Hey guys. I'm planning on replacing my leaky head gasket on my pick-up over the christmas break and I was wondering if y'all could help me form a parts list so I can make sure to get everything before I start.
Thanks in advance

BTW, it's a 1999 5.4L F-150 with 82,000 miles.


1. lacquer thinner or acetone
2. gasket adhesive
3. RTV sealant
4. gasket scraper
5. valve cover gaskets
6. water pump hose
7. intake manifold gasket
8. penetrating oil
9. anti-seize
10. JBA headers + gasket from Troyer
11. crankshaft pulley puller
12. timing chain cover gaskets
13. head gaskets
14. head bolts
15. coolant
16. oil
17. shop rags

Do you think I should remove the engine? It sure is cramped in there.

 

You can do it with the engine in the truck. I had a spark plug blow out and I took it apart down to the short block while it was still in the truck. Sucked doing it in Feburary too. It was cold. Good luck. Also, I didn't use any of the special ford cam positioning tools either.

I'd also recommend getting a set of Stage 8 locking header bolts while your at it. Then you save yourself the trouble of dealing with occasional retightenings. I hear the JBA provided ones occasionaly wiggle loose. I didn't waste my time with them. The Stage 8's work well. I even got a set for my LT's I plan to use on my mustang project.

 

thanks for the tip! I just ordered the bolts

 

how'd it go?

I am looking at doing the same for my expy. I am sitting at 125k and wondering about having the head reworked while I have them off the block. any thoughts?

 

Everything went pretty good. It only took a couple of days. I had my brother help me. We took some emory (sp) cloth and shined up the head before we put it all back in. That new head gasket is a beast compared to the little dinky one that was in there. I'm a couple of thousand miles and no oil leak as of yet. THere is coolant leaking, though. I think that's because I forgot to put an O-ring on one of those heater hoses that plug in to the firewall. The new headers are awesome. I just have to tighten a few of the bolts on the left side to fix a small exhaust leak. I'm in the process of putting a bunch of pics of the job in my gallery right now so check 'em out:

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...w.cfm?num=5351

 

I know when I first put my headers on I had a leak. I drove it for about a week and the leak disapeared. Dunno if that is normal or not.

 

I just noticed oil leaking down onto my catylitic converter on the passenger side, so I guess I will go ahead and change out the head gasket over there.

Was that parts list you show all that you needed or did you find some other things helpful?

 

I have the same problem with my 4.6 leaking on the passanger side.

 

FloppyJoe - Did you buy your truck new or used? I noticed that your passenger head is an NPI, but your intake manifold and driver heads are both PI castings.

 

Ted98,

I just looked at the pics and you are right. Non PI heads and PI intake manifold. Interesting....

JMC

 

JMC - I haven't gone back and checked the pictures, but I think that one head is NPI and the other is PI.

With the different flow characteristics and compression ratios of the heads, I'm guessing that there is a decent imbalance between the output of the two banks of the engine.

 

Ted,

I just looked. Passenger side is NonPI driver side is PI. Wow!

FloppyJoe,

WTF? Did you change the head on the pasenger side from a PI to a non PI? How did you get the intake manifold gaskets to match up?

JMC

 

That is what caught my eye, the PI gasket on the head.

mismatch


That picture reminded me of what my heads looked like before I removed some aluminum.


modified intake ports

 

I bought it brand spanking new in Feb. '99. I guess I don't know what NPI stands for. I took it in at about 25,000 miles and got the head gasket on the right side "fixed". I had to re-do it at about 80,000. It hasn't leaked since. Sounds like something fishy went on at the ford house??

 

here is the invoice from when Ford worked on it:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...hreadid=137111