Well, I posted a couple of months ago about the problems I was having with my truck. About 5-10 after starting the engine, whether driving or idling the check engine light would come on, temp gauge would peg hot and the check oil light would come on. I took it in to a local mechanic, not a Ford dealer to get checked out. They replaced plugs which needed replacing anyway, thermostat and coolant. Well, that didn't fix the problems, and ended up replacing the head gasket on the driver's side. One cylinder had 50 psi and the rest had 150. The head checked out OK but they didn't see any reason why the head gasket had failed. It was putting exhaust into the cooling system as well. Well, I have driven it about 150 miles since all this was done and I think the head gasket is out again. I think the problem is deeper than that this time. My main question is, should I be thinking about a different engine? Can I swap out the 4.6 with a 5.4? Any good ideas would be appreciated.

 

Well I wouldn't be surprised if the passenger side head gasket is shot as well. How many miles on the current engine? Mileage could be a determining factor with your decision. You can swap to a 4.6 or a 5.4 its all a matter of what you want and how much you want to put into it. You can get a reman or a good low mileage used engine as a replacement, everyone has their own preferences and ideas on that choice. Only you can answer that. Are you planning on performing the swap yourself or having someone else do it? Personally if I were you I would return to the mechanics that supposedly fixed it the first time and see what they have to say about it. After all 150 miles after a repair and its not fixed is not acceptable. If the problem is with the same side they repaired then they need to do it over again and this time replace the passenger side as well. Just my opinion. Good luck.

 

I am having the pickup towed to the mechanic that worked on it today. I wouldn't be surprised that the other side was bad as well. I have about 115,000 on the pickup so far. I am thinking that a low mileage engine swap might be the best option. Of course, will have to check on prices, etc. I would have someone make the swap if that is what I decide. The shop owner is a friend, but I am having second thoughts about too much more future work.

 

Why would someone tear the motor down that far and not replace both head gaskets.That makes no sense.

 

That is a good question. They did a compression check and had one low reading on the driver's side. Everything else checked out good.

 

well i thought mine was a headgasket but it turned out to be a shot coolant resevior cap, my truck would overheat and the light would come on after 10 min of driving or standing still, if you look at the bottom of the cap you can see the spring in there, i compared my old one to the new one i got and there was a vast difference, on the old one the spring was stretched rite out

 

Well, I think there is a new cap on there. That would be too easy a fix for this piece of junk.

 

They can perform a hydrocarbon test to detect combustion chamber gases in the coolant. A compression test is not always a good indicator of a blown head gasket. I hear ya on the cap. I rarely get lucky and have an easy fix either.