Engine builders have reported seeing some E7TE head castings for the Ford 351W that weren’t drilled for the thermactor emissions (T.E., or A.I.R.) passages. It turns out that Ford plumbed the T.E. directly to the exhaust manifolds for some of the truck and van applications from 1990 through ’97, so some of the heads don’t need the T.E. passages.
There have been several applications that came with or without T.E. in the heads and a few that always came with it in the manifolds. However, there’s no way to know which version the customer has on most of them unless you ask him to tell you where the T.E. tubes go when he orders the engine.
Engine builders should be aware of a possible problem with the following applications:
- 1990-’94 Broncos came both ways;
- 1990-’93 F150/250/380 pickups came both ways;
- 1990-’93 E150/E250/E350 vans came both ways;
- 1994 F250/F350 pickups came both ways;
- 1995-’97 – All E250/E350 vans over 8501 GVW came with the T.E. plumbed to the exhaust manifolds;
- 1995-’96 – All F250/F350 pickups over 8501 GVW came with the T.E. plumbed to the exhaust manifolds.
Engine builders say you should ask the customer if the T.E. is plumbed to the heads or the exhaust manifolds before selling a 351W for one of these applications. Be sure to stock some T.E. plugs for the customer who discovers he needs them to plug the holes in the back of the heads after the engine is installed.
