
Thought about the 12.9s instead but hate fasteners that use internal hex or torx, and they'll be overkill anyways. Talked to Mr. Morana and he said even if I do bolt on my centrifugal SC kit someday, these bolts will be fine.

And what are you talking about? The motor's filthy, lol. The intake and VCs are blue from having a local guy powdercoat them a while back. I might consider getting a couple more parts done if he's still in business.

 

[malohnes]

Morana told me the same thing. He's an interesting fella and I love his product support for our engines.

Haha, the top looks good but my bottom is horrid...yours is much better than mine. I did the blue.

 

[arco777]

I spent some time with Super Clean, a toothbrush, and a garden hose today.

Results are a large improvement but obviously it has a ways to go. I didn't know the block was painted grey. Wonder if that's factory, because there was overspray on the crank position sensor.

 

[arco777]

1. Remove the 6 nuts holding the upper intake on. Lift the intake off.

2. The fuel rail is held down with 6 studs, which the upper intake nuts threaded onto. You need to remove these studs to remove the fuel rail.

3. These are the studs. The tips are an "external torx". You need the correct socket to remove them without damage. Look for an E-7 socket; mine is a 1/4" drive which is sufficient for the torque these require.
DO NOT try to remove these studs with a hex socket. You'll strip the head off the stud, then have to remove it with a vice-grips.
You may want to use some penetrating oil on the base of the studs before attempting removal. Sometimes they rust or stick to the threads in the intake.
Take your time and ease them out. Next time you're at the junkyard, grab a couple spares.

4. Studs out. Don't lift the rail off just yet.

5. Remove the fuel lines bracket. One bolt. 13mm socket I think. It will be tight.

6. Work the fuel rail up and off. The injectors are sandwiched between it and the lower intake. Some will stay with the upper, some with the lower. Expect some fuel seepage. Don't get too agressive or you could damage the injector o-rings (you should be replacing them anyways though).

7. Some of the injectors may have left their top o-rings in the fuel rail. Pick them out of the fuel rail and put them back with the injectors. Pull the remaining injectors out of the lower intake. They will come free with a little effort but don't go crazy and break one.

 

[arco777]

1. Removing the valve covers. My fasteners are non-stock so I don't know what socket you should use.

2. You can get more clearance to remove the drivers side cover by loosening the EGR tube nut slightly, and pivot the tube down out of the way.

3-6. Valve covers off. Expect to mop up a little oil when you remove the cover gaskets. Valvetrain exposed.

 

[arco777]

Remove exhaust manifolds.

1. Bolt heads are 10mm socket. 6 per manifold. I came prepared for a fight, but didn't really need it. Mine gave me no stress. I used an impact socket to reduce risk of rounding off the heads of the bolts.

2. Drivers side off. There are two short bolts and four long ones. Picture shows where they go.

3. Passenger side, same story.

4. Remove bolt holding dipstick bracket. You can simply flex the bracket back out of the way.

 

[arco777]

1. Remove bolts holding the lower intake manifold down. 10mm socket, not real tight.

2. The intake just lifts off once bolts are removed. Apparently I've got a one-piece lower intake manifold gasket.

3. Lifter valley exposed.

 

[arco777]

Some observations...

In 2008 when I got the truck, it was jetting coolant against the firewall. I bought a new set of heads from NAPA, a set of Fel-Pro gaskets, and took it all to a local auto shop to have the work done.

One head gasket tab is visible and shows 9725PT2, which is a Fel-Pro Perma-Torque standard head gasket. The other side's tag isn't visible yet, but there's a tab sticking up indicating it's a Victor Reinz gasket. Why there are two different head gaskets is beyond me. Anyone want to take bets on which head gasket failed?

Another observation. Stock head bolts should be torque-to-yield. These bolts are stamped 10.9 with some sort of symbol. What gives here? Are these TTY bolts?

 

[arco777]

1. Pulling rocker arms. I removed the whole assembly for each side.
The rocker assemblies can be removed by 3 bolts.

2. First, remember that all valvetrain parts should go back to their original positions when you're re-assembling the motor. So, mark everything before removing it. I marked each pedestal with the cylinder numbers. This way it's obvious which side the assembly goes on, and what direction. If I disassemble the unit later, it can be pieced back together. I used a simple red paint pen.

