Michael Smiley

Hello fellow F-150 owners and enthusiast. I have a couple of questions that I am hoping that some of you who have experience can answer. First off, I'll give some context.

I purchased an 03 F-150 4.6l a few months ago. Out of many trucks I had test driven, this one was the smoothest, and quietest of them all. I made the purchase, and drove home in my newly purchased truck!

I took the truck out a few nights later for a spin, and during the short drive around the neighborhood, it overheated... I had the truck towed to a small time repair shop, and they told me it was a bad thermostat... They replaced the thermostat and called it good. I then picked the truck up a few days later. However, when I was driving home from the repair shop, I noticed that there was a larger than normal amount of condensation/white smoke coming from the tailpipe... Certainly not what I wanted to see...

We got home and did several hours of research on F-150 overheating issues, head gasket issues, and much more. After research, our conclusion is that the truck has a small head gasket leak, as a result of the overheat... That is what is causing the white smoke.

Research can only take us so far, so we decide to take it to the experts at a Ford dealership. On our way over to the Ford dealership, it started overheating on us again... We quickly pulled over as the temp began to rise past normal. Luckily it was okay. A tow truck took it the rest of the way to the dealer.

A few hours later, we get a phone call from the dealer saying that one of the idler pulleys was missing... WHAT??? Apparently, the lack of belt tension due to the missing pulley, caused the water pump not to run, and that in turn caused the overheat...

An idler pulley is installed, and a chemical block test to analyze the coolant system is done. The results show that there is indeed exhaust gas in the coolant… Again, not what I wanted to see…We decided to take it one step deeper, and have the compression tested. We went with the cheaper option and just had the technicians at Ford do an IDS relative compression scan. The results of the test are attached above. All of the data: The truck has had an overheat, which could of caused a head gasket leak. There is also exhaust gas in the coolant. There is also as seen in the test photos, a slight bit of difference in compression in one cylinder. All this leads us to believe: The truck has a small, single cylinder, INTERNAL, head gasket leak. We would like to hear your feedback on the matter. Does this seem to be a good conclusion to come to? Have you seen examples of data like this, being caused from a different issue? Is this even something to worry about? Any and all responses and advice would be greatly appreciated! -Michael

mbb

"Is this even something to worry about?"

Well , only if you want vehicle you can drive as opposed to just look at.



Your options are:

1. Fix engine.
2. Install reman engine
3. Install used engine
4. Scrap whole truck

not easy decision. Depends on condition of truck, your wallet, and do you want to invest $$$ in it to keep driving it, as opposed to a newer vehicle .

Its easier to swap engine, than change HG on these trucks. When most of cost is labor....that drives it toward that option. If you do the work yourself changing hg is cheapest.

if your sure theres no air pocket in coolant
And you have failed block test on coolant
And your overheating
And your compression is low on one cyl

Then you have bad HG
OR cracked/porous head
OR cracked block

If you didn't have the block test failure corroborating other test there could be other options. Such as bad valve and a leaking manifold in conjunction with air in coolant.

Are you losing coolant? Any at all.

One problem with planning to repair a bad HG is finding out after you've done half the labor ($1000) that it's not easily repairable because its not just gasket issue. Reman heads are standard planning because of this. Now you sunk a lot of money into an old tired engine that still an old tired engine when done..Assuming it's old and tired in the first place.

Bottom line you better love your truck cuz to fix it you got to buy it all over again. And if the rest of the truck isn't in excellent condition you'll end up spending more money on it over the next several years than you could have just gone and bought a better truck for today.

twoskinsoneman

Just drive it. Keep an eye out for further issue. It may be a decent ride for years to come.

JCR 56

I changed the head gaskets on my truck for under $400, but I did the work myself, labor is the killer.

Michael Smiley

We are losing a small amount of coolant, as far as we can tell. It appears that it is burning a marginal amount. The engine is actually not old and tired. It is a Jasper Reman with only 2000 miles on it, which is one reason i want to have it fixed and not put a new one in.

Also, like I said, we overheated because of the missing idler pulley causing the water pump not to run. The truck runs very well, just has a small amount of coolant being burned. Even after it's overheated, and possibly has a bad head gasket, it still sounds as good as the day I bought it! Smooth and quiet. Though I still think there is an issue with the head gasket though. That is what the dealer is telling me as well.

mbb

If it's already overheating that may not be possible.
I was able to drive mine about a year and 15,000 more miles before it got too bad... But it was never overheating. Gave me time to plan the replacement.

One thing is certain it will get worse as block or head surface corrodes, eventually becoming undriveable, sometimes very rapidly, sometimes very slowly. If it's your only mode of transportation it can put you in a real bind if it gets undriveable suddenly. Don't always have the luxury of letting it run its course. And if you do you possibly can't repair the gasket if there's too much corrosion on the on this block surface. And then there's the damage you do to the cats also.

white89gt

If you decide to replace the motor, maybe a bottle of the Blue Devil head gasket sealer can tide you over until you get your finances in order. Just know that you should probably replace the radiator and as the very least flush the **** out of the heater core when you do replace the motor.

mbb

You can have minor head gaskets leak that a compression test won't even pick up. And a few other things can cause low compression, leaking valve, gaps in rings not staggered, wrong size pistons, cracked head, etc.

There's really no such thing as a harmless overheating scenario. Every overheat over compresses the head gasket and increases the chances of failure and leakage.

Since you have a reman engine it has heat tabs on the head /block to show overheating that melt about 240-260 F. Visually verify that overheating has occurred is simple. This is used by the manufacturer to deny responsibility for failure caused by things that are due to other people, or systems.

This kind of scenario is why installers give a warranty that's in addition to the engine manufacturers warranty. Typically 12-month one year from reputable install shops. May or may not have been transferrable if shop installed. If po installed it, theres none.

Ordinarily a newly remanufactured engine would be worth repairing. However, if it's been overheated during break-in ....that brings some questions into play about long term effects on engine reliability.

Should you worry about it? Umm...yeah.

It comes down to do you want the truck.
If you do drop the pan on the transmission and see if there's any chunks of metal in there. If there's no chunks of metal good fluid, and only light silt, and no plug, you can feel pretty good about the condition of the transmission probably. If there's chunks of metal or transmission show this never been serviced that that would be concern. You likely don't want to sink $3,000 into engine repair and then turn around and find out you got to pay 2000 plus for a transmission next year also.

other big ticket items...tires, brakes, ball joints, ac compressor. These things add up to thousands of dollars if they need work. Only you can decide if it's worth it to you to keep the truck. At the time I put another engine in my truck I spent $7,000 (tires, brakes, ball joints, engine, stereo, rear view camera, interior fixes) It's been almost 3 years /53,000 mi, and I only spent $165 for a new alternator since. My gamble paid off . So far.

JCR 56

If it's a Jasper reman with only 2000 miles on it does it have any warranty left?

mbb

Find the heat tabs on your engine