Ford F-150 - 1997-2003 :: 2001 V6 Head Gasket Leak Causing Water To Enter Into Cylinders And Oil Pan
Dec 12, 2013
Recently bought a 2001. In the process of reading about this engine I discovered there is a some what regular breakdown of head gaskets causing water to leak into cylinders and oil pan, all of which is serious.
Given the vehicle is 12 years old and has 89K miles it appears it is in the age and range of where this leakage can occur. Any knowledgeable engine rebuilders that are familiar with this issue on the 4.2 have any comments???
1. Can this issue be avoided by replacing head gaskets now rather than waiting for future failure???
2. Are there new and improved head gaskets for this motor???
3. Does the problem occur on both heads gaskets?
4. Is that all that needs to be done or are there other seals that need replacement???
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The problem is my new-to-me 97 Ford F150 5.4L SOHC engine, auto transmission, is overheating after driving it for a short while. Seems to be fine at idle. I have read previous posts with the exact same issue, but the consistency seems to be all over the map from burping the system, head gasket, thermostat, and possibly a plugged radiator.
Backstory:200,000+ miles.
Truck sat for 6 months after previous owner broke the shift cable.
Truck was in a front end collision. Frame looks bent underneath the engine.
Previous owner had overheating problem. He said he changed the heater core. Looks like brand new coolant in the system so story probably checks out. Desperately needs an oil change. Very black oil.
Previous owner thought the system needed a burping. So I'm largely assuming the problem started after the heater core change, or he misdiagnosed an overheating problem and thought the heater core could cause it. I have found a radiator cap and thermostat in the truck which seems to indicate he tried many things to fix the overheating and was unsuccessful. Engine looks pretty clean for the miles.
Symptoms/Backyard Tests :
Blows cold air with heat on highest level and on defrost.
Blender door fuse intact.
Doesn't overheat at idle.
Ran the truck for 15 mins with the coolant bottle fill cap off on level ground to try to burp it after draining some coolant and checking the thermostat orientation. Coolant level increased in the bottle. Large air bubbles came out. (Another session before this one, I ran it for 30 minutes with no coolant cap, and eventually coolant overflowed the fill bottle. Normal or no?)
Seems to overheat after the thermostat opens. After doing the 15 minute warm up/burp, I took it for a test drive. I drove it about 20 blocks with the temperature gauge on the dash reading the same as the warmed-up idle temperature. Got to the 20th block and the gauge immediately spiked to overheat with the oil pressure dash light coming on. I could be mistaken as the oil pressure light almost looks exactly like the overheat dash light. But I'm pretty sure the temperature icon was on the right side of the oil can icon and not the left.
After the above drive: Upper rad hose too hot to touch.
After the above drive: Lower rad hose medium warm. Could hold on to it if I felt like it.
After the above drive: Upper part of rad pretty hot. Not Insta-burn but hot. Tempature decreases to warm to cool as you go lower down the rad.
After the above drive: Both heater core hoses going to the cab luke warm.
Coolant looks brand new.
Radiator looks slightly bowed. Probably from the accident? Otherwise looks clean and minimal bent fins.
Drained some coolant and pulled the upper rad hose to see if the thermostat was upside down. Looks installed correctly.
No signs of weep hole leaks from the water pump.
Fan seems solid. Has maybe 1-2mm of play in the bearings.
Something that looked like steam from the muffler at startup, that disappeared after getting closer to a normal range warm engine.
I have driven crap cars for many years and I've never seen a plugged radiator which makes me skeptical of it being that. All the radiators I have changed were because they were eventually leaking from cracks in the radiator.
I would also be interested in doing an informal poll if you have read this far and have had this era of F150 that overheated. Have you ever repaired the head gasket? And/or have you ever changed the radiator?
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I just purchased a 2003 F150 Supercrew 4.6 that had been wrecked, but somewhat repaired. I knew the owner said it had a blown head gasket. It has water in the oil (small amount asi it is lightly milky) and water starts dripping from the exhaust after it has run for a few minutes. I did not run it long, but throttled it up to warm the engine. It started dripping soot filled water from the exhaust connections. I bought it to put a 4bt in it anyway, but want to sell the motor with the ability to tell the buyer the skinny on it. I drove it on the trailer and off with no apparent loss of power noticeable.
