New to swinging wrenches on diesels

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Belldiver

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Dec 11, 2013
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Louisiana
Hi folks!

First post here! I'm a longtime amateur wrench swinger/knucklebanger but only on gas engines. Various types and makes and only to keep my own vehicles running. I've done a handful of total (stock) rebuilds and multiple head gasket jobs on inline 4's and V6's. I have a new challenge ahead of me though, my in-laws are snowbirds from Maine and have pulled their 5th wheel trailer down to winter with us in Louisiana. Father in-law has an '04 GMC with the 6.6 Duramax and I'm 95% sure it has a blown head gasket. I just can't let them blow the cash taking it to the dealer for a HG job so I'll be pulling the block in a couple weeks and doing the work myself, and any (stock) upgrades that need to be done at the same time.

I may be chiming in here from time to time to ask a few questions. Looks like a lot of good info here.

Thanks,

Jim
 
H

Hot COCOAL

May the farce be with you
Jun 9, 2012
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Welcome!

You sound like a pretty decent dude, fixin the in-laws rig n all :thumb:

Lots of info here, there's more than one way to do it too, as for "stock" upgrades, not sure there are a whole lot "needed" for a stock type truck...

What were you thinkin? Any mods to date(exhaust, programmer, air bags...) for someone pulling a fifth wheel, I've got a list.....

For this guy, an ECM tuned with a single efi live program should be good for engine management

An upgraded muffler that retains civility for long excursions pulling a trailer...a well engineered sealed cold air intake is always nice, not necessary though...

A well designed/good quality helper air bag kit for the rear axle

And that would be a pretty solid set up for towing and daily driving: thumb:

Swaybars are nice for trucks that tow allot too:)

But you're probably thinking more along the lines of engine stuff, and for a stock powered truck there's not allot that really "needs" to be done, turbo mouth piece and intake, ported drivers side fuel rail, ppe high flow cp3 kit, add studs to the heads instead of using the stock head bolts, but that's not "necessary" by any means...

You could always add a billet drop in wheel to the charger:D
 
H

Hot COCOAL

May the farce be with you
Jun 9, 2012
4,433
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0
5% of you is unsure it's a head gasket! what's led the other 95% to believe it is?

Is the crankcase full of oil/diesel? Extra noise, compression check....

Info please....
 
B

Belldiver

New member
Dec 11, 2013
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Louisiana
Classic blown HG symptoms that I've read about here on this forum. It started with the occasional unexplained belch of coolant on the driveway, most of the time after the truck had been turned off for a few minutes. Cabin heat comes and goes intermittently. Upper radiator hose stays hard even after the engine cools down. Then, when removing the surge tank cap, Old Faithful erupts, again on that same cool engine. I ordered one of the combustion gas test kits after that and ran that test and it confirmed there was combustion gas in the cooling system. The blue liquid turned green.

Luckily, there's no coolant in the oil. I pulled the pan drain plug to see if there was water sitting in the bottom of the pan it was nice clean honey/black oil. No chocolate milk.

I did also replace both thermostats early on in this troubleshooting with no change in results.

The only thing I haven't done is pulled the glow plugs and pressurized the cylinders to locate where the actual blown gasket is.

Anything else it could be? This truck has seen fairly light use. No visible leaks anywhere else. No major white smoke coming from the tailpipe. ~108K miles. It pulls a 5th wheel trailer a couple times a year, but not over the Rocky Mts., just Maine to Louisiana for the winter and back again.

Truck is bone stock and really needs to remain close to that status so it can still be serviced by somebody other than myself when the in-laws head back up North for the other half of the year. Most of the stock "upgrades" I am speaking about are more maintenance than upgrade. What needs to be replaced at this stage of the game since I'll have the block out. I know water pump for sure.

On a side note, I may end up with this truck someday so I want to keep it in good shape.

Thanks for the input!

Jim
 
B

Belldiver

New member
Dec 11, 2013
53
0
0
Louisiana
Hot COCOAL said:
Welcome!

You sound like a pretty decent dude, fixin the in-laws rig n all :thumb:

Lots of info here, there's more than one way to do it too, as for "stock" upgrades, not sure there are a whole lot "needed" for a stock type truck...

What were you thinkin? Any mods to date(exhaust, programmer, air bags...) for someone pulling a fifth wheel, I've got a list.....

For this guy, an ECM tuned with a single efi live program should be good for engine management

An upgraded muffler that retains civility for long excursions pulling a trailer...a well engineered sealed cold air intake is always nice, not necessary though...

A well designed/good quality helper air bag kit for the rear axle

And that would be a pretty solid set up for towing and daily driving: thumb:

Swaybars are nice for trucks that tow allot too:)

But you're probably thinking more along the lines of engine stuff, and for a stock powered truck there's not allot that really "needs" to be done, turbo mouth piece and intake, ported drivers side fuel rail, ppe high flow cp3 kit, add studs to the heads instead of using the stock head bolts, but that's not "necessary" by any means...

You could always add a billet drop in wheel to the charger:D
Click to expand...

