Hi all.
I know this has been covered to death, but I had an idea.
I have a friend with a 2016 Edge 2.0l ecoboost with 106k miles, Cleveland engine. It just started showing signs of the dreaded head gasket failure. #1 spark plug has burnt coolant on it, intermittent P0301 code, rough idle on startup.
She's on a tight budget and bought the car used from a private party, I seriously doubt any dealer is going to swap the long block for what she can afford, or for less than what the car is worth for that matter.
I did some research. Seems that Mustangs with the 2.3l of similar vintage have the same issue, same cause, particularly when modded. I found a race shop on the web that sells a kit that supposedly fixes the problem. It consists of a set of ARP head studs and a modified head gasket.
I looked at the factory head bolts and they seem pretty wimpy. So bad that they're even fully threaded. I checked the part number and the 2.0l uses the same studs as the 2.3, so the ARP kit should work, although APR does not list the 2.0l as an application for them. There are 2 ARP kits available, Pro Series (251-3701) for around $110 or CA625+ (251-4303) for about $400. The race shop sells the CA625+ variant.
I see that Ford lists 2 head gaskets for her car. One that appears to be the original factory installed part (FB5Z-6051-A), and one that looks to be an improved version (HS7Z-6051-A) I couldn't find any notes regarding supersession or usage. It could be that the later version is intended for the retrofitted long block (J2GZ6006E), but I'm not sure. The older gasket has gaps in the sealing material that correspond with the slots in the block between the cylinders, the new one doesn't.
Given the situation, I'm considering replacing the head gasket with the improved version and installing the CA625+ studs.
I'm wondering if anyone has tried this approach before, and, if so, what were the results?
If someone can confirm that the HS7Z-6051-A head gasket is compatible with the original engine block I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Pete
Rare