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New truck to me. Truck was advertised with a slow coolant leak. Figured I would trace the leak down and get it repaired no issues. Anyway, working on it this evening I take a close look around the oil filler area and notice the dreaded milkshake color.
I drained the oil out of the truck and the oil actually came out nice and black. Is the headgasket the only area that would cause the oil/coolant mixture? Supposedly the truck has never been overheated.
At any rate, on to find articles on how to pull apart a 4.6L Triton head. I'll see if I'm up to this challenge.
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Radiator replaced 2 yrs. ago - required major rust cleanout; reservoir replaced shortly thereafter. Recently engine always hot, antifreeze disappearing, reservoir always looks rusty, nothing much coming out underneath, mechanic pressure tested and couldn't find a leak, told to watch for antifreeze in oil, none apparent. Now suddenly car ran hot, antifreeze came out of reservoir, cap replaced, still couldn't find leak. Today said head gasket blown. Repair head gasket, but can't guarantee wouldn't still have radiator problems. Suggested could try Blue Devil head gasket repair but may not work.
Is it worth :
(a) trying the Blue Devil;
(b) repairing the head gasket?
Or will I still have major repair needs with radiator etc.? I really can't afford even a cheap replacement car.
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Recently had a new water pump and radiator put in my car. Not so sure if they are "new" but anyway.
The car does not seem to use coolant it has only slowly flowed back into the reserve tank over time spilling over a little.
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I've been told that the 2002 Santa Fe that I drive has a small leak in the head gasket and that this will be a major problem for the A/C compressor in the not-too-distant future. Supposedly the compressor is located below where the leak is and that over time (5-6 months) this can/will cause the compressor to need to be replaced. Does this seem like a credible scenario?
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My 97 f150 5.4 started missing on 5,6 it had antifreeze on top of the spark plugs but i cant figure out where its coming from my truck has been loosing coolant and it seems like the system is holding pressure because every time i take the cap off the radiator overfill i can hear it hissing then i see the antifreeze level plummet there's no visible leaks that i have seen when the truck is running an missing it steams out the exhaust but when its no missing it doesn't seem to be there's no milky oil or anything the thermostat doesn't seem to be leaking either the truck has over heated a couple times due to the antifreeze disappearing or the temp wont move at all then it shoots all the way to hot and cools down within seconds to normal i just put a new thermostat in. Also it sometimes misses on 4 and my exhaust smells like straight gas i put 4 gallons in it got 29 miles out of it .
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I just bought a used 5.4 for my 99' F150 4X4. My current engine has a blown head gasket. Anyway, I was able to hear the engine run before I bought it, and was able to check it out some. (oil, anti-freeze) I was told that this engine was bought from a salvage yard with 50K, and 50K more put on it before I bought it.
I was also told that the intake manifold is newer, from Autozone, and it has newer Accell coils. My question for you all, is ..... What do YOU think I should do otherwise before I install this engine. Oil pump? water pump? seals? ...
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My wife has a 2002 F-150 King Ranch 5.4l. Recently I noticed a oil smell and I had the mechanic take a look. He said the head gasket is leaking oil. Not a bad leak but it is leaking. The truck has 160k miles on it. I can't decide what to do...
What generally happens with a head oil leak? Will the engine crater or just keep leaking? My plan was to buy my wife a different truck and I would keep the truck, but I don't wont to keep it if the head leak is terminal for the engine...
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As some may remember 11-27-12 my van was down due to a head Gasket seal causing overheating. My B.S. Mechanic had given up on my car and after getting frustrated I decided to get another car but I wasn't giving up on my Venture.
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I own a 2003 Toyota Camry with 195,000 miles. We have owned the car for about 6 years. It is now leaking oil from the drivers side of the head gasket. The oil has been leaking down onto the exhaust and smoking, and it has been getting worse and worse. This is a second car and is not used much, only once a month for short trips. Is there any temporary fix for this that can maybe get me through a year? Also, I have heard mixed opinions on how hard replacing the head gasket is, does the engine really need to be removed?
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I have a 03 5.4 F150 SCrew... The intake was leaking on the passenger side (water outlet tube meets plastic).
Putting in the Dorman replacement and noticed that the front cylinder drivers side (#5) had a decent amount of coolant in it.. None of the others did. I've drained the coolant already and was wondering should I just put this back together and see?
