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My oil pan just blew up

Due to others experiencing leaks with ARP head studs I used blue thread locker on the second engine I built. I used red thread locker on the first. Despite attempting to blow the heads off my engines with FOD going through em, 24 PSI boost, EGT at 1550, extreme abuse to get up the dammed 7% grade that goes for miles while towing in 121 degree F weather, and severe overspead bending valves: the ARP's are worth it due to zero HG and/or head bolt failures. I have had the heads off at least three times and saves the cost of garbage TTY bolts. My only regret is using Red as I have to pull the engine, now, to get the passenger side head off. The studs have been in for 7 years now like this.

Simply put Blue threadlocker and snugging the studs in solve the ARP leak problems. I respect the "overkill" others do, but, it's unnecessary.

TTY bolts and Head gaskets are worth about 200K give or take before the HG gives it up on average. Recall this throwaway engine is only one step above the Olds 5.7 diesel hand grenade. Yeah, do the ARP studs.

Gapless rings. I am not the first, however, I am the first to document how much soot the gapless rings keep out of the oil. It literally takes a 2500 mile oil change interval and makes it 5000 miles. You can always pay a machine shop to install the rings for you. Here is the link to my results with gapless rings. At 3000 miles I can see the marks through the oil on the dipstick. The oil isn't coal black 30 seconds after engine startup. https://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/threads/total-seal-gapless-rings.29135/

There is a lot of power available by porting the heads. You MUST do a turbo because the OEM turbo is an "Asthma Attack" that restricts airflow so badly that any improvements are lost if you don't have a better turbo put on. As you have a Manual Trans with a nasty RPM drop between some gears a "tight" turbo is way more important than with an auto trans. You need to decide on use and where you want the power at. Towing turbo's generally don't spool up before 2000 RPM. Thus you need to make sure what RPM range the turbo builder says the turbo works in. The standard ebay HX40II and ATT both need 2000 RPM to do any good. The vendor building your turbo for you is the one you take the word of.
 
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3bals said:
Although, I still have the custom [P-400 oil sump] that came from Matt at Peninsular and I think Jay has one too.
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Yes, still have both of the ones I got from Penn. They are now static displays of what a professional grade oil pan should not look like. And, No, I will not sell them as I do not want anybody using them, even as a practical joke.

The Moroso I bought from Leroy did get installed on the Burb :)



And given the mention of towing with the 5 speed, consider 3.42 gears. Did this in the Burb. Result was that it turned the N4500 into a dual 4 speed. 1 - 4 while towing and 2 - 5 when empty.

Then again, given the budget, re-gearing can wait.
 
Thanks to all for keeping the conversation going. A civil discourse is certainly refreshing these days!

Man, the more I hear both ways about studs and bolts, the more undecided I become! Although I'm still leaning towards bolts, can always do studs later if I decide I need more boost. Given what seems to be my bad luck, I'd like to eliminate leaking coolant as a variable.

Will said something earlier that made it sound like the Evans coolant wouldn't play nice with his heater core. Anyone have anything to say about that?

Does one have to drill & tap the head in order to install a probe for the #8 cylinder?

I will absolutely be putting in a oil bypass filter setup. Especially since the 4x4 oil pan reduces oil capacity, the remote system adds an additional quart. Considering a 2nd oil cooler too.

I'm also considering an oil temp gauge, since this last engine failure happened in the crankcase (it would seem). Where is the best spot for a oil temp probe? Provided that my dash temp gauge is accurate, I never saw coolant temps much above 185/190, even when towing. Between the dmax fan, severe duty fan clutch, high output water pump & dual tstats, clean radiator and Leroy's coolant bypass restriction fitting, I thought I had the notorious heat issues under control.

I do have a set of 3.73 gears on hand from my old rig. I really liked how I could go 70 at slightly above 2000 rpm with that gearing. Much better mileage. But I thought and heard from mostly everywhere that I should stick to the 4.10s for towing. Given that I'm towing with a manual, does this change my options somewhat? Never would have thought that 3.42 gears would be recommended for towing...

What do folks think is the best air setup? The '95 air box is much larger than the '99 model if I recall correctly. I also saw on some thread somewhere that folks were cutting small grilled openings in the side fender for pulling in more air. Anyone familiar with this mod and know how effective it is?
 
K47 air box Diesel and make shure the in fender snorkel is gone.

Bad luck?! Yeah, that's the only kind I have. Then do studs and aftermarket oil cooler lines and cooler. FWIW your oil cooler is trash as it could be full of derbis that can't be flushed out.

4.10 for gearing. Want to lug the krap out of an engine towing at low RPM: sell it and drop in a long stroke 12v Cummins! The V8 6.2 6.5 is a short stroke "high speed diesel". Further it doesn't have the HP to back up the torque at low RPM. Thus the small turbo, airflow abortion passinger manifold, and automatic programed to rev it up and choke the turbo... Yeah.

Even with a tight turbo you need some RPM towing. Cooling fan RPM, water pump RPM, oil pump RPM all keep heat and stress down. Having driven a 24v Cummins I had to get used to the real diesel low RPM design and 3200 RPM redline. Different truck when I lugged it some over high RPM I was used too for the 6.5.

Just saying different Engine that doesn't check the common Diesel checkboxes of low RPM and happy.
 
So tear down the old engine and see why it blew up. Every oil line you add is a failure risk to the engine. Run synthetic if your UOA says you are ruining oil. It takes Phx, uncoated 6.2 pistons, and a Spool valve to ruin conventional oil...
 
Evan’s doesn’t damage a heater core.
It is flammable. I have a boss I used to work for that got burned horribly from it. I love the idea of evans in the system. But in a crash or if the core fails and sprays a mist of the evans coolant into the electrical of the dash- major flames ensue. There aren’t a ton of guys that have been burned from it, but several.

