danny_lancaster

Hello,

I bought my first Ford ever after being a Chevy guy all my life. It was a great deal, 1989 F150 extended cab, perfect interior, no dents on the outside, 5 speed, straight six.

Just needs a head gasket, which I am pretty decent at doing the mechanics (hopefully) and have the Chilton manual, but its kinda vague and I was wondering if anyone had done this before and had a few tips to check out.

Also, I know I am going to need intake and exhaust gaskets, but are there any others I am missing? Thanks for the help.

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

No dents on the outside? Does that mean there are dents on the inside?

You need the head set, it comes with all gaskets needed. The head is probably cracked, usually #3 and #4 by the valves.

danny_lancaster

So I am finally half way through the take apart stage. I have removed the radiator (which busted out the bottom at the drain plug), most of the wiring harnesses (which all broke their little clips as soon as they were touched), alternator, smog pump and bracket (smog pump won't come off the bracket), fan, shroud, heater pipes, throttle cables, and condenser. I also took off the air compressor and it is flopping around under the power steering pump. I got the muffler pipes off of the headers as well. Tomorrow I hope to get the right side stuff off after another trip to Auto Zone to get a power steering pump pulley remover.

After I get all the crap off, what is the best way to get the head out after I unbolt it? Just give it a yank or what? I know I can't jab anything between it and the block for leverage, but do I need to rent a hoist too? I am hoping not as all the connectors and the radiator are going to cost me another $580 dollars. I am now at the point where I would have come out ahead having a shop do the repair instead of getting all the crap together to repair what broke coming off.

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

It's heavy, but I took it out and in by myself. You have to break the seal, pry somewhere that isn't a sealing surface.

wwerner

When I took my head off I was leaning over the passenger side fender and rocked the head side to side and it popped free nice and easy and i lifted it off no problems and yea I bought the fel-pro head gasket set for like 70 bucks real nice set has head gasket exhaust and intake manifold gaskets upper intake and throttle body gasket and even the pushrod inspection plate gasket and valve seals ... egr as well haha everything but the oil pan gasket pretty much

danny_lancaster

Thanks for the replies guys. Today went a lot better, I managed to get the upper intake manifold off and the thermostat housing, and the valve cover bolts... But what I can't free up is the fuel lines. I have bought two different sets of the fuel line quick connect removal tools but neither is doing it. No matter how hard I clamp and jab into there, the spring connector won't budge. Did anyone have trouble getting these to free up? I am worried about jacking up the injector heads by leaving the fuel rail in there so I was trying to remove them and the injectors... I can get the injectors to slide out very easily but the EGR pipe is in the way for them to just slide out of the way. I would rather take the thing off and maybe soak the injectors in gasoline or something as they look really dirty (probably 25 years old.)

I attached a picture to this post. The fuel lines are right behind that EGR pipe that is covered with the thermal jacket in the back.

Thanks for all the help!

wwerner

that picture looks all too familiar and yes those fuel lines can be a pain i tried multiple tools ended taking a thin piece of metal like 2 in by 1 1/2 in or something similiar and wrapping it around with pliers and popping the springs that way it didn't hurt the connectors any and I've torn out 3 300 6 and 2 302s this way...

danny_lancaster

Thanks for the tip. Can you elaborate a little? I really wanna not cut it and do a patch job, as that looks like it could be another trip to Problemsville. I am guessing that normal proceedure for these things are jab it in and it should let both sides free to be pulled out. I don't think it "jabs in" all the way enough to release the spring. I don't feel the pressure drop. Could my problem be that I haven't released the pressure in the lines?

The truck hasn't run in two days I just kind of figured the pressure would have dropped off. I am trying to be cheap and not go get the fuel pressure tester to bleed off the pressure from the Schroeder valve on the fuel rail.

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

Just push the valve, some gas will squirt out no big deal. Just put the cigarette down first.

I have the cheapest set of plastic disconnect tools, never have a problem. Push the line and push in the tool, twist and pull. Spray some WD40 on there.

danny_lancaster

Day three on trying to free the fuel lines with every tool that O'Reilly Auto and Auto Zone has or can think of to use for this, with no luck. They will simply not be freed. Going tomorrow to the local Ford dealership and going to see if they have some Ford branded tool for this, or to see if they have a mechanic they can send out or how much a tow job will cost.

It looks like this could be the end of the road for the head gasket job. Its a shame because I have everything I need to do this, but I can't get the fuel lines off. Anyone else have any suggestions? Would I be better off at this point cutting the fuel line off and trying to splice a repair into it? Is that even possible?

Thanks.