460 engine failure 800 miles street use

Default D9TE new rebuild head gasket problem
Okay, here it goes in a nutshell. 800 mile mild complete rebuild:1989 F350 EFI SD applicdation
1. D9TE block
2. F3TE heads
.065 dished.030 psctons
stock rods and crank
mild comp cam computer compatible
30 lb motorsport injectors

800 miles on motor and upper radiator hose lets go driving up highway at about 60 ,iles per hour.
Check compression and find 7 and 8 no compression. Pull left (driver's) Head
discover head gasket eaten away between 7 and 8 wlth a small passage in the gasket between 5 and 6.
Blow out between 7 and 8 so bad it took out the engine deck which had been redecked prior to buiild.

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Head surface also eaten out between 5 and 6 (view is block side
...large burn out between 7 and 8 and small between 5 and 6 (bottom view)



driver's head gasket facing up towards head and facing front (5-



Engine ran fine with some small knocking issues about 10 minutes before failure...any theories? temp go to warm but not hot.
Also, who rewelds 460 blocks so we can get it redecked again...right side bank just fine. top pf picture is #8 cylinder and bottom is cylinder 5 (left side bank)

most machine shops do that kinda repair, you just have to dissemble it and take it to who ever you use for your machine work, and do you need the head repaired also? I've seen this happen before only at the track racing, when the engine goes lean it burns them between the cyls. good luck with your repairs. what did you have the heads torqued to? it could have done the same thing if they were not tight enough too

IT WENT LEAN

TOO much timing,too little fuel, too low fuel presser,wrong octane fuel

I also see you might not of had the head lined up right on the block( see head gasket dowel) dowel is fully inserted in head.this can cause a vac leak,and or a lean condition in the engine

Head was offset on deck, cylinders never sealed, it was dying from the day it went together. You can see the offset in the firering impression on the head. It had a blown head gasket from day one....... just beat it to death.....

Anyone notice he said it was the left (drivers) side head and looking at the head gasket picture he had the gasket on backwards. You can see looking at the outline is side facing the head and the water passage is at the front.

It was put together by the machine shop doing the work. I will take all these replies with me back to the machine shop on Monday...Thank you to you wizards...I have never been through this before. I know I'm out alot of money ($2000 for the motor plus another $1500.00 to have it swapped out).

It was put together by the machine shop doing the work. ...Thank you to you wizards...I have never been through this before. I compared the head gasket to a new one Felpro one I  had  and I don't see any top or bottom on the original head gasket (it's a MCCord)... On my new set of felpro's, the head  gasket itself is marked front so I assume that part that marked front goes to the front and facing up on the engine block. We could not see any difference as far as ports went as the gasket that was in there. The only mARKINGS ON THE mCcORD GASKET WAS THE NUMERS WHICH WERE INSTALLED FACING UP.

Sounds like you're in for a squabble. Good luck to you.

This is NOT something which just happened ... the gasket in the photo has been blown for quite a while and there is another issue or issues behind it somewhere.

As I said, engine has been in vehicle for less than a month and was on 3rd oil change (100 mile first change...300 miles 2nd change, 500 miles 3rd change...all high quality Shell with break-in fluiid added) when this let go on 60  mile trip up the highway (same run it made 3 times before). One minute everything was fine except for temp starting to climb and next minute the upper radiator hose blew and that was the end of that. Engine would still idle fine after that but wouldn't take any load.

driver's side head gasket facing towards head and forward

Gasket looks cheapo also.

Temp got warm not hot, and blew the rad hose off-sounds like the temp gauge reading was innaccurate due to not being submerged in coolant ie: thermostat failure, improperly installed head gasket(s), or a blocked water passage.

Blown gasket pressurized the cooling system... Hose was the weak link...

QtrWarrior wrote:Blown gasket pressurized the cooling system... Hose was the weak link...

X2 That what I was thinking blown head gasket cause the hose to blow

I'm in agreement is that the blown hose was a result of the head gasket letting go not causing it. The temp gauge on the head (stick on) shows the head never got hotter than 210 degrees. I shut down the motor when the hose blew and had it towed home.So, with the 30 lb injectors causing 1-5 cylinders to foul (too much fuel for SD)(you can see this on the picture then what caused cyliners 6-8 to run lean (head misaligned initially?) proof in the dowels stuck in the head...I don't know as I've seen dowels stuck in many heads I've pulled apart on perfectly good motors (jusrt freshing up)!

02 wires crossed.   Left bank was right bank..  so the one reading lean was at full duty cycle and the one reading rich was at min duty cycle.   That or the injector harness swapped sides.  Same result. If referencing the soot no head gasket seal, low compression, slow fuel burn. Lots of soot.

kim wrote:02 wires crossed.   Left bank was right bank..  so the one reading lean was at full duty cycle and the one reading rich was at min duty cycle.   That or the injector harness swapped sides.  Same result.  If referencing the soot no head gasket seal, low compression, slow fuel burn.  Lots of soot.

That sounds like someone changed the firing order wires of the injectors. If the injector firing order and the ignition firing order don't match ... SO WHAT ... don't change them to match. That screws-up to O2 readings and control within the ECM from side to side.

Thats how it can happen. Truck isnt SEFI any how... its batch fire left or right...

Speed density is batch fire correct and it only has one o2 sensor in 1989. As far as the harness goes, there is only one way it can go together...one is loing and one is short.

I was just offering a hypothetical way it might happen to rich/lean the banks. I think the soot is merely the result of the blown head gasket and the resulting low compression.

kim wrote:Thats how it can happen.   Truck isnt SEFI any how... its batch fire left or right...

I see that a lot when using a mass air small block injection system on a big block.

800 miles fine and then blown head gasket that bad?  Original picture of head gasket is of a gasket put on backwards. The coolant passage on the side has to be at the back and one at front blocked. If reversed coolant comes out of block into front of head and right out to the intake without circulating across head. Certainly would not show as overheated at front of head in that case, but coolant in head would be a lot hotter.

So looks like we are into the internet guess game. Simple question was the passage on the side of gasket installed to the front or rear? Original picture is to the front and wrong.

My guess is gasket installed backwards and got away with it running 30 lb injectors in a stock setup calling for 24lb meaning you where running rich. Either 7 and 8 wires started cross firing or you got some bad gas and was enough to push it over the edge.  

If shop put on gasket backwards you have a point, otherwise would be whatever the warranty is. I will tell you most shops will not warranty an engine if you take it apart as you have. When it fails should have towed it to the shop if under warranty. Good luck.

The gasket pictures show the bottom view and the top view both left side facing front...If it was installed backwards, the shop will definately be responsiible...I am heading there this morning for the showdown and will keep everyone advised. Thank you again for all your help.

mgawat wrote:The gasket pictures show the bottom view and the top view both left side facing front...If it was installed backwards, the shop will definately be responsiible...I am heading there this morning for the showdown and will keep everyone advised. Thank you again for all your help.

Realize that they are not required to fix or be responsible for anything, (no matter what the warranty), after you disassembled it.
Try and reason with them; don't go there with a hard case attitude. This is not a time for that.