Well the verdict is in. My mechanic found a SMALL trace of coolant in my oil. We added the dye, drove around for a week, pulled dip stick and there was a small drop of coolant. There's no exhaust fumes in the coolant res nor bubbles, no coolant or white smoke coming out the tail pipe (just lots of water) Its a 2003 F-150 5.4 v-8 with 138k. He gave me a ball park of $1500-1800 to do the job. The truck isn't over heating, running great, and actually I haven't lost any coolant in the last couple weeks. I was losing a little each week but has seamed to stop. I know it probably rare its ugle head when I'm miles from home!

So whats your opinion....truck is paid for. I like the truck and its a solid vehicle. Should I just invest in new head gaskets now or should I just keep driving until it gets worse, maybe it wont get worse? Am I going to harm my motor if theres a little coolant in the oil? I change my oil every 3k religiously. And last is this price a fair price to do this job.

Thanks

 

I'm not sure. Tough decision. I know I'd have to reconfirm the die test. It doesn't lie, BUT, - this is sort of borderline. I'm surprised it didn't pass the test. I mean it's a 03 and it's been taken care of. It's worth a set of gaskets because you know the history of the engine. Then again, you may be able to find a 5.4L that's cheaper and w/low miles. So that depends. If you did the gaskets yourself, then hands down, that's the thing to do.

However. - Yea, I would wait a bit and reconfirm the die test. Your in a position where you can do that.

The white smoke or condensation from the exhaust has nothing to do with it. It's a modular, they all do this and yes , it gets heavy, - specially this time of year. That's normal tho. They build moisture sort of crazy like, specially over the winter. You know the white sort of creamy goop you get under the oil fill cap ? Well your cam covers load up up with that crap. That white steam/moisture is that goop transforming to steam when it hits the exhaust manifold. Burning that goop off, doesn't hurt anything, it just doesn't look right sometimes lol. That's alright, clean her out good and she won't do that for awhile.

 

Yeah it was the smallest little drop, he had to show me twice because I couldn't tell. I forgot to mention he also did the pressure test, the one that screws on the coolant cap and it passed. He also noticed it was damp behind the water pump tube thats on top of the engine.

 

Yea, those O-rings (there's two on the water pump stem connecting the heater core hardline)start leaking behind the water pump. Sucks fixing those because the manifold has to come off. Ford doesn't use O-rings on their Re-man engines. They connect with a section of heater hose instead. Those don't leak.

A head gaskets R&R is an expensive job to get done. I question the die test results, - but I wasn't there. There shouldn't be no evidence of the die anywhere and it's a fairly accurate test. You only had the test done because you thought you had coolant in the exhaust system. You don't, you would smell it if you did. You can taste it to verify as well. What's dripping from the exhaust will have a sweet taste to it. Yea, spit it back out after confirmation.

I think I'd run it and keep an eye on things. Keep changing the oil the way you have been. Make sure you have a Motorcraft PCV valve in the cam cover. The Motorcraft is the only valve with the proper margins. Use anything else on the market and it will cause problems. The cam cover will always be caked inside. Just 6 quarts of oil, don't fill to the top hash mark on the stick. That's over-filling and hard on the gaskets. Over filling won't hurt them once in awhile, but I wouldn't keep it at that top hash consistently.

That's all I'd do for now anyway. It's up to you of course.

 

Thanks for your input.

What bothered me a little is I asked the mechanic that while he had it ripped apart if he could fix the water pump tube. He quoted me an addition $400.00. How hard can it be while the engine is ripped apart? I'm not going to worry about it right now. I'll run it and see what happens.

Motorcraft PCV valve? I've never changed it. Should I?

I also still use 5w 20 oil, should I go to a heavier oil?

 

Yea, $400 starting from scratch is what he quoted you for. So you mentioned that when the manifold was currently removed or something ? I'm not sure what your engine was apart for ? There's no mention of it.

Yea the PCV valve plays a significant roll with engine health. It's a little 5 dollar part that should be replaced every 15-20,000 miles. This engine relies on the proper valve. The Motorcraft valves have wide margins. Fram or other are way to tight and cuts into circulation. These engines thrive upon circulation and run like crap when constipated. Thankfully and for the most part, this 2V modular will run a good long time with just proper maintenance.
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Yea, 5/30w 5/20w whichever. 5/20 (blend) may net you a little better mileage and that's your engine is spec'ed for anyway. 5/30 works just as well for protection, it's just not as economical. Ford changed the spec for this motor late in 99 or early 2000.

 

2003 5.4 v8 engine. I asked him if I were to hire him to do the headgasket if he's change out that tube, he said for an additional $400.00. I was surprised and i figured it would be cheaper since the motor was apart. That brings the trust factor down.

Thanks again and I'll look to see where that valve is and replace it with one from ford.

 

No , don't change viscosity (thicker) or use additives in the crankcase. Just use that Syn Blend 5w/20. That's all you have to do. Most additives are snake oil 90% of the time. So don't contaminate the oil if you can help it and you'll be doing the best you can do for it.

 

That's terrible. Well there's goes that, -now you can't trust anything this guy has done for you. He's dishonest as hell lol. That's to bad, but it's fricken awesome that you know this NOW. Who knows, he may have added a pinch of anti freeze for the die test. That guy will be no good for you lol.

Easy 400 bucks tho ehh, for what, -5 minutes max. I'm serious. It's just one bolt, back of the passenger side head, that has to come out anyway lol. -then the tube slides off the WP stem. Two O-rings are right there. So yea, it's either trust like you mentioned or the guys just plain stupid. He hoping that you are.

 

Tossing the idea of a reman motor from Ford....thoughts on this?

 

I'm with you on this one.
That is how it is looking to me. If it were me, Id get a second opinion. Someone is out to make money on this. I am having a hard time believing you have a bad head gasket. Completely uncommon with your year and engine, those miles and your maintenance. Not impossible, but very uncommon under the conditions.
Before you make any decisions, take it somewhere else.

 

Thanks guys.... I am positive he didn't mess with the dye. I actually added it myself and was standing there when we went thru the process of checking it.
But to charge me $400.00 to replace that tube while its open kinda peed me off.

So I'd be looking at a potential 2k fix (if I find there to be an issue) what are your thought on a reman motor from Ford? If I'm going to sink 2k into an engine with 140k then I may as well sink 2k more for a new engine.

 

I'd look for a good used boneyard engine.

You may want to think about putting a small amount of stop-leak in the coolant and run it till it drops.

 

No no, read the entire thread lol.

 

I have a bad feeling on this one. If he would gave the guy the nod, chances are, the truck would have been parked in an empty bay for a couple days. With nothing getting done to it. Except, he might pay a porter to steam clean the engine lol.

I bet he has a file at the BBB. Someone that crooked probably has a record.