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Head gaskets... again...

Pepperidge

Pepperidge

Member Advocate
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Location
Slidell, La
You know...I'm starting to think this truck was a big mistake...Ist head gaskets job was under an extended warranty...no problem...but it still cost me the drive to Merchants to get it done...

Transmission finally bit the big one in June...got a full SC V...This was my fault for turning up the power...so I can eat that one...

been loosing coolant for a few months... now blowing coolant for a month ...

Biggest tune I've run since the first set of gaskets is 90 hp...

I had Eric put studs in it...don't see what could have caused the second set to go...this time I have no extended warranty so It's gonna cost me the $3k...:rippedhand:

When the trans was going out the wife said "go get a new LMM"... should have taken her up on it...:mad2:

I'm gonna wait till after the first of the year to get em' done...that way I'll have a write off for next year I guess...

This year I have the 6k for the trans to write off...:ANGRY_~317:

Oh well...live and learn...and thanks for listening...
 
Are you sure it's the head gaskets? If so, that sucks. I replaced mine last March. I think I had about $1,000-$1,200 into it doing it myself. With head studs and having the heads cut.
 
how long ago were they done? the head studs should have seated the heads much better than the old t-to-y head bolts. plus you not making enough cylinder pressure to cause a head lift or anything like that. check all the hoses. there is a bunch of little ones in the valley that leak and you'll never see it without a good inspection.
 
Last Sept...

Hoses: blowing coolant out the reservoir...no need to check hoses...except they are rock hard every time I drive the truck...(the ones in the valley are Purosil)

Heads didn't get milled last time...Eric said they were straight...

I'm just disgusted thats all...I'm not sure what he will do for me...probably not enough to compensate for that long drive and overnight stay...you never know though...I'm gonna call him on Monday...
 
was it good for some time? a bad cap will also cause your hoses to be hard. the overflow blowing out is worry some though.
 
It lasted about 10 mos....


I went back to my old cap...nothing was wrong with it...I changed everything... all hoses both thermostats and the cap) before finally giving into the head gaskets last time...

a little white smoke on start up and if I'm towing and load it up and push past 16 #'s boost, the thing starts puking in a matter of seconds...getting tired of rinsing dexcool and water off the passenger side and spending the $ on coolant...
 
It could still be bad in the cups or the turbo and have the same symptoms. I just immediately went for head gaskets on mine because it's the most common, and I had overheated it. Those two things together and it was a long shot for the other two. It's probably still more likely that it's head gaskets, but you should rule out the other two first.
 
asked if I could let it pressurize(no need for a cooling pressure tester...it does it on its own :( ) one evening and pull the glow plugs ...then in the am hand turn the motor over and look to see if coolant comes out of the glow plug holes... can't do it for a couple of days though...need the truck for work...
 
IMO if you lost another headgasket at the power levels you are running something was done wrong when it was repaired. I know this WILL not be a popular response and not saying something was done maliciously,things happen.

To say a head is OK by a naked eye isn't the correct way to check it. Were they sent out ? In addition if you went with the ARP studs they are suppose to be re torqued according to their instructions.

Compiling a 'possible' head that wasn't in spec and not re torquing the headstuds may have put you in this dilemma.

I would think that Eric would 'work with you' on gettng it fixed with your truck having the same symptoms a year later.
 
Pepperidge said:
asked if I could let it pressurize(no need for a cooling pressure tester...it does it on its own :( ) one evening and pull the glow plugs ...then in the am hand turn the motor over and look to see if coolant comes out of the glow plug holes... can't do it for a couple of days though...need the truck for work...
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Damn! How much coolant in the cylinders can this engine tolerate without hydro-lock? I would think that if your engine is THAT bad, you are in deep "doo doo" already and you'll be needing much more than just the heads milled and new head gaskets. :(
 
unfortunately the gm spec for head warpage is very minimal. we have done a few sets here that went out and on a normal head could have been machined. but we had to replace them. like mack said something was messed up during install.

on a side note, we are doing a set now for another member and we got his back from the machine shop yest. they passed the straight test and the crack test, but once we had them back they had what appeared to be like a pitted ring around the valves from the old head gaskets. kinda like they just rotted the material away in a circle. so they got heaved and ordered new ones.
 
stacks04 said:
unfortunately the gm spec for head warpage is very minimal. we have done a few sets here that went out and on a normal head could have been machined. but we had to replace them. like mack said something was messed up during install.

on a side note, we are doing a set now for another member and we got his back from the machine shop yest. they passed the straight test and the crack test, but once we had them back they had what appeared to be like a pitted ring around the valves from the old head gaskets. kinda like they just rotted the material away in a circle. so they got heaved and ordered new ones.
Click to expand...
no way to repair that kind of damage? maybe mig or tig and machine it afterwards.....
 
I would hope that by Eric saying that they were straight that he swept them with an indicator and didn't just lay a straight edge on them. Were they MPI (magnaflux) or dye checked? With the quality of casting we've been seeing the last several years I wouldnt be surprised to see some semi hidden flaws that open up with heat.
I would think whatever coolant would be in the cylinder if not enough to hydraulic it, as Ray suggested, would have evaporated enough overnight to not be detected.
I agree with Mack's opinion about the studs. If they weren't retorqued then that would probably do your gaskets in. That would be easier to swallow than replacing a head...
Just my 2c
 
the coolant probably not evaporate. even a solid 50-50 mix would still be there. it may not hydraulic the engine, but if more than one cylinder had coolant then it could.

sfc jones, they may be able to be saved using those methods, but like btfarm said the quality of material used to begin with may just make it not worth it. the money to disassemble the heads and weld it, machine it ect may justify the 1200 bucks for new ones.
 
stacks04 said:
the coolant probably not evaporate. even a solid 50-50 mix would still be there. it may not hydraulic the engine, but if more than one cylinder had coolant then it could.

sfc jones, they may be able to be saved using those methods, but like btfarm said the quality of material used to begin with may just make it not worth it. the money to disassemble the heads and weld it, machine it ect may justify the 1200 bucks for new ones.
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Each or a pair? And I assume bare ,no valves ,springs etc
 
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