Finally got my 6.0 to hit 400 hp on the dyno after 3 blown gaskets

Spent all last week swapping head studs and tuning on my 2005 F-250. Third time was the charm I guess. Hit 402 hp at the wheels and the smoke cleared up way better than I expected. Anyone else have a project that just fought you every step of the way?

2 comments

2 Comments

park.robin1mo ago

Oh man don't even get me started on the head gasket dance. I went through three sets before I finally admitted I was the problem not the truck. Yeah I ran ARP studs after the second blowout and that plus a Gearhead tune finally made it behave. Kept telling myself I could get away with the stock bolts if I just babied it but nope that's how you end up with a driveway full of coolant and a lot of bad words. Your EGTs sounding scary hits close to home I had to watch my pyro like a hawk for the first few months after the rebuild. Now it's steady at 402 and I'm honestly scared to touch anything because this thing has trauma bonded with me through all those gasket failures.

michaelchen1mo ago

Did you run ARP studs or stick with the factory style bolts? I fought my 2004 for months with head gaskets and finally caved on studs and a fresh tune from Matt at Gearhead. The stock bolts just can't hang once you push past 400. Your 402 number sounds solid for a 6.0, especially if you're still on stock injectors. What turbo and tuning are you running that let it clean up that smoke? I had to dial back my timing three times before my EGTs stopped scaring me on hard pulls.