Head Gasket Job

JoshH

Daggum farm truck
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I wouldn't worry about piston to valve contact with a stock cam.
 

Belldiver

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Dec 11, 2013
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How about flushing gasket scrapings and such from the water jackets. I do my best to plug most of those holes, but there's always a few scraps that drop in. I'm thinking about pulling the block water jacket drains and pushing water through the deck and letting it drain out.

Any option I could do like that with the oil ports? I haven't drained the pan yet, but will before putting her back in the truck. Could you flush the oil ports with mineral spirits or fresh oil? Same thing, rigged up pump sprayer?
 

Belldiver

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7 of 8 cylinder walls look excellent. Still nice cross hatching and no ridge at all. The front cylinder on the drivers side has about 6 or 8 vertical scores on the bottom side of the cylinder wall. Just enough to feel with your fingernail, but definitely there. Still good crosshatching and no ridge.

Would this be a sign of anything significant? I'd hate to have to pull the bottom half of this engine apart now...

Didn't notice this until today because I haven't turned the crank until today.

Thoughts?

I guess I could pull the pan and release that one rod cap and pull the piston out the top if I had to...
 

ripmf666

Active member
Sep 20, 2006
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7 of 8 cylinder walls look excellent. Still nice cross hatching and no ridge at all. The front cylinder on the drivers side has about 6 or 8 vertical scores on the bottom side of the cylinder wall. Just enough to feel with your fingernail, but definitely there. Still good crosshatching and no ridge.

Would this be a sign of anything significant? I'd hate to have to pull the bottom half of this engine apart now...

Didn't notice this until today because I haven't turned the crank until today.

Thoughts?

I guess I could pull the pan and release that one rod cap and pull the piston out the top if I had to...


Take a pic of the hole at this point most of the stuff your over thinking it. If you go about the flushing and removing bottom mid and lower pans. You will need a lower gasket kit 8 flywheel bolts and 2 rod bolts. To remove a rod both the mid and lower pan needs removed. And the flywheel has to come off to remove the mid pan.

A shop vac ran across the top of the cylinder surface will remove what's needed. Also small scratches in the wall up and down has been seen in other jobs. Will not hurt anything if they were the other way they could catch the rings.
 

Kappa9012

MAN.... I Broke it again.
Aug 5, 2008
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Peoria Il
vertical striping is signs of the beginning of a piston seizure, check your rings, they will likely have vertical stripes on them to. ring lands were probably carbon packed.

Granted these are not Cat engines, but we typically say if you can hang it with your fingernail, it needs to be cleaned up with a hone....
 

Belldiver

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Cylinder Scoring Pic

OK, I guess it's time to post a picture.

This is the scoring on the forward cylinder on drivers side. Mostly around the bottom half of the cylinder. Some of them I can't even feel, but there are a few of the larger ones you can just feel with your fingernail. The rest of the cylinders are perfect, other than a little bit of carbon buildup on the top lip of the cylinder wall, no ridges though.

picture.php


Serious or no?

My first thought was that I must have dropped some crud down into the cylinder when taking the heads off and it got down around the rings, but I don't think a couple specs of carbon would have done this. I can't hear or feel anything dragging when I turn the engine over by hand. It's smooth smooth.
 

Belldiver

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Dec 11, 2013
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Take a pic of the hole at this point most of the stuff your over thinking it. If you go about the flushing and removing bottom mid and lower pans. You will need a lower gasket kit 8 flywheel bolts and 2 rod bolts. To remove a rod both the mid and lower pan needs removed. And the flywheel has to come off to remove the mid pan.

A shop vac ran across the top of the cylinder surface will remove what's needed. Also small scratches in the wall up and down has been seen in other jobs. Will not hurt anything if they were the other way they could catch the rings.

I notice the Haynes manual states that if there is a scratch deep enough to feel with your fingernail the block must be replaced. WTF ?!?!?! I'm going to just ignore that statement...

So what am I out if I pull the pan(s) and release that piston for inspection? Looks like about $30 for a new set of Torque plate bolts and $10 for a pair of OEM rod bolts, and some RTV for the pan gasket? Am I missing something? Can I just clean the ring grooves and re-install the rings or just soak the piston to remove carbon deposits and file any burrs? I'm really not wanting to get too much deeper into this thing or I'll be tearing it all the way down.

Can I leave the lower pan attached to the mid and just pull them together to save a step? Or is the lower pan fouled up on the oil pickup somehow?

Thanks again,

Jim
 

JoshH

Daggum farm truck
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Feb 14, 2007
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You'll have to pull the motor and basically tear it completely apart to inspect any further. I sure don't like the way that looks either.
 

Belldiver

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Dec 11, 2013
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The motor is already out sitting on a stand. I'm going to pull the pan in the morning and get that piston outa there and make decisions from there.

Shop manual says to discard the block, but they can kiss my butt. I'll re-ring or swap a piston if I have to but the motor is going back together mostly as is. I just want to prevent any further damage.

I'll probably post more pics in the morning.

Football!
 

Dallas S

Active member
Jun 17, 2009
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Chrome socket(17mm I think) ground down and you can keep the flex plate on the motor. Hidden bolts inside the lower pan so both have to come off seperatly.
 

ripmf666

Active member
Sep 20, 2006
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Wentzville Mo
The motor is already out sitting on a stand. I'm going to pull the pan in the morning and get that piston outa there and make decisions from there.

Shop manual says to discard the block, but they can kiss my butt. I'll re-ring or swap a piston if I have to but the motor is going back together mostly as is. I just want to prevent any further damage.

I'll probably post more pics in the morning.

Football!

Yea the books and all try to say block needs replaced same as the heads.
I remember seeing a old tsb report about the lower oil rings breaking.
If you can remove the 2 bolts from the rear adapter going into the mid oil pan like Dallas said. It would save you from fighting those bastards and from replacing them and the rear main seal and a few other gaskets and o rings. Then you would only need the 2 new rod bolts and some more sealer.
Pull that piston out and check the rings and replace. Could almost get away with shoving some shop towels into the lower most part on hole and keep motor tilted sideways on stand and take a 3 arm home to that cylinder to clean up. Pull shop towel out same way and use cleaner crank side and hose the cylinder down a after just don't go wild with hone.

This is just what you could do if not wanting to tear into. Myself if I'm in there that fare And if it was mine or a customers. I would clean all cylinders and install ring set and replace bearings and reseal up if all else looked good.
 

Belldiver

New member
Dec 11, 2013
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Louisiana
Found the culprit!

OK, popped the piston out and 'clink' on the floor drops about a three inch piece of the oiler ring. Overall, I'd say things still look OK. Piston has the same light scoring to match the cylinder walls, that roughly matches the length of the broken ring. The actual compression rings look very good. Maybe one small small score in the top ring. Middle ring looks perfect. And just light carbon deposits.

As of right now, I'm probably just going to replace the ring (or rings), lightly wet sand the scoring off the piston, and lightly hone that cylinder.

The bearing looks OK to me considering ~120K miles. What do y'all think?

Here are some pics.

picture.php


picture.php


picture.php
 

John Grav

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Jan 12, 2014
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I just purchased a 2003 Duramax possibly head gasket or block need a good referance book what's a good one

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John Grav

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Jan 12, 2014
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Like a chiltons I am not at all fimillar with diesels

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