LLY: RCSB 1500 LLY round 2

[thunder550]

Wanted to start a thread for round two of my 99 RCSB/LLY swap truck. The original swap thread is here:

http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47483

I replaced the water pump in mid August since the original one was leaking out of the weep hole. Cheaped out and bought a new Bosch pump from Amazon for $60. Ran fine for two months and spun the impeller, overheated and failed the LML studded head gaskets (I should know better by now). Oil pan was leaking also so I decided to pull the motor strip it down to the short block and re-seal everything, fix the head gaskets, and do the twins that I've been wanting since the wife is being supportive of this ridiculous and expensive habit :woott:

Lost the HGs on a wide open run down a frontage road, trying to do some logging for a surging issue I was having at WOT in 5th gear. Overheating warning went off about 1/4 mile from my house...limped the truck home and found an empty overflow bottle and coolant sprayed all down the passenger side. Drained the coolant and found lots of soot mixed in :

Time to pull the motor

I didn't know initially that the water pump impeller had spun. Didn't see any obvious failure points on the head gaskets:

Everything started to make more sense once I opened up the WP housing and found this:

Lesson to be learned here...don't cheap out on parts! Several people told me to get a pinned or welded pump and I didn't, paying the price for it now.

 

[thunder550]

Motor is now out and stripped down. Thanks to Brian (hondarider552) for loaning me his homemade engine stands and to onebaddmaxxx for loaning me his flywheel locking tool, these guys saved me a ton of $$ and hassle

Drilled a hole for a weld-on -10 AN oil drain bung in the front of the oil pan

I'll take more pics as everything goes back together. I'll try to get my sexy toes in as many as possible :roflmao:

Currently have a Danville pinned water pump on order, as well as a new water pump housing since the impeller F-ed up the original one. Found a good deal on a 33k mile LMM CP3 from Bonestock here on dd and decided to replace that while the motor is out.

Got a Victor Reinz full rebuild gasket/seal kit sitting on the workbench and will be sending the heads to Larry's Engine in Tucson as soon as I get home from this turkey day vacation. I'll get head gaskets ordered as soon as I know how much material is taken off the heads, still debating between another set of OEM LMLs and the Victor Reinz ones.

I was pretty well convinced that I was going to build my own twin kit with some welding help from a friend, but I'm starting to lean more towards just buying a kit from one of the vendors on the site.

I'll be deleting the second battery as part of this swap, I don't think it will be needed since I'm in Phoenix and not subjected to anything that resembles extreme cold. Trying to stick with a kit that lets me keep the stock filter head in place, as well as the stock airbox tray since I have my Kennedy mega filter setup mounted to it.


More to come as the rebuild progresses...

 

[TheBac]

Um, why'd you put the bung in the front of the pan?

 

[thunder550]

Recommended by several members here. Keeps it out of the way of the starter, above the oil level, and doesn't block access to any of the oil pan bolts.

 

[onebaddmaxxx]

Are the LML gaskets better then the old c grade gaskets? I haven't heard a whole lot about it or read much on here. So many people use the riveted c's with no issues....kinda makes me think, why stop using whats been working for so many. I have used victor reinz on 3 or 4 head jobs with good success as well on chevys.

FWIW, (since i work on fords primarily) we ALWAYS use victor reins gaskets. Believe it or not.....VR makes the gaskets for ford. So when you go to ford and pay a few hundred for their gaskets, your simply getting the same gaskets with a blue fire ring instead of the "victor reinz" with the black fire rings for double the price.

 

[thunder550]

I really don't know the difference between them. I had a buddy who worked at the parts counter of my local Chevy dealer and just asked him for the updated ones and that's what I got. I haven't read any direct negative experiences from using the LML gaskets but one other member reported a similar failure due to a spun water pump impeller. He said his gasket cracked. Might go ahead and do the Victor Reinz ones this time, sounds like people have had good experiences with them.

 

[onebaddmaxxx]

I did an engine for an lbz with them that ran a 472 and had 60%s in and never had an issue.

 

[S Phinney]

So far I have not had a problem with the LML gaskets. Even at over 1k Hp the have been fine. The real negative that I have seen is that there is considerably more cleaning when you replace one. The old style would come off and everything be pretty clean.

 

[thunder550]

I'll probably go with whichever ones I can find a better deal on since they both seem to be ok. The LMLs I took off seem like they came off clean, but I only had about 10k miles on them.

 

[bcdeutsch731]

LML's are cheaper and hold up good. I would go with the LML's.

 

[thunder550]

Got home from vacation tonight, got to put in a couple hours. Got the front and rear covers reinstalled, need to find someone to borrow the front crank seal and rear main install tools from to get those done. Going to get the oil pan fitting welded tomorrow and will be able to finish up the oil pans.

 

[thunder550]

Also, checked on the money situation today, figure I can swing the twin kit now. Going to be ordering a S475 over stock kit from Wehrli on Monday, thank you Black Friday 10% off

 

[thunder550]

Oil drain fitting is in.

 

[thunder550]

Oil drain location compared to crank pulley. Got the pans finished up today, working on cleaning up the block deck. Sending the heads out for work tomorrow.

 

[onebaddmaxxx]

Interesting. Never seen it there

 

[OregonDMAX]

Interesting. Never seen it there

Probably because most ppl doing twins do this with the motor in

 

[onebaddmaxxx]

True, personally I think I would like the valve cover.

 

[andy-stevenson]

Can anyone confirm that these are all o rings and gaskets needed to replace the water pump? Anything else I would need if just swapping the pump and reusing the housing?

 

[thunder550]

Did you mean to post a picture or something?

Most water pumps come with the necessary gaskets and O-rings.

 

[thunder550]

I have a bunch of stuff showing up this week, should be able to get a lot done this weekend.

Seal install tools should be here today, will be able to do front and rear mains, get water pump installed, crank balancer and flywheel.
LMM CP3 shows up tomorrow
Danville pinned water pump showed up yesterday, and of course the gasket kit I bought didn't have the O-ring that goes from the water pump tube to the oil cooler, so I had to order that separately. Should be here tomorrow also.
Heads made it to Larry's yesterday, as soon as I know how much has to be taken off I'll get HG's ordered.
Block deck is clean and ready
Ordered my Hewitt dual boost gauge and lift pump pressure gauge yesterday, and an overhead gauge mount
Ordered the Wehrli S475 over stock kit Monday, requested delayed shipping, will be here around the 19th.

If I can put enough time in I should be able to have it running again by the end of the month.