Misfire when cold

[masospaghetti]

I won't be able to post the tear down step by step (since it's already torn down), but here is the reassembly.

I had a lot of carbon buildup on each piston. I tried ATF, seafoam, and Berrymans B12 carb cleaner. The ATF and seafoam didn't do anything. The B12 softened the deposits so they easily could be scraped off with a nylon brush within about 8 hours. I bought 4 cans of it and poured enough in to each cylinder that it covered the entire piston. Obviously you will need to change your oil since a bunch of it will end up in the pan.

You will need to clean the head gasket surface really well. I used a razor blade and a bunch of the green scotchbrite. It took about 4 hours to do and sore hands, but you can't use anything too aggressive. There were some bits left that I didn't remove - I used the fingernail test (if you can feel it with your fingernail, it needs to come off).

The lifters go in first before the heads. They can only go in one way. Make sure they go in the same place they were taken from.

I installed the head without the manifold installed, but I would have installed the manifold ahead of time if I did it again on the driver's side. The access is tight to do it afterward. Install the head gasket (it's directional, make sure RH/LH is correct), then dropped the head on. Once the head is placed on the locating pins, thread in your head bolts a few threads and tighten by hand.

Per the FSM:

Position the cylinder head and gasket and install the new bolts in three steps.

Step 1: Tighten to 30-35 Nm (22-26 ft. lbs.)
Step 2: Tighten to 70-75 Nm (52-56 ft. lbs.)
Step 3: Tighten an additional 90 degrees

Drop the pushrods in next, again in the same place they came out from:

And next, the rocker arm shaft:

Position the rocker arm shaft and install the bolts in two steps.

Step 1: Tighten to 32 Nm (24 ft. lbs..)
Step 2: Tighten an additional 90 degrees.

Note: Even though it says to "tighten an additional 90 degrees", I don't think these are TTY bolts that have to be replaced. I may be wrong on this. I re-used mine.

Now do the same for the other head.

 

[masospaghetti]

Once both heads are on, apply a bit of motor oil or ATF to the lifters, down on the cam, and the rocker tips and give the motor a few complete turns to make sure nothing is binding up and that the valvetrain is moving as expected.

If you haven't installed the manifolds, do that now. Note that I used 1 stud and 1 bolt on each side since the studs I got were too long for the lower hole. Dorman 03413 bolt kit and Dorman 03411B is what you want. Don't forget the manifold gaskets, and anti-seize on the bolts and studs.

Next is the lower intake manifold. I pre-assembled the fuel rail and manifold (before I knew I was putting this tutorial together), but you'll need a female torx bit to remove the fuel rail. It's a good idea to take the injectors out, put in new o-rings, filters, and pintle caps while it's apart. It's easy and cheap. UREMCO 2-6 fuel injector kit is what you want.

Note that there's a thick spacer gasket between the lower manifold and fuel rail that did not come in my Victor Reinz gasket kit. I had to separately buy a Fel-Pro upper intake kit for that. Fel-Pro MS90732 is what you want. You can see it sandwiched in there below:

Here is the old one (it's been replaced before, since this is an aftermarket part).

Next, I cleaned the lower intake to head surfaces with B12 to make sure they were clean. I noticed the old gasket is a single piece and not the same as the new gasket, which comes as separate pieces. Without instructions in the kit or in the FSM, I decided to improvise.

Here is the old one:

And the new ones:

There were 3 holes in each gasket that didn't appear to serve any purpose, so I applied some RTV at each hole to tack the gaskets in place.

I'm waiting on the RTV to dry now. Once it does, I'll continue - Stay tuned!

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

That silicone under the intake manifold at the "hole" has the potential to cause a problem if left to harden BEFORE the intake manifold is installed. This is because it has not been compressed down due to the torque of the intake manifold bolts, but instead will leave a raised portion of hardened RTV that can cause problems with the gasket to seal around the water port.

 

[masospaghetti]

Thanks for the tip. Without the RTV to tack it down, how would you keep the gaskets from shifting around while you were installing the lower manifold? There are no locating pins or anything to keep it in place.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

I can see in the photo there is a small metal tab on top of the gasket at the top of each intake port, this should hold the gasket in place while the intake manifold it torqued into place. After you position the intake in place, and before you start to tighten the bolt, make sure each gasket is in the correct position before the torquing sequence of the intake manifold bolts, it will be fine.
Dont forget to run a bead of silicone at the front and rear of the lifter valley, some kits come with rubber gaskets for there too, it is your choice on what method to use to seal the front and rear lifter valley wall. A dab of silicone at each lower corner of the metal gasket/lifter valley wall is also required, it should state this in the instruction with the gaskets.

 

[masospaghetti]

As suggested, I took the gaskets off and reapplied the RTV sealant from the head to intake seam, down between the heads, and up the other side, starting from where the arrows are shown here:

Then I dropped the lower intake into place, careful to center the gaskets around each port. You can see the tabs sticking out the top, and can use these to align them correctly. You need a E7 female torx bit for this. Torque these to 125 inch-lb.

