Ford PSD - Aluminum Heads?

[v92c]

it may come down to the Cummins vs. the Powerstroke and your preference for either vs. their long-term performance/reliability records.

Ford change the Powerstroke, they are using an aluminum head now. When you put a good load on them they blow the heads out. This came from a guy that has a company with 100 or so Ford trucks. He is changing them out for Dodges

Tony

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

When did Ford change the heads. I have a 2006 brochure in front of me and it states the heads are cast iron. Chevy has the aluminumn heads and Dodge I do not know. My 05 has cast iron heads.

 

[v92c]

That I dont know, he said that he was having problems with the trucks he had in service I assumed they were 2004's or newer

 

[nhunter]

Ford does not use an aluminum head on their power stroke diesels. The 2004-to early 2005 used a different head gasket the was inadequate. Mine went at 120000km and when you removed rad cap sounded like a gunshot. They have since changed head gaskets. Leaking is usually caused by load on engine.

 

[derrickg]

V-10 (Gas)

The V-10 gas engine has alum. heads, not the 6.0.

 

[Loco]

That is right Ford does not use Alum.heads on the Power stroke. They had alot of trouble the first two years of the new 6.0 but have most or all the bugs out now. I now own one of each.7.3 and 6.0 The 7.3 is a 2000 F-350 4x4 service body 12000 lbs (loaded) and 109K on it with no troubles at all. The 6.0 is 3 months old in a F-350 Four door 4x4 daully 4-10 rear end with 6K on it pulling a 24420 lbs (loaded) toy box 5th wheel no troubles to date. Gets 10-12 miles to gal @ 70MPH

 

[bigbird272]

Powerstroke diesels all have cast iron heads. The new Scorpion engines made by Ford starting in 2011 have aluminum heads in their new diesels. So not until 2011.

Rick

 

[Recovered from 25-May-2010]

Just to clear up the mud a little. Ford 6.0 engines all have cast iron heads. The heads are the same on all 6.0 engines from introduction until 1-16-06. After that date, new heads were introduced with minor changes. These changes were to accommodate their use on the upcoming 6.4 engine. They were not reliability mods so to speak. There were some changes in valve train geometry and the locating dowels were enlarged to 20mm diameter. The same head bolts were retained through the 6.4 production.There has only been 1 head gasket change and that was on 9-23-03 when the second generation 6.0 was introduced. This new multi layer head gasket has proven to be bulletproof up to 650 horsepower. Now, the rocker boxes that sit atop the heads are aluminum. I have not seen many issues with them at all. Is that the confusion? If so, someone is barking up the wrong tree.

Regards

 

[egnors]

the newest 6.7 Scorpion has aluminum heads, but it also has more headbolts per cylinder, and a slightly lowered compression ratio compared to the 6.0 and 6.4 engines. The heads also flow air backwards from what has been the PSD norm. intake on outsides, exhaust right in the valley.

 

[ricatic]

egnors

You are correct. I would like to make a point here though. The 6.7 does have more cylinder head bolts per cylinder. The 6.0 has been pummeled by the detractors for only having 10 head bolts per side. The 6.4 has the same exact heads, block and head bolts, 10. If the head bolts and head gaskets were a design flaw on the 6.0, why have the 6.4's been so good about head gasket issues. Now that the real reasons for head gasket issues, actual or imagined, are well known we are seeing a lot less head gasket repairs being done.

Regards

 

[egnors]

I only brought up the number of headbolts because of the heads now being aluminum. I also understand that the 6.4 has basically the same heads and bolts. I would imagine the EGR cooler is quite a bit different, as well as not needing the oil cooler anymore will help with a lot of the puking issues that plagued the 6.0. I think most of the so called headgasket issues were more likely misdiagnosed plugged oil coolers that resulted in failed EGR coolers instead. I have a 2006, so I've researched that engine's shortcomings quite a bit. Just had to take it in for the STC fitting to be fixed as it were. Been thinking about having the cooling system flushed, and maybe add a coolant filter. Though I have not had one instance of puking, it would be more for piece of mind.

 

[ricatic]

egnors

It is so important to have a coolant filter on the 6.0. That and some engine monitoring equipment help ensure trouble free operation.