possible head gaskets

[shortcircut65]

i didnt want to hijack diesel dragon's thread, so i started my own. sent truck to dealer to flush and fill coolant, and check injectors for bad. get a call, needs a boost sensor and possable bad head gaskets. teck said that there was exhaust residue in the overflow bottle. ive lost maybe an inch or two from the bottle in the past 2 months. would it be head gaskets? im leaning to yes, but im not sure. havent checked for pressure yet in the system. if it is bad gaskets, what are good gaskets to upgrade with? while im in there, i might as well do it right, right? studs are on the way too. thanks guys for anyhelp you decide to render me.

Ken

 

[stacks04]

no studs. unless your going big tune and boost. they are a waste of 700. residue in the coolant jug might just be that. old coolant will leave gunk ect. i would do more digging before you jump on gaskets. check the hose for over presurization, also we have had a run on the little coolant hoses on top of the motor leaking just enough. they get old and cracked.

 

[Pepperidge]

no studs. unless your going big tune and boost. they are a waste of 700. residue in the coolant jug might just be that. old coolant will leave gunk ect. i would do more digging before you jump on gaskets. check the hose for over presurization, also we have had a run on the little coolant hoses on top of the motor leaking just enough. they get old and cracked.

change these to purosil and don't look back

 

[SFC Cobb]

no studs. unless your going big tune and boost. they are a waste of 700. residue in the coolant jug might just be that. old coolant will leave gunk ect. i would do more digging before you jump on gaskets. check the hose for over presurization, also we have had a run on the little coolant hoses on top of the motor leaking just enough. they get old and cracked.

Where are the hoses you are talking about?

Could they leak and trickle down the back of the engine and perhaps come out thru the weep hole in the lower trans and eng attachment flange? Could this happen without the leak being obvious anywhere except that point?

There is no fluid above or on either side of the points shown in picts. The only thing I can see would have to have come from the weep hole.

 

[shortcircut65]

stacks, i haven't had much time for myself, never mind my truck, so i have yet to do any sort of pressure test yet. ill be checking the coolant hose when i get home tonight. i moved the tuck around and got it up to temp cause i had to plow out my aunts house for her. that was at 6:00 took a different truck to see the girlfriend. i was figuring studs in the chance that i do go big (which i do in the future) they are there.

i do remember reading a lot about those hoses going bad over on the other side. Pepp, thanks for the name drop, i forgot the name of them.

Ken

 

[jcool]

change these to purosil and don't look back

duct tape works great too):h

 

[shortcircut65]

snow is great, but time is short. WTF!!! love plowin, but hate paperwork. anywho, still have yet to do any pressure test, but when i started it last week after it sat for a few days, it was after i changed my boost sensor ($120 part, quoted $300something to change, took me 3 minutes. you do the math) it was cold, barely in the double digits, and it started very hard. i would say normal for balls cold and not plugged in. i got some white smoke out of the exhaust, then i lookd under the hood for kicks. i noticed some white smoke comming out of the pass. side engine bay, down by the header/block/head. not 100% sure where it exactly came from. would HG's cause this? cause it to leak out from the cylinder through the gasket and out to open air? what do you guys think? thanks,

Ken

 

[SFC Cobb]

My head leaked out the gasket on the bottom part of the head on the passenger side. It ran down the side of the block.

 

[shortcircut65]

truck developed a knock that wasnt there before before the snow started flying. i got everything cleaned up, and took it to the dealer to get the new noise checked out. tech says its #3 cylinder. did a compression test, pulled the plug and it had orange residue on it from dex-cool. test revieled a 200psi compression, where it should be 375-400psi. is that the right pressures? and it still drinks the koolaid.

Ken

 

[SFC Cobb]

Sounds like a head gasket to me. That ain't good.

 

[shortcircut65]

mmm. im thinking put a hommade pressure test to the head through the glowplug, and see if it bubbles out of the overflow. if it is an injector cup, would it do that, or just for head gaskets?

Ken

 

[shortcircut65]

so now i need to get a parts list together:

head gaskets, injector cups, head studs,

would that be it? while i have the heads off, im going to have them checked for square, and then ported and polished for that little extra flow i know that if they need to be machined, the gasket needs to be a little bit thicker, right? who would i go about talking to for getting a good set of gaskets? i dont need these things tearing, or breaking in another 75,000-100,000 miles. i know that the old version are still being made, and that there is an updated version out there. like i said, i want to do it right, i want to do it once. Thanks guys for any advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ken

 

[woodchuck2]

My 06 LBZ was leaking at the right rear corner head on passenger side, mine actually blew the gasket out and cut a groove in the head. Engine sounded like it had an exhaust leak. It is getting new heads now. The other 06 LBZ that just bought i believe will need gaskets too as i can smell coolant on the passenger side of the truck just like the first LBZ.

