Just had the r/s head replaced monday due to oil leaking out the rear of it.When they removed the old gasket they found it had also blown out on the #2 cylinder and was loosing compression, I never knew it, just had a rough idle. Truck ran good for two days, now the rough idle is back again and worse than the first time, now they say the left side gasket has gone on the #6 cylinder! WTF?? So I have to take it back in and have it torn down again!! This sucks so hard! That new 03 Cobra is looking better all the time.........

 

No SVT here. But I did see a TSB on this problem. I person in V6 posting said to look in www.alldata.com Give it a try, it as a lot of info on that site.

 

Was At The ford dealership talking to my buddy who is the head tech at the dealer.It is not an SVT dealership but he was doing a head gasket on a 5.4.I said is this common.His answer was Yes very common.He said the OE gaskets are not that good.


VINNIE

 

Motorcycleman- Thanks for the link!! Lots of good info. in there. I cant believe more Lightning owners havent experienced head gasket problems. If you have a rough idle and plugs dont fix the problem, you may have a blown head gasket.

 

Thanks goes to the V6ers that posted it. Just glad I was able to help out....for a change. Once I get my SVT, you can return the favor some how.

 

Well, it looks like my 14-year F-150 is not in the cards.

Wifie's 3.8L Windstar lost a head gasket -- contaminating the oil with antifreeze -- and we're now on a reman short block.

I guess I'll trade my F-150 off before I need to change plugs -- hopefully they won't blow out by themselves.

Sheesh -- It's clear that Bill Ford doesn't have a clue as to what's going on down in the engineering departments -- and neither do the engine people, so it seems.

 

did you have a rough idle all the time or just at start up?? My truck will miss at start up 8 out of 10 times. It will miss till it warms up alittle then stop and drive fine??Now I am scared. Have tryed tr6 and have the denso's in now. Is this the same problem you have?

 

Lightning Jeff- I didnt notice the rough idle all the time. Mainly while sitting at a red light I would notice the engine rpm's "flutter". You could feel it shake you in the seat just slightly. The truck always seemed to run great while driving,never noticed a thing. After the new head and gasket were installed I noticed a definate improvement in power! Now when the truck is in park and idling, I can feel it missing pretty bad, but when I put it in gear, its not as noticable. It still runs like a scauled ape when you hammer it,doesnt cut out, miss, or anything. The tech did a leak down/compression test and found the problem. Hope this isnt happening with yours! Good luck.

 

can not see any oil coming from the head, Antifreeze is still full and have not had any problems with it using oil. Hope that means I do not have a blown head gasket.

 

Lots of pass side head gasket issues...

All 5.4's ( not just S/C ) were prone to the issue including my Lightning

Never did find trhe TSB but Reuters news service did an article on it
http://www.auto.com/industry/iwirc2_20020402.htm
Doug

 

If you are going to start playing with additional boost you'll have to change the stock gaskets anyway. I am looking into o-ringing the block and using a copper head gasket. This should remedy the problem and allow us to use as much boost as we want.

It would be nice if the afermarket came out with those wire-lock style gaskets like the 5.0L guys can get. I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

 

Try Cometic.com. They make some great gaskets. Very pricey but
neat stuff. Bought my "boost ready" LS1 gaskets from them