3. The bolts use a 15mm socket. However, since the assembly is under tension, if you remove one bolt at a time you risk bending the rocker bar. Instead, loosen each bolt 1/2 turn, then move to the next one. You want to gradually release the assembly straight up without putting extra stress on one area of it. Once the tension is released just continue all the bolts out as normal.

4. Same for the other side. Before lifting the assembly off, make sure you have it marked!

5. The pushrods need to go back to their original positions later too, so mark where they were somehow. I like to use a shallow box, mark the positions on it, and poke the rods into it. Next to each number I poked two holes.

6. Poke the rods into the box. This box is just barely shallow enough, any deeper and I'd risk the rods falling inside and getting mixed up.

7. As a failsafe, I marked all my pushrods. Up to you how you want to mark yours...

 

[arco777]

1. Head removal. Loosen the 8 bolts from each head. I recommend taking the tension off them in a criss-cross pattern, about 1/4 to 1/2 turn at a time. Maybe not as crucial for disassembly as it is for re-assembly, but I'm not taking chances. Your head bolts socket size may vary; I think factory is a T-55 Torx.

2. Same process for the other side.Once all the bolts are loosened, remove them.

3. Mark the heads. I marked the nearest cylinder number. Then lift them off. The gasket may hang up a bit.

 

[arco777]

Anyone want to take bets on which head gasket failed?

Failure: Fel-Pro 9725PT2 (standard duty PermaTorque gasket)
Survivor: Victor Reinz (unknown part number)

Cylinder #1 is very clean. Steam cleaned by introduction of coolant, I'm thinking. Those who were part of this thread, might remember where I noted my #1 plug being very dirty with oily residue, and a misfire that cleared up once I cleaned the plug.

 

[arco777]

Bonus pictures, of the other cylinder head, and closeups of all the cylinders. Thoughts?

 

[malohnes]

That looks familiar...! Next time around I'm gonna try the Morana gaskets.
I'm Surprised the Permanent-dry gasket failed.

 

[arco777]

That looks familiar...! Next time around I'm gonna try the Morana gaskets.
I'm Surprised the Permanent-dry gasket failed.

Well, it wasn't a Severe Duty one. I'm suprised too. I wonder if it may have been defective or something, because it appears to have blocked off a coolant passage and that's where the failure was.

 

[natenkiki2004]

Fel-Pro is part of the conglomerate that is Federal Mogul. They bought up a bunch of brands and guess what, a lot of people complain about the quality of those brands going downhill. One of those "ain't what it used to be" deals. I've personally had issues with Moog and Sealed Power products just plain not working out of the box. Both are owned by Federal Mogul.

If it were me, I'd look at Victor Reinz (an OEM supplier for German vehicles I believe) or Magnum (claimed OEM supplier and USA made).

 

[malohnes]

I have magnum LIM gaskets now. Time will tell. Yes, as the big companies eat the smaller ones it does seem that the quality drops. VR gaskets are nice but when you get the master rebuild set it always comes with cork valve cover gaskets with no option for other kinds. This is true for LIM and sometimes head gaskets too. It is frustrating to have to order these individually to get high quality parts when you went a set.

Again, great job with your thread.

 

[arco777]

Ordered some more parts.

Ford F5TZ6701A Rear Main Seal (upgraded design, kit)
Cloyes timing set
Fel-Pro oil filter adapter gasket
Mahle/Clevite CB723P P-series connecting rod bearings
Mahle/Clevite MS2006A A-series crankshaft bearing set
Sealed Power premium moly piston ring set

 

[arco777]

I have magnum LIM gaskets now. Time will tell. Yes, as the big companies eat the smaller ones it does seem that the quality drops. VR gaskets are nice but when you get the master rebuild set it always comes with cork valve cover gaskets with no option for other kinds. This is true for LIM and sometimes head gaskets too. It is frustrating to have to order these individually to get high quality parts when you went a set.

Again, great job with your thread.

Thanks malohnes.

The LIM gasket set I ordered is a Fel-Pro Perma-Dry Plus set. They are two-piece and look very similar in construction to the Magnum set.
Link to Fel-Pro set I ordered: Click here
Link to Magnum set that looks similar: Click here

I'll give Magnum gaskets a try in future.