In the middle of headgasket replacement, question

SVTDanny · May 29, 2014

I'm in the middle of doing the headgaskets on my truck (BTW - Pulling the heads cab-on is no big deal. Did it in about 12 hours, in my driveway, with only a Craftsman hand tool set. Don't let the internet scare you into thinking it's anywhere near impossible), and have a quick question.

Obviously I pulled the fuel rails and all injectors. I don't have any of the caps to put on the nipples of the injectors or fuel pump, and didn't think anything of it. After reading some Ford documents, they obviously recommend using the caps once the lines are removed. I have planned on cleaning out the fuel rails good with brake cleaner, and just using brake cleaner to wipe down the outside of the injectors, then replacing the seals and calling it good.

Now I'm sort of concerned about moisture that may have gotten in the pump since it's been left open for a couple days. I would assume that once it's back together and I bleed the system, any bit of moisture in there will get pushed out by fuel and there shouldn't be a problem. I had thought about spraying some WD40 into the pump to displace any moisture, but I imagine that could also be a bad idea. I'm probably overly paranoid about it, but just wanted to get some input on the best way to proceed. Thanks

webb06 · May 29, 2014

SVTDanny said:
I'm in the middle of doing the headgaskets on my truck (BTW - Pulling the heads cab-on is no big deal. Did it in about 12 hours, in my driveway, with only a Craftsman hand tool set. Don't let the internet scare you into thinking it's anywhere near impossible), and have a quick question.

Obviously I pulled the fuel rails and all injectors. I don't have any of the caps to put on the nipples of the injectors or fuel pump, and didn't think anything of it. After reading some Ford documents, they obviously recommend using the caps once the lines are removed. I have planned on cleaning out the fuel rails good with brake cleaner, and just using brake cleaner to wipe down the outside of the injectors, then replacing the seals and calling it good.

Now I'm sort of concerned about moisture that may have gotten in the pump since it's been left open for a couple days. I would assume that once it's back together and I bleed the system, any bit of moisture in there will get pushed out by fuel and there shouldn't be a problem. I had thought about spraying some WD40 into the pump to displace any moisture, but I imagine that could also be a bad idea. I'm probably overly paranoid about it, but just wanted to get some input on the best way to proceed. Thanks

Mine sat open for about 5 days this past week. I just took shop and blow out the fittings and went on. It's running fine right now. Id imagine you could do the same. I wouldn't spray brake clean into the rails. Maybe just the outside and wipe them down with a lent free clothe.

jimdawg185 · May 29, 2014

Or you could throw them into a plastic bag. I also would not spray brake clean in them, but I also had new ones in the kit Rykan got.... so theres that.

SVTDanny · May 29, 2014

I don't see any harm in spraying out the fuel rails to make sure they're clean, no seals in there to dry out are there?

Good to hear about the pump. It occurred to me after I posted that it's still full of fuel, so that should protect against any moisture or corrosion happening.

StrokiNDieseL · May 30, 2014

Thanks for the encouragement of leaving the cab down, did you remove any cab bolts or all up top work? What other goodies did you add while it was open? I get too anxious when I first tackle a project but do believe (also have workshop man) I could tackle this job too b/c I think its time for HG/studs. Thanks, Jayson.

forcefed6.4ford · May 30, 2014

Just throw the rails in a pail of clean diesel. The pump will be purged when you bleed the fuel system before you fire the truck back up.

My rails were on the bench for a week.

SVTDanny · Jun 2, 2014

StrokiNDieseL said:
Thanks for the encouragement of leaving the cab down, did you remove any cab bolts or all up top work? What other goodies did you add while it was open? I get too anxious when I first tackle a project but do believe (also have workshop man) I could tackle this job too b/c I think its time for HG/studs. Thanks, Jayson.

Didn't loosen any cab bolts. Everything was pretty straight forward, I took the injectors/rockers/rocker boxes off the heads while still in the truck. That gives you a ton of room to pull the heads up. You have to pull the down pipe to get one of the nuts on the passenger uppipe/manifold, the rocker box has to be out before you can do that. Worst part of the job was the up pipe bolts/nuts, takes a while to figure out what tool combination to use and they're a bit of a pain. Other than that, I didn't have any problems.

I bought upgraded up pipes, replaced all my rockers (Mone were all worn down), and am putting ARP studs in. I'm putting all new exhaust hardware back in as well, just to make reassembly a bit smoother.

I've spent a lot of time cleaning and making sure everything is in good shape to go back together. Just decked the heads yesterday (All of the chambers were 3-4 thousandths higher than the rest of the deck... no wonder it was blowing all sorts of pressure into the coolant). Took them all apart today to do a final cleaning and lubing of the valve seals (Would have put new ones in, but that would have added a few days and all of mine looked perfect). Valves vac'd down great, so the heads are sitting and waiting to go back on. I also had the exhaust manifolds machined perfectly flat, and lapped the block surface.

forcefed6.4ford said:
Just throw the rails in a pail of clean diesel. The pump will be purged when you bleed the fuel system before you fire the truck back up.

My rails were on the bench for a week.

Had thought about that too. I'll just rinse the rails and injectors in diesel and call it good. Thanks.

TjMiller · Nov 26, 2014

Did you put the studs in before you put the heads back on? Any problems getting the heads on?

webb06 · Nov 26, 2014

TjMiller said:
Did you put the studs in before you put the heads back on? Any problems getting the heads on?

You can only slide the heads on with the studs in if the exhaust manifold are off. I prefer to have the manifolds already bolted to the heads and then set them on (the dowels will hold them in place) then put in the studs. The exhaust manifolds are a pain to put on once the heads are on.