Cylinder head gaskets seal the space between the cylinder head and engine block in your Ford F-150 pickup truck. The gaskets are designed to maintain proper compression and to keep oil in the correct engine channels. Head gaskets can fail; some signs to look for are oil in your coolant or heavy white smoke spewing from the exhaust pipe.
Disconnect the negative battery cable.
Drain the engine oil and coolant.
Remove the coolant hose from the cylinder head.
Remove the valve cover.
Remove the timing cover, timing chain, and belts.
Remove the intake manifold and exhaust manifold.
Remove all sensor plugs hooked to the cylinder head.
Remove cylinder head bolts a quarter of a turn at a time in sequence to protect the bolts from snapping.
Use a pry bar in the corners and the rubber mallet to break the cylinder head free from the engine block.
Lift the cylinder head out of the engine and store it on a soft surface.
Remove the cylinder head gaskets, keeping note of the placement of the gaskets.
Clean the engine block surface with a scraper and rubbing alcohol.
Make sure that the engine block surface is clean.
Install the head gaskets on the engine block surface.
Make sure that gaskets are flat on the surface and in the correct dowels.
Clean the cylinder head surface and make sure that the surface is flat.
Place the cylinder head on top of the gaskets.
Install the cylinder head bolts, tighten and torque.
Reinstall the sensor plugs.
Reinstall the intake and exhaust manifolds.
Install the intake and exhaust manifold bolts and nuts.
Tighten and torque the intake and exhaust manifold bolts and nuts.
Install the timing chain, belts and timing chain cover.
Install the valve cover and coolant hose.
Fill the radiator with coolant.
Fill the engine with oil.
Reconnect the negative battery cable.
Start and run the engine at idle for 10 to 20 minutes and inspect for leaks at the head gaskets.
