A hole in my head...

[rumblecloud]

Since recently putting my girl back on the road, I've been checking around the engine looking at what needs TLC and noticed that the driver side exhaust man is in much worse shape than the passenger side and it appears that there is a hole in the head just above where the manifold bolts in closest to the firewall.

Why would one side be worse than the other - is it just more open to road conditions?

And as for the hole in my head, does that mean a head replacement?

Thanks.

[EaOutlaw1969]

Yeah I would need some more back ground information and pictures of what your talking about to try and help.

[rumblecloud]

Added images...
You can see how bad the mani looks and the hole up near the plug:


This is the right side mani and it looks pretty decent:

[Undrstm8ed]

What in the world is up with that AND THAT E/MANI !!!???

is that 3.0 or 4.0 Litre?

[rumblecloud]

Hey now...don't laugh. You'll hurt her feelings.

It's a 4.0L OHV and A4OD 4x4. Black Ranger Splash. Pushing around 240,000.

This was the first new, off the lot vehicle I ever purchased outright. So I'm kinda sentimental about her. IT was my daily driver until about 2010 and has been somewhat neglected, but always had the oil changed when I was driving her. And in spite of the way it looks, the motor seems strong.

The body and interior are in decent shape. And I now have the time to tinker, so I'd like to return her to her somewhat original glory.

I've replaced the calipers, a few sections of brake lines, starter motor, transfer case motor, replaced the passenger side door (done in by a deer). I'm slowly making my way thru the mechanics. The exhaust system is next up. And it looks to me like new heads are in order as well. And I suppose while I'm at it, I'll need to take a look at the bottom half too.

I can't understand why one manifold looks like donkey shit and the other side looks kinda decent. And how the hell could you get a hole in the head like that?

[EaOutlaw1969]

Did you ever have a issue with a alternator over charging or battery exploding under the hood?

Has the battery spent a lot of time with a charger connected to it with the hood down?

It looks like your engine has been under chemical attack either from sulfuric acid fumes or road salt or even Electrolysis.

How does the rest of the truck look under the hood at the core support, battery tray, frame etc?

Is the hole in the cylinder head leaking anything from it? exhaust, coolant?

If it is leaking coolant it would explain the severely rusted manifold.

The only other thing I can think of is a severely neglected cooling system.

A neglected cooling system can cause electrolysis which can eat your engine and other parts from the inside out.

Here is part of a TSB that relates to this condition, this will show you how to test for it.

Testing For Electrolysis
Check for voltage in the cooling system by touching the negative contact of a voltmeter to the battery ground or a known good ground and suspend the positive lead in the coolant, making sure it is in contact with the coolant but not touching any metal part of the radiator or cooling system. Both AC and DC voltages must be checked. Vehicles normally have DC voltages; however, a faulty engine block heater or faulty diode in the alternator can produce AC voltages. It is understood that coolant is lost due to heater core failure but try to obtain a voltage reading on the old coolant in the engine block before addition to or replacement of. To keep more coolant from exiting the heater core clamp off heater core lines and measure coolant in the engine block. Try not to dilute the original coolant with new coolant during testing if possible.
1. Determine whether coolant condition is acceptable.
a. Remove both cables from the battery and ensure they do not contact each other or the vehicle.
b. Touch negative lead of voltmeter to engine ground and positive lead in the coolant.
NOTE POSITIVE TEST PROBE IS IN THE COOLANT FOR TESTING.
c. Check the voltage in the cooling system. If less than or equal to 0.4 volts (V) OK, reconnect battery cables and proceed to Step 2.
d. If greater than 0.4 V, flush cooling system thoroughly.
e. Recheck voltage less than or equal to 0.4 V.
f. Reconnect battery cables.
g. Refill the system with appropriate Motorcraft® engine coolant.
2. Check for loose or missing grounds at static conditions.
a. Turn off all accessories. Turn ignition on but do not start engine.
b. Test with ground probe to battery ground, engine ground, and vehicle ground sequentially.
c. Voltage less than or equal to 0.4 V on all grounds OK.
d. Any one greater than 0.4 V, check and clean ground cable connections.
e. Check accessories without using the on off switch on the vehicle instrument panel, use a jumper wire to ground.
f. Plug in engine block heater, if equipped, and test.
g. Recheck voltage less than or equal to 0.4 V.
h. Unplug engine block heater, if equipped.
3. Check for loose, missing, or inadequate grounds.
a. Test with ground probe to battery ground, engine ground, and vehicle ground sequentially.
b. Crank engine but do not start.
c. Monitor voltage while cranking. less than or equal to 0.4 V OK
d. If greater than 0.4 V, ground or repair starter.
e. Start engine and run at about 2000 rpm.
f. Turn on all accessories including those customer only uses occasionally such as CB radio, cell phone, etc.
g. Test with ground probe to battery ground, engine ground, and vehicle ground sequentially.
h. Voltage less than or equal to 0.4 V OK
i. If greater than 0.4 V, turn off one item at a time until V drops to less than or equal to 0.4 V. Repair ground to the accessory just identified.
j. Recheck voltage less than or equal to 0.4 V
k. Turn the DVOM to AC volts.
l. Check for ANY AC voltage greater than 0.4.
m. If any AC voltage is present then try turning off each accessory one at a time including blower motor and any fan motors.
n. If AC voltage is still present then shut engine off and remove B+ from the alternator and tape it up then retest.
o. If voltage drop is gradual to less than or equal to 0.4 V, the ground straps may simply be overloaded by added accessories. Test by using heavy gauge jumper to ground. If indicated, install heavier gauge ground strap(s) and recheck.

