[cobra232]

ORIGINAL: stangdriver2007

but he has overheated a few times in the begining of 07 too so id be carefull. the whole problem with the head gasket failure was the small coolant passages. the heads warp very easily too and even if they are slightly warped but still in specs MILL THEM. these engines are horrible for head gaskets 94-95 were the worst years for this problem

no the problem was because of excessive passages. sometime in 96 they changed the passages in the heads eliminating a long passage around the chamber. this with better head gaskets pretty much eliminated the problem from late96 on.

the best thing to do is get a set of at least 97+ ford MLS gaskets and 96 bolts. have the heads resurfaced and put back on. ideally the block should be decked but it's unlikely the deck is warped.

whoever did the gaslets peobably used cheap 96 bolts and cheap felpro 96 gaskets or even cheaper gaskets.

97 plus ford MLS gaskets with premium ARP heal bolts and the gaskets sprayed completely with copper gasket spray will eliominate this peoblem.

problem is too many garages don't know the correct fix and just replace everything with the parts that alowed the failure in the first place.

actually it would be cheaper and wiser to just get a 97 or 98 junkyard engine for about $400 and pay to have it put in for about $400 more. tyhe entire swap will need nothing extra and cost less than a head gasket job