Hey Guys...Just a quick question...Ive been reading on head gasket failure on the 4.7's..Most of the time its from overheating and or I even heard for no reason at all.. (Stretched head bolts)..Mine has never ran hot and I have no reason to suspect head gasket failure and that's how I want to keep it...Radiator was replaced by the first owner, he said It blew when he first bought it brand new.....Now it has 142k on the meter...When I bought it I did the jet 180 T-stat right away, just because it had a leaking t-stat housing..Anyway can I just replace the head bolts to insure that the gaskets won't fail?..I've read on some site, and a couple suggested go ahead and do that and you should be good..Well unless it ever overheats..I was going to replace the heads with HO heads but now I'm unsure if it will be ok to do so...So I'm going to replace the lash adjusters and while I'm in there do the head bolts...Just seeing what you guys think..Thanks guys...

 

The old saying of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" springs to mind.
Just consistent regular servicing and PM are the ticket to longevity.
Al.

 

Well...LOL..I guess I talked this up...It seems Im having coolant loss somewhere...And it will only do it over night...I can't find a leak anywhere...And its very little but for sure its going somewhere..

 

That's what I mean about PM.
Preventative Maintenance.
Yep..... Having a 4.7 with a coolant leak would concern me as we'll.
look at the water pump weep hole. If the pumps going out, sometimes it starts with a small amount weeping out of that hole.
Also, the plastic side tanks on the main radiator sometimes split, theses leaks are also difficult to spot.
The fill necks of the reservoir tanks also split and weep along with t stat housings and rad caps.
Those common leaks along with hoses and clamps must be checked.
A lot I know but as you say coolant loss, particularly on a 4.7 platform with a history of overheating issues is concerning.
Btw.....4.7 owners please don't bash me here lol.

 

Best prevention is as already stated....Preventative maintenance.
I've heard many people say they don't believe in flushing coolant as it will break away chunks that are blocking leaks. That's the silliest thing I've ever heard of. If there is a clog blocking a potential leak, I want to know about it because your driving on borrowed time!
The additives in coolant break down and it becomes very caustic to internal parts over time. Most of the time, a bad headgasket is because the car either overheated at some time from faulty T-stat, waterpump, or radiator....OR the coolant had never been flushed out!

Go rent a block tester from Autozone, you pour liquid in the tube that goes over the radiator hole and while the engine is idling, if you see the liquid turn yellow, you have a headgasket problem.
OR
You can have a shop pressure test the coolant system to see if it holds pressure.

I would do both head gaskets for ..keywords...'Preventative Maintenance" since you'll have most of the engine stripped down anyways and kits are not much more than singles anyhow.

 

Thanks guys..I replaced the radiator..LoL.The cores on it were blowing up like balloons..I replaced that, flushed the coolant and its been fine every since.No coolant loss either anymore!!!.I never seen a radiator do what this one did..Its been a few weeks and all is good...

 

I've seen the rads on the 4.7s split along the sides before. Nasty when they fail. Thankfully my dad's first rad went in the drive way. Still had enough water in it to get to the shop, but just barely. 130k mi on my dad's 02 4.7, not a single problem yet.

 

158,000 on my 02 4.7, runs like a champ. Doesn't drip a single drop of anything but AC condensation.

Maintain your vehicles and they will love you back. Most failures you read about nobody ever tells the whole truth. Motor randomly blew up? No, they were trying to race the HEMI next to them. Threw a rod? Of course I changed the oil... once... in 200,000 miles.

 

Amen brother..LOL.Its the truth..I just kept reading about random head gasket failure..I take car of mine but I've only had A few months..I believe the guy before me took care of it also though..I will be replacing the lash adjuster very soon..I get that cold start up racket that I know for sure is coming from under the valve covers..Headers are on my list to do also..But Im getting my gears put in first..Im not racing mine but just want more pulling power..I think once I do the lash adjusters the motor will be quiet as can be..I know I will get some noise at cold start up because of the design but it won't be as loud as it is now I think!!!