[rumblecloud]

Thanks for the feedback.
Never had any issues with the alternator, battery exploding or coolant system. I'm in Michigan so road salt is definitely an issue. I have been using the charger a lot, but that has been recent as I started working on it again, but never with the hood down.

I'm not sure when the hole formed and as near as I can tell it is only leaking exhaust. I'll check the coolant today and look for signs of electrolysis. I would never have even considered this. So thanks for the heads up and the TSB.

The bay is in decent shape really. I just replaced the battery and the tray is in really good shape. I can post some photos later, specially from around that side of the engine.

Well, at least I know what I'll be doing today

[rumblecloud]

Made some more progress today and yesterday. Checked the coolant and cooling system and everything seems to be ok. The coolant was a little low, but noting major.

It does seem like it runs hot though after a spirited run around our country "block." The temp gauge doesn't show it but it just seems hot under the hood.

For fun, I pulled the plugs and did a compression check and came up with numbers in the 165-170 range (pretty consistent) and am wondering if that's normal or what. Can't find any specific numbers on the site so I'm curious what you guys might know.

The plugs on the side of the crappy manifold (the left side) show rust residue between the boot and the hex, but the threads and below are clean and show no signs of wear or damage. The right side plugs are all clean and look good.

At one time I did have the valve cover replaced becase it had rusted through and was leaking oil. Could that have led to the deterioration of the manifold?

Thanks for any input.

[EaOutlaw1969]

If your coolant was low make sure to pressure check the cooling system including the pressure cap.

You may want to get a inspection mirror or inspection camera to make sure no coolant is coming out of the weep hole on the water pump.

If you have not replaced the fan clutch at all or in a long time you may want to test it.

There are videos online that show how to test the fan clutch.

With the amount of rust on the engine, a close inspection of the freeze plugs would not be a bad idea.

Most freeze plugs rust from the inside out, because of poorly maintained cooling systems.

Since your coolant was maintained and in good shape, I would just make sure the drivers side plugs are not rusted from the road salt.

If your not planning or wanting to replace the cylinder head that is leaking exhaust, You may get lucky by cleaning the surface the best you can and try out some extreme heat JB weld,

It will not be a permanent repair but it should buy you some time to figure out what is best for your budget.

https://www.jbweld.com/products/j-b-extremeheat

[rumblecloud]

Thanks for the advice. I will look more closely into the cooling system as it seems to be the most likely culprit.

Yes, the heads - both of them are on my radar - not sure if I could or should replace only one. And when I do, I'm not sure if I should reuse the guts or buy complete heads with all the trimmings, It's a shame too as the bottom (block etc,) seems to be fine. A complete exhaust is also in the mix.

I'll check the items you mentioned hopefully by weeks end.

Thanks again.

r

[EaOutlaw1969]

Do not go through all this work without doing both heads.

Do you have a local machine shop you trust?

You should purchase at least one cylinder head.

If your other cylinder head is not rusted severely you could send it out to the the machine shop to be rebuilt. ( should be less money than a whole replacement )

The machine shop can supply you with another head or both heads if it turns out they both need to be replaced.

They will also supply you with the head gasket set also.

It will be less hassle to just order two new heads and a gasket set.

The new heads shouldn't have any signs of corrosion, where I am guessing the head on the passenger side may have some corrosion which will give a shorter life span.

What you should do is up to your budget. my guess is you will only save a little money by trying to save the passenger side head but end up with more leg work.

It is common practice to use torque to yield head bolts on many engines.

Check with a service manual if that is the case with your engine.

If so make sure to buy new head bolts or a ARP stud kit if one is available for your engine.

Using a stud kit will require different torque procedures than the torque to yield, make sure to follow the appropriate procedure.

Whenever possible I like to use ARP studs, but it may be overkill for your project on a stock engine.

[barneycat11]

You might want to just drill and tap a pipe plug in the hole since it's just the exhaust port.

[rumblecloud]

KEVIN: I do have a local shop that I trust and may just park the truck and ask them really nice to fix it -- heads and exhaust. Believe me, I am not into extra legwork just to save a buck. That usually ends up coming back to bite you the end (so to speak ).

barneycat11:
That's a good idea to get me by. Combined with the JB Weld that EA has pointed me to might hold till I figure out what I want to do. Not in a big hurry, but do want to have it is some reasonable driving shape come winter for the occasional foray out into the nethers. Save the wear and tear on my other vehicles.

I will need to see if there's enough material to hole a patch or plug of some sort.

Gotta go out now and start cutting wood for the fireplace. I need about 5 cords and only have three. Do a little at a time and it ain't so hard.

[rumblecloud]

Well, no luck at the local shop I normally use as they no longer take on that type of work. They have a machine shop for head work but don't do in-house head replacement.

I did find another engine shop in the area that appears to do pretty decent work according to reviews and have been around for awhile. They also do competition racing engines. So....I'll be talking to them this week hopefully.

Thinking out loud:
The more I think about t, the more I realize it is out of my league to do myself. And it is a critical point in whatever direction I take moving forward with the rebuild. If I do the heads, there is no turning back. Then I think, "why not do an engine swap?" If I'm making the investment, why not juice it up?

Crazy if you think about it in normal terns because you will most definitely spend way more than the truck is worth. But you can't think avout it in normal terms.

[EaOutlaw1969]

A v8 swap would be nice and eliminate many of the common problems certain engine come with,

Yet it will require a lot more work than you may be ready for.

If i was younger and had a good neck and back I would have done the v8 conversation a long time ago.