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Searley

1999 XH Ute 125,000kms Blown Head Gasket

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Hello Thom,Ok So I Can Use The AU Head With Cam & Rocker Gear But Keep Evrything Else XH,Sounds Easier.I've Just Had Bad Luck With Single Coil Packs Over The Years And Thought That The Multi-Coil Might Be A Solution.As It Is I've Relocated The Single Coils Of My Fords To An Accessible Position For Easy Testing & Replacement Than The Traditional "Bolt It To The Side Of The Motor With All The Vibration & Heat So It Gives Up The Ghost Quicker And In A Pretty Difficult Position To Get To.I'd Like To Keep This XH Motor As Its Done One Only 125,000 Kms And Every 5,000 Kms The Wealthy Station Ownwer $Spent $3000.00 Replaceing Everything That Could Be Changed Not Just A Cheap Service.Anyhow I Come You Know All Of This Stuff?Did You Work In A Shonky Motor Replacement/Fitting Sort Of Wrecking Yard?I'm Fascinated How You Guys Know So Much!Even The Car Books Say Little Useful Info,Mucho Apprecio,Amigos!
Yes you can use the au head an associated parts as long as the au isn't a variable cam timing engine, I found out alot about these engines from some old speedway guy's and about 10 years ago when I was and apprentice with not alot of cash I wanted to build a hot 4.0 for my xh so I spent my weekends at pick a part and places like that pulling apart 4.0s just to find put all the differences between them all, after about 6 months of "research" I ended up building a 4.0 out of mostly stock parts mixed and matched from ea to au and it made 183kw at the rear wheels it was a blast, if you look up my 4.0 thread there's alot of info in there from myself and other members on 4.0 sixes

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Thank You Gentlemen,You Saved Me A Lot Of Those Horrible Mechanical Headaches And Heartaches And Also From Banging My Head Against The Wall(Which I've Never Done) And Then From Becoming Alcoholic!  I've Got To Ge

t Advice From The Pros Before I Put My Head Into The Lions Mouth!

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On ‎26‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 6:34 AM, Valvebouncer said:

Ok. Firstly to clear up the misunderstanding, the only reason ef/early el and xh ohc blew head gaskets from factory were because of defective head bolts. The head of the bolt would break off. Ford themselves took responsibility for this back in the day and did a recall to replace head bolts before their clamping pressure released from the head breaking off and blowing the head gasket as a result.

I run a mls (multi layer steel) head gasket in my ute with the block decked 5 thou and 20 thou off the head. As Chris and Dean have said, you must have the head serviced and machined flat. Also you need to check the block, if there is pitting around the coolant galleries it will need to have the face machined. An mls head gasket has no give like a graphite head gasket. The mls one is actually designed so that the outer 2 layers will adhere to the head and block then as it heats and expands (remember aluminium head will expand more than an iron block) then once cool return to its normal seated position. Ford did this so they could run cylinder shut down technology in the case of over heating in au falcons.
Go buy yourself a good quality permaseal mls head gasket and be prepared to pay. Buy permaseal head bolts also. Any company willing to cast the part number in the head is worth using. I sprayed a light coating of hylomar on the head gasket before fitting. Follow the torque specs that come with the gasket. They are different from the graphite ones.
A Barra conversion into a xh is harder than all other x series because it runs a ef/el sub frame with less clearance for the alloy sump.

Hello Mr. Valvebouncer, I've had the Head Tested-All Good & Shaved.Now I've seen on e-bay Permaseal Head Gaskets of Varying $Prices,Some as low as say $90..0 up to $383.00 for a AU Head Gasket.Are there some gaskets made in China with the Permaseal name or is the Genuine Aussie one the Most Expensive? Also I Would like to go using Proper High-Tensile Head Studs,Washers & Nuts But some of these are Pretty Wocking High Dollar Like Up to $50.00 a Stud w/- washer & nut.I don't know how much the Permaseal Bolts are but I suppose they'll have to do.I'll speak to my Local Repco man today.Would Grade 8 Studs be up to it do you think? Anyway,Thanks for any info Gentlemen and Enjoy Your Day!Searley!

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You can buy the head gasket and bolts from permaseal on ebay as a kit. I agree with valvey... multi layer steel head gasket. ... only way to fly.
Permaseal would be the cheapest bolts I'd use.



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Hello Mr. Valvebouncer, I've had the Head Tested-All Good & Shaved.Now I've seen on e-bay Permaseal Head Gaskets of Varying $Prices,Some as low as say $90..0 up to $383.00 for a AU Head Gasket.Are there some gaskets made in China with the Permaseal name or is the Genuine Aussie one the Most Expensive? Also I Would like to go using Proper High-Tensile Head Studs,Washers & Nuts But some of these are Pretty Wocking High Dollar Like Up to $50.00 a Stud w/- washer & nut.I don't know how much the Permaseal Bolts are but I suppose they'll have to do.I'll speak to my Local Repco man today.Would Grade 8 Studs be up to it do you think? Anyway,Thanks for any info Gentlemen and Enjoy Your Day!Searley!

G’day Searley, definitely use a permaseal AU mls head gasket and follow the torque specs the gasket comes with, NOT ones in a workshop manual. I use permaseal head bolts too, they will have the part number HS041 stamped in the top of them. Anyone willing to do that gains my trust. Genuine ford ones are no longer available. I personally don’t like Nason as I have seen some of their head bolts fail like the originals and some stretching but that is my personal experience. The choice is up to you.
Be careful with the eBay Seller’s, I couldn’t find one that would package a permaseal head gasket and permaseal bolts, all I found packaged in Nason head bolts so just ask the question before purchasing.

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17 hours ago, Valvebouncer said:


G’day Searley, definitely use a permaseal AU mls head gasket and follow the torque specs the gasket comes with, NOT ones in a workshop manual. I use permaseal head bolts too, they will have the part number HS041 stamped in the top of them. Anyone willing to do that gains my trust. Genuine ford ones are no longer available. I personally don’t like Nason as I have seen some of their head bolts fail like the originals and some stretching but that is my personal experience. The choice is up to you.
Be careful with the eBay Seller’s, I couldn’t find one that would package a permaseal head gasket and permaseal bolts, all I found packaged in Nason head bolts so just ask the question before purchasing.

Hi Valvebouncer,Hmmm! e-bay becomes Evil-Bay again.I'll be buying Gaket & Bolts from Repco or BursonS Man so I can visually check.Thanks for that one can Never be Toooo Smart!

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