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mhawk4's avatar
mhawk4
Explorer
Aug 15, 2016

2002 6.8 V10 help

Need some suggestions here from all you with experience with V10 ford.
My TV is a 2002 (in my sig) with only 120.000 miles. I replaced the passenger head gasket this past March to repair an oil leak. No issues after the work was done until a month ago i noticed some lack of power and some sputtering like a misfire but no codes shown. I started my TV yesterday (not my daily driver) to go to work and white smoke (steam) coming out of the exhaust. I will post a video or pic as soon as it downloads. When replacing the head gasket we cam across a bulletin from ford about a problem with the head gaskets from the time, the tech who did the work is a Ford Technician and said there is a redesign gasket for the application - so we went with the repair...now i think I am back to square one.
The truck has never gone hot, and maintenance is done by me.

Any one with similar experience? Thank you
Tow Vehicles
  • mhawk4's avatar
    mhawk4
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2016
    This morning while waiting for the school bus, my oldest son noticed the grass in front of my TT's carport is discolored. Same area where we drive for hooking the TT. This means what ever is leaking from the Excursion, was and still is, an external leak before the steaming from the exhaust pipe started on Sunday. Hopefully this will help me point which head is the cause of the problem.
  • Turtle_n_Peeps's avatar
    Turtle_n_Peeps
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2016
    joegray wrote:
    Oh Oh My bad,,,, I'm used to working on older engines with iron heads. Too long spent on the old hot rods. Glad someone else set the OP straight with correct info.


    OP, joegray is trying to tell you to get a place that can check for cracks. I agree, and this is the process a machine shop will use. It's just a different process to check for cracks that's all.
  • joegray's avatar
    joegray
    Explorer II
    Aug 17, 2016
    Oh Oh My bad,,,, I'm used to working on older engines with iron heads. Too long spent on the old hot rods. Glad someone else set the OP straight with correct info.
  • Turtle_n_Peeps's avatar
    Turtle_n_Peeps
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2016
    mhawk4 wrote:
    joegray wrote:
    JMHO I would never do just one head. Pull them both off ,have a valve grind done, and magnaflux both heads. That way you know you are good to go, with reconditioned parts. Same amount of work as just doing one head.


    I tried to find more info on this magnaflux; how does this work?


    You can't mag aluminum heads.........or anything else for that matter. :B

    For aluminum you use a process called zyglow. It is a spray on process that will detect cracks.
  • mhawk4's avatar
    mhawk4
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2016
    joegray wrote:
    JMHO I would never do just one head. Pull them both off ,have a valve grind done, and magnaflux both heads. That way you know you are good to go, with reconditioned parts. Same amount of work as just doing one head.


    I tried to find more info on this magnaflux; how does this work?
  • mhawk4's avatar
    mhawk4
    Explorer
    Aug 16, 2016
    stew47 wrote:
    Located near Hilton head? I had a great ford master tech work on my truck.

    Suspect drivers side gasket went?



    No sir, 4 hours away up the Savannah River.
  • _40Fan's avatar
    _40Fan
    Explorer
    Aug 16, 2016
    When replacing the gasket due to an oil leak, going full bore on it isn't normally needed.

    I can tell you a hung open fuel injector can look like a blown head gasket.
  • joegray's avatar
    joegray
    Explorer II
    Aug 16, 2016
    JMHO I would never do just one head. Pull them both off ,have a valve grind done, and magnaflux both heads. That way you know you are good to go, with reconditioned parts. Same amount of work as just doing one head.
  • SoCalDesertRid1's avatar
    SoCalDesertRid1
    Explorer
    Aug 15, 2016
    It's likely either a blown head gasket or cracked head. Possibly the other side, or possibly something went wrong with the work done on the previous side. A compression test should narrow it down.
  • stew47's avatar
    stew47
    Explorer
    Aug 15, 2016
    Located near Hilton head? I had a great ford master tech work on my truck.

    Suspect drivers side gasket went?

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