LLY: Head gasket

[Skyhigh4by]

Posted this on DP also


Long story that started last summer...

Last summer I noticed a small leak from I think my water pump then it began puking coolant out the resevoir and my upper rad hose stayed hard over night and I got frequent low coolant warnings. After some research I was convinced I had a blown head gasket. People told me I was crazy so I tried bleeding the system and topped the coolant up.

All was great! The leak seemed to go away Never got another low coolant warning and everything was back to normal.

Now 6 or 7 months later and about 15K miles its happening again. I cant keep coolant in the thing...pukes it all up. The engine doesnt warm up forever and then suddenly will be overheating then go back to cold. The upper rad hose is hard over night and the overflow has bubbles sometimes. I tried bleeding the system but its only temporary then pukes a bunch of coolant back out. I have no loss in performance and just did an oil change yesterday. The oil seemed to be normal...no milky colouring.

Im wondering If I MAYBE just have bad T-stats and water pump and there is air trapped in the system that I cant get out??? It pukes coolant mostly after the truck is shut off.

I ordered t-stats and water pump today so Im gonna start there.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[custom8726]

head gasket

 

[messejme]

When my headgasket failed it split the ring around the combustion chamber (7 of the 8 to be exact) and acted like a one-way valve, sometimes.

 

[nar]

Head gasket. Mine is the same way. Pushes coolant out unless I leave it a bit low. Then it never bothers except the low coolant warning. Been this way for years. Never lets water into the oil.

 

[Skyhigh4by]

So whats the easiest way to do gaskets and maybe studs? Pull the motor? Lift the cab? Leave motor in and go from above?

 

[blk smoke lb7]

I did them motor in its not bad.it is nice to work on the motor out of the truck and if your uppie bolts are froze its nit to hit them with some heat to get loose

 

[rgullett83]

I do them in cab, I dont jack with the uppipes, just remove the manifold bolts, and leave manifolds attached to the up pipes

 

[Atouchofgrass]

Yeah, afraid it's head gaskets. This was happening to me during the summer and finally bit the bullet and did studs, new t-stats, water pump, every o-ring/ gasket you can imagine. Big thanks to Henry/Darryl@Creatures of the night performance, hell hook you up on parts for sure! If i do it again i'd pull the motor just because tq'ing down the heads was a PITA due to the pattern hahaha :roflmao:

 

[duratothemax]

I like to pull the cab...JMO...

 

[rgullett83]

I suppose if pulled the cab a time or two, it would prolly make life easier. Ben how long does it take you to get the cab off?

 

[duratothemax]

I suppose if pulled the cab a time or two, it would prolly make life easier. Ben how long does it take you to get the cab off?

Having done it a couple times, and with a buddy helping, easily under 2 hours.

intercooler pipes
parking brake cable
disconnect all of the plugs from the UBEC and let them dangle down
unbolt the master cylinder from the booster (no need to open brake lines)
disconnect intermediate steering shaft
radiator hoses
cab mount bolts
shifter cable

It just makes it so nice to work on....you can sit right on the front wheel and work on everything so easily. No need to fight with/strip rusty valve cover bolts, up-pipe/downpipe bolts take 2 seconds, etc.

And, unlike pulling the motor, you arent fighting the motor from wiggling around when you torque the head studs. (because its still bolted onto a 5000+lb truck frame!)

I would pull the cab before I pull the motor. Pulling the cab is way faster/less of a headache/less back breaking.

To be honest Ive never done head gaskets with the motor in/cab on...but I cant imagine its easier than pulling the cab. If only for your back/hands and knees' sake.

Ben

 

[custom8726]

Having done it a couple times, and with a buddy helping, easily under 2 hours.

intercooler pipes
parking brake cable
disconnect all of the plugs from the UBEC and let them dangle down
unbolt the master cylinder from the booster (no need to open brake lines)
disconnect intermediate steering shaft
radiator hoses
cab mount bolts
shifter cable

It just makes it so nice to work on....you can sit right on the front wheel and work on everything so easily. No need to fight with/strip rusty valve cover bolts, up-pipe/downpipe bolts take 2 seconds, etc.

And, unlike pulling the motor, you arent fighting the motor from wiggling around when you torque the head studs. (because its still bolted onto a 5000+lb truck frame!)

I would pull the cab before I pull the motor. Pulling the cab is way faster/less of a headache/less back breaking.

To be honest Ive never done head gaskets with the motor in/cab on...but I cant imagine its easier than pulling the cab. If only for your back/hands and knees' sake.

Ben

I would much rather pull the motor and do the studs on a engine stand.. But to each there own.

 

[dmax711]

I was having a similar problem with mine, but it would never overheat. It was a combination of air in the cooling system and a bad t-stat. the reason why i had air in my system was i had it apart to put the s464 on. new t stat and blead the system and it was good to go..

 

[blk smoke lb7]

Yeah, afraid it's head gaskets. This was happening to me during the summer and finally bit the bullet and did studs, new t-stats, water pump, every o-ring/ gasket you can imagine. Big thanks to Henry/Darryl@Creatures of the night performance, hell hook you up on parts for sure! If i do it again i'd pull the motor just because tq'ing down the heads was a PITA due to the pattern hahaha :roflmao:

X2 Henry hooked me up as well studs gaskets the works:thumb: