Gents, bought a late 04 F550 this past summer. Knowing what I know now, I bought the truck with blown head gaskets and have been driving it intermittently (not a DD, mostly hauling stuff to the dump, picking up parts, etc.) since then. Yesterday the lower radiator hose popped off (not split, but slid off of the radiator) and dumped coolant. I drove the truck for max 3 miles from where the hose likely popped and where I was going.
Given the fact that I've been driving with blown head gaskets for a few thousand miles, and given the radiator pop scenario articulated above, would your gut instinct be to replace the engine? I am saving up to do the bulletproof (head gaskets, studs, few other things), but am thinking now that due to the length of time and yesterday's assumed overheat, that the head/block is going to be warped anyway. Truck has 215k miles now.
FWIW I put the radiator hose back on, put 4.5 gal of 50/50 back in and kept driving afterwards. Doesn't feel any different than before.
Thoughts?
I'm leaning towards the new engine route. If I go the new engine route I'd go with the Asheville Engine's Performance .20 or .30 over long block and move all the components from the original engine over to the new one. Not looking forward to the $6k bill for an engine from Asheville Engine, but with that new engine I'd be all in to the truck with $14000, so I can't complain I guess. We all know how a project snowballs though.