It’s like running propane instead of r12 in the old a/c systems. It works wonderfully.

But when things go wrong and you send your wife and kids to the burn ward for the next year... or like my exboss that lost fingers and descent body burns even though he was in a fire suit - It isnt that it is easy to ignite like gasoline. But when it mists, it is. Or if it leaks onto a hot surface like engine, exhaust, etc. it ignites. But the stuff has an amazingly high btu count. Way more than diesel fuel infact.

This from the guy who used to have a mechanical fuel pressure gauge in my dash that was feeding fuel into the cab. I never worried a out it. Then after seeing what happens- it is astonishing how bad 1 pint of that stuff will flame everything up. (Both diesel and Evans).
 
DieselAmateur said:
Thanks to all for keeping the conversation going. A civil discourse is certainly refreshing these days!
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Agreed. I recently looked into a SOB forum and was quickly turned-off by closed minds.

2'nd oil cooler might get you too cool during the winter. If you can find something with a thermostat, that might work better, but it adds complexity.

X-2 on WW's comments about ditching the current oil cooler due to concerns of contamination.

3.73's getting ~2K RPMs at 70 mph looks to me like larger than OE tires. Also, it is possible that the tach is not 100% accurate. If the tires are OE, 3.73's should get more like 2,100 with a NV400. 100-ish RPM's might not see like much, but the extra noise for an hour or so is a big deal.

4.10's for towing is definitely the go-to gearing as it allows quicker of-the-line starts, but expect a loud motor at highway speed. After I consulted with a tranny shop and learned that there was no difference in load handling (within the truck's capacity limits) from a 4.10 to a 3.42 ratio, I went with 3.42's as it worked for my setup. With 3.42's, the NV4500, and ~8K# on the ball, 1'st gear starts were not an issue. Seeing as I cruise at 55 mph while towing, RPM's in direct (4'th gear) were 2K which put the motor right in its sweet spot. Then again, that was with a P-400 and ATT on level-ish ground; adding grade I would quickly drop gear to increase coolant circulation and avoid lugging. Also, a different turbo will want a different sweet-spot.
 
X3 on replacing the oil cooler. Would not have thought of that. Add yet another item to the cart from Leroy.

Will look for a used k47 air box. Snorkel is long gone :cool:

I forgot to put it in my sig, but I installed stainless lube specialist lines in the truck this spring same time I did the injectors. Frustrating that those might be useless now too after such little use, but I can use them as an easy prototype for a hydraulic shop to make up new hoses for me.

I was approximating 2k rps for 70 mph, could be 2100 or 2200. Been a few years since that truck was alive. Seems all the gauges have a not insignificant margin of error...

Speaking of bad gauges, I've been wanting to post about my fuel gauge for a while. When I bought the truck in 2016, the fuel gauge read wayyy past full. It would move as the fuel went down, empty is just around 3/4 tank. I replaced the sending unit, cleaned the ground on the frame for where the unit connects to the harness, and that didn't solve the problem. How else can this be fixed? I was told the problem must be in the cluster somewhere, but no place around here wants to be bothered messing around with a gauge in an old truck. Not the biggest issue, but some day I would like to have a working fuel gauge!

Thanks for sharing about the Evans coolant Will, I had no idea it had those properties. With my luck I'm going nowhere near the stuff.
 
It’s good stuff, don’t write it off without consideration.

On the fuel
Sending unit- LeroyDiesel.com sells a fuel metrum rod that you could consider. I have been a Chevy guy my whole life- but some things like gm sending units just plain suck.
 
Thanks for the heads up on Leroy's product. I'm sure its a nice fix, but I'm skeptical that it will solve my issue. Yes there's a chance a brand new sending unit was bad. But I have a hunch (again, my bad luck) that the issue is in the cluster. Or maybe I'll get lucky and have to just replace the connector for the sending unit. But at this point the screwy fuel gauge can wait. This is going to be an expensive build!
 
X-2 on Leroy's sending unit (MRFSU). Costs a few $$, but after that, you are done and the gauge will read accurate.

And while messing with the tank, if not already done, consider removing the in-tank filter (aka: sock) and replace it with a spin-on filter just upstream of the lift pump. Leroy sells a kit for that too :D
 
Yup sock filter was deleted when I installed the new sending unit. I use NAPA part # 3270 as a pre-filter before the lift pump. Cheap, easy to replace, can re-use too as it's just a mesh screen that can be blown out with an air compressor.
 
I believe there is a ground to the frame, on top of the frame out of sight of course, from the fuel level sensor where the wire harness comes off the tank to the frame- just add corrosion.
 
Is the needle on your gauge out of place? Sounds like maybe you are getting the proper range of motion it is just twisted up to read too high on the scale. I know on my 96 you can pop the needle right off (I don't remember it being keyed on its shaft) so I would think you could just line it up where it should be and push it back on.
 
Yup thats exactly what it does. Reads way past full, goes down to about 3/4 tank which to me means empty (run it dry a few times).

I may have to go that route. Was hoping to find the source of the electrical issue, but it can wait given the whole blown up engine situation...

Now that I think about it, I saw my mileage go way down in the past year or so. Used to be able to go nearly 400 miles on a tank, by the end of the engine's life it was closer to 300 on a tank. Again never entirely sure due to the wonky gauge. I was doing more local driving so I just figured I was running more inefficient trips. Maybe this was a sign that things were going to blow? Not sure what issues poor mileage can point to.
 
Poor fuel mileage can lead to contaminated, thin oil and scored rod/main and cam bearings, which lowers oil pressure and then to catastrophic engine carnage.
 
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