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Trouble Code and Head Gasket Questions

Good point. I believe what interested me was that it was one "tool" that helped in diagnosing a potential issue. Just found the vid to be informative :)
 
Good to see your back on the road again Andy! I wished you lived closer I would rent your boys for a few days as I just found out today that both the head gasket and water pump are leaking. The truck has been parked a lot lately as it is not our daily driver any more. Had to take it for a good high way run and it did the HG and water pump in.:mad2: Just looking at it it looks like it would be hard enough just getting the heads off let alone getting them back on with ARP studs (which I would go with) I might just pull the engine and give it all the attention it might need gasket wise, clean her up and maybe spoil it with a bit of paint.

If any one has done this on a 2500 4x4, is it fairly easy to pull the engine and leave the auto transmission and transfer case in place?
 
Mudbath said:
Good to see your back on the road again Andy! I wished you lived closer I would rent your boys for a few days as I just found out today that both the head gasket and water pump are leaking. The truck has been parked a lot lately as it is not our daily driver any more. Had to take it for a good high way run and it did the HG and water pump in.:mad2: Just looking at it it looks like it would be hard enough just getting the heads off let alone getting them back on with ARP studs (which I would go with) I might just pull the engine and give it all the attention it might need gasket wise, clean her up and maybe spoil it with a bit of paint.

If any one has done this on a 2500 4x4, is it fairly easy to pull the engine and leave the auto transmission and transfer case in place?
Click to expand...


Yea, Join the club, I'm a member......Same boat....Good Luck Mud.
 
Other than the bellhousing bolts not too bad. Just alot of nut and bolt work. 2 day job for a shadetree. If the new motor were ready to go and straight swap, possibly one day depending on how stuff comes apart. ARP studs are easier to use in truck than TTYs.
 
You have to put them in the head just like they were the bolts, threading them on after the head is on. so in that respect not any harder than bolts.
 
Yeah, you are seeing tunnel vision as I did once. The head goes on without them and they get put in afterwards. The Studs have an allen key to thread them in. They get put in till they stop and then backed of a 1/4 turn IIRC then the nuts go on. The torquing of them is where they are easier. None of that trying to do 90 deg swings crap plus they are quality made studs not made in china crap TTY's.
My pics are not very good but here is the guist of it..
http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/sh...-to-do-with-it&p=350366&viewfull=1#post350366
 
Quick update on the air conditioning: the orifice tube filter at the Y connection under the passenger side battery was jam packed with metal debris, restricting refrigerant flow. This was causing the rear and front air to not function all the time. We did change the compressor as it was toast...and the expansion valve in the rear as well. Back on the road with air! In GA it's a nice-to-have :)
 
Yes, sorry...the accumulator/dryer was changed, as not doing such would have invalidated the compressor warranty...just forgot to mention :) The system was blown out with air :)
 
Air is not enough. Need to flush it with either A/C flush ($$$) or denatured alchohol...(same thing, way cheaper). There is a kit for doing it. Just air will not remove the debris.
 
Last year when I rebuilt my AC system I flushed it out, with denatured alcohol I think. Anyhow, I flushed the lines and then the what-cha-ma-call-it in the dash. (I'm having a major brain fart and can't remember the correct name) I plugged the lower port and filled the whole thing up and let it set for a while. I then drained it and used compressed air to blow the rest of the residue out. I was amazed at how much crud came out.

Don
 
HMF said:
Flushing the condensor the same way is a good idea too.
Click to expand...

I replaced it. The AC tech I was working with told me that since they have much smaller passages in them they were not easy to clean. So since it was damaged slightly I decided not to take any chances.

Don
 
Quick update: After considering the input on the forum...we've made some changes. We decided to take the system apart and clean it more thoroughly. Using compressed air we blew out the lines from the compressor back. Then the rear evaporator. Found quite a bit more gunk in the system. Went to Harbor Freight and purchased this: http://www.harborfreight.com/air-vacuum-pump-with-r134a-and-r12-connectors-96677.html. I went round and round in my head about this unit, but finally decided to give it a go.

Hooked it up to the system and let it run for an hour to vac the system. Quite a bit of water came out so we were pleased it was purchased. Then let the system hold vac with a gauge set that we purchased from HF as well. I believe the gauge and vac pump was $68.xx total. The system was able to hold vac so we felt comfy with pumping the new refrigerant back in.

System is decently clean and runs very well...so I think it was worth the extra work. I could have taken the evap and condenser out and flushed with denatured, but didn't bother this time around. I'll see how long it lasts like this...thanks for the input again.

With respect to the exhaust manifold gaskets, my son Jon chatted briefly with his gramps (diesel mechanic 30 yrs) about the use of the gaskets. His thought was this: quite true that the system was engineered to not need the gasket. However after quite some time the manifold/head can potentially warp, so he always used the gaskets. He said that he found that after the vehicle ran for a bit, he'd tighten the manifold down just a bit more, as settling will occur on the gasket...and it should hold a better seal. Anyway, it was good to get his input. The truth is that at this time the vehicle is much quieter, but we'll definitely see how long the gaskets last.
 
Here's my thought. While it's true that the heads & manifold were machined for each other, they must be warped to some degree now with the noise we were hearing, as using the gasket has dramatically cut down the noise. It really has been very noticeable to all the family. I could have taken the manifold and heads to a shop to have them shaved to regain the correct fit...cutting the noise back, but this was by far the easiest and cheapest solution. In addition, the gasket fit like a glove.

Like many things on the vehicle (such as the PMD), there are items that were designed a certain way based on engineering principles, etc...but that doesn't mean they were designed as well as they could have been. I do think the design of no gasket is good...but after some warping, there are really only two decent options that I can see. I just chose the gasket route this time. Perhaps I'll find that it would have been better to have them machined sooner than later.
 
If they were warped the gasket will only be a bandaid. That is my point. Generally the manifold deteriorates more so than warpage. The sealing surface becomes pitted and paper thin in spots. Usually that is an indication it's time to replace the manifold. PMD's were just a bad design period no matter where yo put them most will eventually fail. Just prolonging the inevitable. Some guys can get away with gaskets but usually if there is an issue with the manifold sealing surface a gasket is a temporary cure. Lot of pressure in those and the after market gaskets are not designed for it. Like I said before, you put them in, I certainly would not take them out now but understand you most likely will be dealing with it again. I have owned enough of these to know that. Think I'm on 6.xx # 10 right now...:D
 
Good point. Perhaps they will last 100k miles...maybe not. At any rate, I'll find out down the road :p Thanks for the input.
 
If you don't mind, what kind of material was the exhaust manifold gaskets made of?

Did you use a "Felpro" kit?

How bout' those cometic gaskets?....aren't they made of some metal material?.......I know Robyn (Missy G.W.) used them in her last project....

Thoughts?...
 
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