Head Gasket

[olereb1]

My 2006 F250 6.0 was built in late 2005 (June/July). Does anyone know the date that the extra head bolts were used by Ford to help solve the blown gasket problems? Also, since my truck was new it had a hanging drop of oil on the BH [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/depressed.gif[/img]however it does not really look like oil. Could this be assembly grease? It is black and rather thin for oil. It seams to partially evaporate on the concrete and rarely, drops. The oil in the engine is fresh and looks new where the BH drip looks black. Any thoughts [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]?

[jas10]

Welcom Reb. Your truck won't have the head changes, they were supposed to have occured on 1/11/06. But I don't think there were any new head bolts added. Some things were moved around a bit but AFAIK the head bolts themselves did not change.
-john

[olereb1]

I wonder if all the folks that have blown head gaskets are running modified rigs or if the gaskets are just prone to blow on stock trucks too? I don't drive mine much and mainly use it for towing my 30 Ft. 5th wheel.

[GregH]

Most of the vehicles that blow head gaskets are modified, or have a faulty turbo system. This causes an excesswive amount of boost and blows the gaskets. I have, however, repaired several trucks where there was no apparent cause of failure.

As for the head bolt change, it is an effort to "commonize" the engine for the upcoming 6.4 liter. The block needed to be modified to accommodate the changes, and the modifications affected where the cylinder head features were to be located. Once the 6.4 goes into production, the common block will have been in service for a period of time to flush out any design issues.

The 6.4 will have essentially the same bottom end as the current production engine, and many of the cylinder head features will also be the same. Of course, there will be a displacement change, but that's all of the basic engine modifications. As for the support hardware, there will be a high pressure fuel pump instead of oil pump (located in the same place as the existing hpop), dual egr coolers, a fuel cooler, two turbos, and a whole rat's nest of plumbing on top of the engine. I anticipate quite the surreal experience on the first one I work on. By the way, the original dyno test of the 6.4 showed the fuel cooler located in the intake air stream. Certianly Ford will not allow that to stay there, since a leak in that system will cause an uncontrollable rise in engine rpm....

[olereb1]

Thanks guys for the wealth of info. The only minor issue I have wityh my 2006 6.0 is the hanging drop of oil on the BH. It appears to be comming from where the BH is put together. I will mention it on my first oil change but if it does not get any worse I may just wait. I have the extended waranty (Bumper-bumper) to 7 year or 70,000 miles and only put about 5000 miles ler year on a TV.By the way, have any of you 06 owners notice how the plastic cover above the front bumper (Just under the grill) is wavey or warped looking on some trucks.Once again thanks all for the info.

[USAONE]

7000 Miles and the hanging drop has gone away. Must have been melted lube. No other concerns-love this truck!

[07stroker]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks guys for the wealth of info. The only minor issue I have wityh my 2006 6.0 is the hanging drop of oil on the BH. It appears to be comming from where the BH is put together. I will mention it on my first oil change but if it does not get any worse I may just wait. I have the extended waranty (Bumper-bumper) to 7 year or 70,000 miles and only put about 5000 miles ler year on a TV.By the way, have any of you 06 owners notice how the plastic cover above the front bumper (Just under the grill) is wavey or warped looking on some trucks.Once again thanks all for the info.

[/ QUOTE ]

My plastic cover under the grill isn't wavey or warped however the excessive "orangepeel" in the paint job is a different story! My truck is black so I guess it's much more visible...typical Ford paintjob.lol

[jmcholden]

Does the 07 have the thicker head bolts or are they just sleeved to allow for them on the 6.4L?