Greetings,

I have a 1997 F150 w/4.6 V-8 and 71K. The other day, a small pinhole appeared in the cylinder head (driver's side) just below the thermostat, leaking coolant. Per the Ford Garage, this will be a $2750 fix!!!

Question: What are the alternatives to a new or re-man head? Can this be welded? Are there any recalls known of this nature? Has anyone else experienced this problem? Will Ford help ease my burden (ha ha ha ha)?

Any and all help is appreciated.

 

Sounds like you need that bill like a hole in your head ! Ha ha ha...SORRY had to !!! Seriosly i've never hear of your problem.? There is actually a hole in the head ...or gasket?

 

Is it possibly leaking from the thermostat housing and running down? Maybe the clamp that holds the upper hose onto the T-stat housing is loose? I think the housing is sealed with an O-ring so it might be worth the trouble to try replacing it compared to an astronomical bill from the stealership?

I have to agree with ROUSHFAN-1 on this one, I've never heard of these symtoms before either.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

 

Thanks for the replies. Nope, not running down from a gasket or hose or anything else. The pinhole is located approximately 3/4" below the thermostat housing, right under the plug wires as they cross over the alternator. Looks like somebody drilled it in there! I am assuming it was a bad cast, maybe some dirt in the cast during manufacture.

Mike

 

throw some jb weld in it. it's worth a try. besides it sure beats 2750

 

Mike,

Can you drill it out, tap it and plug it with a bolt?

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

JMC is onto something, I would use a Bottoming pipe tap (pipe threads are tapered to seal up better the more you tighten) of the smallest size possible. Plug it with a small pipe plug using either antiseize or teflon tape on the threads. You can even pressurize the cooling system and watch the gauge for leakdown to test it out.

This would get you on the road again with little investment.

Good luck.

 

This may sound off the wall but I've seen this a few times, the coolant actually eats away the aluminum if you poke a screwdriver through the hole its an area about has big has a pencil. There is a way to fix it without replacing the head. The 4.6 is a modular engine and the left and right heads are exactly the same except for the camshafts. The coolant passage that in the left head that coolant flows though to the thermostat is not used on the right head therefore you can swap the heads from left to right and it will fix your problem. You have got to tranfer the cams and change the location of a couple threaded plugs but the heads are exactly the same. There is no need to replace the head.

 

Thanks for all of the many replies. Lot of good info and insight. However, Spanky hit it on the head!! Found a local shop that was familiar with casting problems such as this. They had purchased a mini sandblaster and use it to clean the inside of the cast. Then, using JB WELD, they plug the hole, and have done so with 100% sucsess!! All this for under 100 bucks!!

Hope this might solve someone else's problems.

 

wow glad you fixed that one.......weird !!

 

Wow, that's great news!

Hmmmmmmm ........................ theoretically that leaves you with $2,650 left over for mods. Dont ask how I figured that out, Hotrod logic defies all conventional math.

Good luck.

 

Yeah, the math sounds right, however, this is the kid's truck! Daddy's gonna take the savings and maybe unload his 2000 for a new F250 SuperCrew w/T-diesel!! Sounds like a big enough mod!

 

Well...........the JB Weld did not hold........water jacket was coroded pretty bad. However, I used a piece of soft copper tube, inserted inside the lower jacket (like a sleeve) packed the JB Wed around it, let it set for 24 hrs., and............no more problems!! Fix has now held for about 4 months.

Great!!!!

 

well i driled and tap mine 11/32 and its been fine all for about
11.38 ya got to love the big fords