I'm fairly sure there are no mods to this truck. It should be bone stock and unless I was around all the time to tweak it, I should probably leave it that way, as my father-in-law really doesn't know how to work on it. I can pull maintenance/repairs on it when they're down with us for half the year in Louisiana, but when they're back in Maine, it'll be a shop mechanic.

A few modestly priced upgrades might be nice though. I'd rather not put too much boost or added compression through the engine that would shorten it's healthy lifespan or reliability. I know there's a price to be paid for pulling extra horsepower out of an engine.

Thanks for any input.

Jim
 
H

Hot COCOAL

May the farce be with you
Jun 9, 2012
4,433
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Jim-

I see you got another thread goin that has the info you were looking for :thumb:

Sort of...

If you have an lly, the top of the injectors are going to be visible in a visual inspection of the engine bay, if you know what your looking at, you still have to "look" but they will appear to resemble, I know that this sounds awkward but the first time I lifted the hood even though I knew what they were the picture correlation in my head went to...spark plugs.... There's four on each side just under the head/block connection, and they are connected by the fuel lines.

As for reliability/maintenance and aftermarket parts, I know that this stuff is probably off the radar for you and dadnlaw, but you can get air bag set ups from just about anywhere even some of the Chevrolet dealers iirc, a single tune is safest, cuz you can give him an Eco tune or tow tune that won't over stress the transmission and leave it, and an exhaust could only help maintenance issues IMHO, so I wouldn't let those simple little modifications keep you or him from getting the enjoyment these products could provide based on a need to tweak or maintenance issue, these mods come at no added maintenance costs or difficulties.

:thumb:

Anywho- good luck with this HG job, it's not a small job by any means, and nothing like any gas rig you've ever worked on, physically turning the wrenches is about all that feels the same when comparing gassers to diesels, and even then it's just a tad different, I don't know why, but it's different??? To me at least...

Jason
 
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B

Belldiver

New member
Dec 11, 2013
53
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0
Louisiana
Yah, I didn't mean for this intro thread to turn into an info thread but I'm getting some good starter info so I'll roll with it.

I'm not intimidated by the project. I've worked around diesel machinery offshore for years and am familiar with the differences. I've just never worked on automotive diesels for sure, and never really had to do much to the offshore equipment beyond bleeding injectors or some really basic stuff.

As I get past this first project I'll investigate a few of those other minor upgrades to the in-laws truck to keep it reliable and strong. Right now though, I'm focused on what I need to take advantage of while I have that engine on a stand, not in the truck. I know that water pump for sure, but anything else?

Father in-law is the guy you DON'T want to get stuck behind on the Interstate. He's a right lane only 55 mph kinda guy when he has that 5th wheeler behind him. I love him, but that's just who he is. If I put a tune on the truck, it'll stay that way until they come back the next year, unless I can narrow it down 6 or fewer easy steps for him and possibly have to walk him through it over the phone. Exhaust and airbags though, I think he'd enjoy.

How about the Turbo mouth I keep hearing about on the LLY's? Any suggestions there? Breathing easier is always a good thing!

Thanks again,

Jim
 
H

Hot COCOAL

May the farce be with you
Jun 9, 2012
4,433
0
0
I think there are some gains to be had by the LLY to LBZ turbo mouthpiece upgrade for a stock rig, not too sure

Yeah, a new and even upgraded(welded or keyed pump drive shaft to impeller gear) would be one thing I'd replace, you already got to the thermostats...belts I'd do, pulleys if need be...any gasket/seal you can get to really...maybe have the injectors checked/cleaned, if he has the cash and depending on how bad they are, a set of injectors might not be a bad idea...between injectors, water pump, thermostats, belts and high pressure pwr steering lines, I can't think of anything else...here's a link to a reputable site vendors products for some problematic high pressure lines on our trucks, I'd definitely look at them for consideration.....I run the Pwr steering lines and am very happy with them

http://dirtyhookerdiesel.com/i-14902721-dhd-600-541-ultimate-leak-free-repair-kit-lb7-lly.html


Sounds like you have a formidable amount of experience and should have no issues with the task in front of you, again, you sound like a pretty good dude, that's a big project, maybe pull a quote for the job, put it in an envelope and hand it to them at christmas, cuz that's a hell of a gift:thumb:

Tuning the ECM is a one and done tune, not a set of them, so it's just like stock, that's why I mentioned it for your in law, I was pretty sure our father in laws are about the same and you wouldn't need this info anyways, but if you did it, he'd probably think you just gave it a tune up:)
 
B

Belldiver

New member
Dec 11, 2013
53
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0
Louisiana
Hot COCOAL said:
I think there are some gains to be had by the LLY to LBZ turbo mouthpiece upgrade for a stock rig, not too sure/QUOTE]

I may buy the LBZ turbo mouthpiece and install. It mentions having to do some mods to the stock airbox plumbing. Anybody have some details on that? Or should I just replace the whole airbox with a matching kit, like a K&N setup?
Click to expand...
 
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