Cracked 6.0 Cylinder Head? Here’s an Innovative Solution

An Innovative Fix For A Cracked 6.0 Cylinder Head

There are few experiences in life more unpleasant than opening up one’s cooling system and finding something other than coolant. If you have diesel fuel in the coolant of your 6.0-liter Ford Power Stroke, there’s a very good chance you’ve stumbled upon one of the engine’s weak points: a crack in the cylinder head between the injector bore and the coolant passage. Ford’s recommended repair? Replace the head.

 Bullet Proof Diesel of Mesa, Arizona, is in the business of solving problems with the 6.0, and they’ve come up with an innovative solution that involves sealing the crack rather than replacing the head. The benefits are obvious. A new head costs around $1,500 and the labor for replacing it—which includes removing the entire cab and front clip—can run north of $4,000. And a new head won’t necessarily head off the problem. According to Bullet Proof, the cracks don’t seem to correspond to any particular mileage or usage pattern, so a new head may be just as prone to cracking as those already installed on the truck.

 Bullet Proof’s repair does not require removal of the head, and retail cost for the repair is in the neighborhood of $1,000 to $2,000. At that rate, an owner can have four cylinders repaired on four separate occasions and still save money. (Not that this is likely to happen, though Bullet Proof has found trucks with cracks at multiple injector bores.)

 Bullet Proof designed their repair kit to use basic hand tools, so if you like to swing your own wrenches and can handle fairly in-depth repairs, say, removing and replacing the fuel injectors, which you will need to do for this repair you can test for and seal these cracks yourself. The complete testing and repair kit, which includes most of the equipment needed to test the engine and repair up to four cracks, sells for $645.95. Additional sealant sells for $24.95 per pack of four.

 In addition to the kit, you’ll need a cooling system pressure tester (Bullet Proof sells them for $49.95) and a grease gun. For disposables, you’ll need WD-40, trans prep grease, a tube of grease for the grease gun, brake cleaner, and paper shop towels. Bullet Proof Diesel recommends replacing several rubber parts (including cooling and fuel system O-rings), which may be damaged by diesel fuel; a list is included in the instructions.

The first step is to verify that you indeed have diesel fuel in your coolant. Start with the degas (coolant reservoir) bottle. You should be able to see or smell the fuel; fuel-contaminated coolant will smell a bit like varnish. The degas bottle and its cap may swell, making removal difficult, and the coolant hoses may feel spongy. If the residue in the coolant is black or brown, it may be engine oil, which would denote a different problem.

 We visited Bullet Proof Diesel to see how the repair is done, and we were impressed by how straightforward it is. Time and patience are the key elements to this repair; be sure you have plenty of both, and remember to follow Bullet Proof’s instructions carefully.

Cracked Cup?

Mechanics who are familiar with the 7.3-liter Power Stroke engine often diagnose fuel in the coolant as a cracked injector cup (the metal insert between the injector and the head). While cracked injector cups are a problem on the 7.3, Bullet Proof has yet to find a 6.0 with a cracked cup. The cracks occur in the head, at or above the top of the cup.

 Minimum Required Supplies:

Bullet Proof repair kit
Cooling system pressure tester
Grease gun
Tube of grease
Brake cleaner
WD-40
Shop towels
Assorted hand tools
Miscellaneous gaskets and O-rings (list included with kit)

IN CLOSING

Mechanics who are familiar with the 7.3-liter Power Stroke engine often diagnose fuel in the coolant as a cracked injector cup (the metal insert between the injector and the head). While cracked injector cups are a problem on the 7.3, Bullet Proof has yet to find a 6.0 with a cracked cup. The cracks occur in the head, at or above the top of the cup.