 

[shortcircut65]

damn, and i thought at that point, the engines were preatty well built! guess not.

Ken

 

[jcool]

My 06 LBZ was leaking at the right rear corner head on passenger side, mine actually blew the gasket out and cut a groove in the head. Engine sounded like it had an exhaust leak. It is getting new heads now. The other 06 LBZ that just bought i believe will need gaskets too as i can smell coolant on the passenger side of the truck just like the first LBZ.

I sure thought the LBZ was bullet proof almost! Guess I will just keep my LB7... not like I am even close to being in the market for a vehicle anyway

 

[shortcircut65]

change these to purosil and don't look back

i am currently on their web site, and it wont let me go to the automotive section, so i cant figure out what ones i need. i am assuming that you put them on your truck Pepp? you dont happen to know the part numbers, or they dont happen to be laying around to where you could maybe, possably, just outta chance, post them up here to let us know which ones they are? thanks,

Ken

P.S. thanks for closing the thread in OT. right move

 

[shortcircut65]

the day is comming. no, not the anointed one's last day, unfortunetly, the day of my truck going under the knife. friday. let the fun begin!! now i just have to get ahold of the machine shop, and let them know that the heads are comming to them next week. while i am waiting for them to return, a new FPR, upper and lower ball joints, and outter tie-rod ends. plus, i think im gonna herculine the bottom of the body like i want to do. i will deffenatly have pics for that after all is said and done.

just to double check, is my parts list correct from my OP? do i need anything more than that? thanks guys

Ken

 

[shortcircut65]

and so it begun...

here i was, figuring to have the truck in the garage after work friday, spend 5ish hours on it friday night, then back at it saturday morning, heads off saturday night, then change out the upper and lower ball joints, and outer tie-rod ends on sunday. hehe, sure.

well, saturday evening rolled around, and the valve covers werent off yet. no big issue, i thought. sunday started the fun.....

sunday morning, i go to auto zone to see if they might have a fuel line removal tool that would fit the return line by the brake booster. no such luck. i say screw it, and leave em together, but off to the side. off to the valve covers! passenger side first, i take off the fuel supply hoses, then the rail, then to the cover bolts. only to find that 5 of them (upper and lower) had the heads stripped off of them. now, can sombody please tell me how you can get a bolt to the propper torque, with a stripped head? my injectors were just changed at 109,xxx, the truck now has 125,xxx. the dealer was the last one in or around my truck. the only thing i did once it got back, was do an oil change.

so after throwing tools around the shop, and a few choice words calmly spoken, i went about finding an easy-out to take the bolts out. i got all of them out, took the top cover off, barely, cause the hack used a STRONG RTV, instead of a gasket, then off came the bottom. all is ok, right? sure.

i unbolt the return line from the head, and go to take out the return lines off the injectors. HA! 3 of the 4 bolts are stripped as well!!!!!!! by this time my head is right about to fly off my head. so i "try" to unbolt the one that isnt stripped, and i couldnt get enough torque to loosen it. screw it. then im thinking, well, lets see if i cant pop them out a little at a time, and they all come out nice and neat as one unit. nope. the return line bolts are right on top of the injector hold down bolts, so that gets shot right out the window. on to the drivers side covers.

the supply lines and rail come off no issue. top cover comes off no issue. one of the bottom cover bolts is just sitting in its place, no threads in at all!!! and, suprise, suprise, 2 bolts are stripped out. one just so happens to be in the bottom back corner, right up against the fire wall. oh, and the rear most bolt is MIA. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when i saw the rear bolt stripped, i just covered the valves, and went on my way home. that is how it sits. wednesday morning should be interesting, because i have the day off from work. we shall see what color smoke they feel like blowing up my ass this time. :mad2:

Ken

 

[SFC Cobb]

Murder seems to be in the future.

 

[shortcircut65]

it was written very clearly upon my face around 13:30 yesterday. my girlfriend actually went outside to get away from me, she was scared. but, i made sure to throw said tools in the opposite direction of her.

Ken