The water outlet crossing has a hole right next to this cylinder and I can't see any cracks and not sure if the gaskets were leaking under it.
Seems like if the head gasket was blown I would see it in more cylinders? It never smoked or run bad before I got this leak... Drove it maybe 10 miles with it leaking out onto Cyl#1. Ran fine, never missed.
I just don't want to put this back together if the head gasket is blown but I don't know what to do.
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I have my 4.6L engine on a stand in the garage. I think I have a blown head gasket. I am ready to remove the heads.
My Haynes book says: "Caution:Use the required camshaft retaining fixtures to lock the camshafts and leave the tools in place."
A google search shows nothing. Why, what does it do?
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I have a 2001 F150 Super Crew 5.4. I had a leak where the water transfer connects to the intake manifold. I decided to get a new manifold rather than trying to repair it. The new manifold from Dorman came and the gaskets were built into the manifold. I torqued the manifold to specs. I replaced everything and it starts fine.
I can hear what sounds like a leak, but can't find anything. I checked every hose that is connected and they are all snug and connected. I had the check engine light checked and it said it was running lean on both sides (p0174, p0171). Also a p0122. I thought something might have damaged the Throttle Body Position Sensor, so I replaced it...but no change.
I'm still driving it everyday because I need to. It won't change gears so smoothly sometimes. The most noticeable problem is that the A/C doesn't work. It just blows hot air. And the worst part about it is...it does it even when the air isn't turned on! I just go around with the windows down...in 95+ degree heat...with hot air blowing!
This is my first time to attempt a manifold change out. What I should check?
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I have a 97 with a 4.6 Triton motor I need to replace the head gasket on the passenger side number 3 is leaking nothing else is wrong with motor so I have it torn down to timing chain cover and ready to remove. do i have to take the drivers side valve cover completely off to take timing chain cover off or can I take to first 2 studs out of the drivers side front valve cover and side the timing cover off. I just want to replace the passenger side head gasket and get rid of truck.
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I have a 2003 Honda Civic with 140k miles. It has a leaking head gasket which is causing the engine to overheat when driving slower without airflow to cool the engine.
I would love to drive the car to 200k+ miles but if this is the first of many pricey fixes I want to cut my losses.
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I have a quick question, I just replaced the head gaskets on my 4.6 with 301,000 miles on it and now my battery only charges when you punch it and when you lift off the gas pedal, in town it does fine, but on drives 25 miles on the highway the battery guage goes to the line on the bottom. What could be causing that?
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Ok I got this truck from my mother-in-law for free with a blown head gasket cylinder 6 driver side. I did the replacement had the heads machined put it all back together by the book. Now I can't get it to fire on all 6 cylinders only 5 I think. Thought maybe bad gas (it sat since late November) put 5 gallons (over double the gas) fresh gas and half a bottle of b-12 chem tool. Dubble checked all plugs wires connections (coils plugs wires all new). I drove for about 10 miles oil pressure and temperature stayed perfect but no change in running truck shakes a lot and no real power. Don't sputter or backfire no engine codes other than imcr bank 2 open. Engine is 4.2l v-6 170k miles.
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Working on a 2000 F150 with the 5.4 and as near as I can determine its leaking antifreeze externally at the front of the passenger side head gasket. Seems a little odd. The coolant is a nasty dirty orange color. With the truck running on the hoist it was dripping very steady off of the very front exhaust manifold bolt.
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I've got a 1997 F150 with the 4.2L V6. Before I got it last summer I did some research, but apparently missed the issue with the intake manifold gasket leaks on these early engines. It seems to be a very slow leak, but obviously I want to get it fixed. I called Ford to see if it had had the recall work done on it, but all they could tell me is that there wasn't an open recall on my truck (with the exception of the recent fuel tank strap recall). Their system apparently only goes back 10 years, so they couldn't even see the freakin' recall. So, I've got a few questions:
1) I know I didn't post much info, but does this seem like an intake manifold leak?
2) Are there any special tools needed to change out the gasket myself?
3) Can you all recommend any replacement gaskets? I found a few different manufacturers of gaskets, but I'm sure some are better than others.
4) Can this issue cause the computer to throw the loose gas cap code (P0455 if I recall correctly).
5) Would it be worth it to just get a new truck? I really wanted a diesel in the first place, but I also hate to give up on a nice truck with only 115,000 miles.
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