Head Gasket Leak

[turbo84voyager]

Hi,

I just finishing installing a 5.9 cummins in my friends 92 Ford F150. The engine was out of a 91 D250 and is intercooled with 190K and it was very well taken care of until the truck fell of a lift and was totaled. It is mated to a Ford ZF trans. Anyway 100 miles later it developed a water leak and it appears to be the head gasket. It is directly under the thermostat housing. I have a few questions, is it normal to retorque the head? If so is there a different torque spec or sequence? Is it normal for them to leak here? My last question is how long are the pushrods? I am worried about getting the back 2 out due to firewall / cowl clearance.

Thanks,

Justin

[Evilancer]

You can try re-torquing the head, just go by the pattern that is in a factory service manual. When the head gasket does fail, that is a common spot for them to start leaking, on the front of the block under the thermostat housing.
The push rods are fairly long. I've never worked on a 12valve in a 1st gen truck, or one thats been swapped into a Ford, but on a 2nd gen Dodge like my 02 there is a provision in the cowl so you can get them out.

Jon

[glhs0426]

The head bolts are only supposed to be reused twice. It is very common for a 12valve to leak coolant under the thermostat housing at the head gasket. I'm sure there are other places they will leak, but I've never seen it.