I chose to put the valve covers on next. Clean the mating surfaces, and apply some RTV where the head and lower intake meet, and install them. Torque these to 71-89 inch-lb.

Shown above, I had already put back the passenger side harness, so go ahead and do that and be sure to run that crank position sensor wire now. It will be much harder to do later when the alternator bracket is installed.

Now you can run the driver's side harness and fuel lines. I didn't find a torque spec for the fuel connectors unfortunately so "nice and snug" is the best I could do here. You can also connect up all of your fuel injectors.

Note that the fuel line should actually run through the loops in the fuel injector harness, not as shown above. I fixed this later.

 

[masospaghetti]

This is what your wiring and plumbing should look like about now and don't forget about this EGR emissions hose that goes in under the upper intake. Here I've loosely reinstalled the power steering pump bracket too:

By the way - the FSM says to remove the A/C compressor and discharge the system, and to remove the cooling fan. I did neither. You would get more room to work for sure but it's not necessary. Here is how I kept it out of the way, and hung it from the hood (be sure to prop the hood open with something to keep it from falling on you!)

Go ahead and put back the alternator bracket and belt tensioner. Torque the bracket bolts and the tensioner bolt to 30-40 ft-lb.

When you install the alternator, torque these bolts to 30-40 ft-lb also.

Don't forget about a couple things on the aft side of the heads. On the driver's side, there's a O2 sensor bracket (which mine was broken, so it didn't matter) and a ground strap (which matters very much). On the passenger side there's a bolt to attach this A/C line bracket.

Remember I mentioned the fuel line routing? This is how it should be done:

Position the new upper intake o-rings into the upper intake and replace that green EGR pipe o-ring.

Now you can install the upper intake, which is tricky due to the EGR pipe on the driver's side. It's easier if you leave the A/C compressor loose because it will give you more room to work. I also had a lot of trouble with this one stud on the driver's side, it was not aligned correctly with the EGR pipe, I wasted a good hour with it. Make sure it's lined up before you start tightening down the upper intake or EGR bolts.

Torque the upper intake nuts to 15-18 ft-lb, the EGR mount bolts (x2) to 17-20 ft-lb, and that troublesome EGR stud to 30-40 ft-lb.

I also found out that my Victor Reinz / Mahle gasket set came with this EGR gasket, but the bolt holes are too small. Really unacceptable. I opened them up with a drill but it was hard to get a clean hole. The old on the left, new on the right.

Go ahead and reinstall the dipstick and tighten the nut to 17-20 ft-lb, and install the A/C compressor and tighten those bolts to 15-21 ft-lb.

Start plugging stuff in on the driver's side of the manifold and reinstall the serpentine belt:

Run your spark plug wires (you did number them, didn't you?) - I had to remove one of the sensors from the upper intake to thread them through. If you haven't already, drain your old contaminated oil and refill it. I had just changed the filter so I left the filter on. Install the heater hoses and upper radiator hose. Refill with coolant and run the cruise and throttle cables back into place.

Reinstall the air intake pipe and reconnect the battery - almost there!

You want to crank the engine a bit before you start it to make sure all surfaces are lubricated and the lifters are pumped up with oil. Make sure the ignition coil is unplugged and pull the fuel pump relay (relay 5 under the hood). Cross your fingers and turn the key, and make sure there are no strange noises when it's turning over.

Give it a good 15 seconds or so, then reconnect the coil and fuel pump relay. Turn the key to RUN, then off, then RUN a couple times to pressurize the fuel rail. Check for leaks. Then give it a start and hope it goes!

Edit: Forgot to mention that at some point you will need to reconnect the exhaust downpipe bolts (2 per manifold) from underneath the vehicle. I have some issues getting the driver's side manifold to form a good seal. If there's an exhaust leak, try backing off all four bolts a few turns and reseat them. Unfortunately there's no gasket at this joint so it can be tricky to get it to seal properly.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

Excellent writeup and pictures.
Brings back old memories. I also had to ream out the EGR gasket,
and the 2-piece LIM gaskets had me concerned. The tabs did hold them
in place until a bolt or two was started.

 

[EB4X]

Great write-up / pics!
I'm guessing it overheated while your brother was using it those 4 years....? Not to create any friction....things happen.....

 

[JCat]

Check the coils for cracks.

 

[masospaghetti]

Great write-up / pics!
I'm guessing it overheated while your brother was using it those 4 years....? Not to create any friction....things happen.....

Maybe, it's possible it always burned a bit of coolant and I didn't notice. I know the previous owners were hard on it and used it to tow a trailer full of ATVs.

 

[masospaghetti]

Engine is running well and feels like it has plenty of power. I do notice some valve clatter between 2,500-3,000 RPM though.

 

[masospaghetti]

Went ahead and changed the oil filter, I figured a bunch of debris probably ended up in there (RTV bits, carbon bits from the piston tops, metal from the heads breaking in). The oil that came out was fairly shiny so I'll just have to keep an eye on it and had lots of various non-metallic chunks in it.

Engine is nice and quiet when cold but has valve clatter between 2,500 RPM and 3,000 RPM when warm - maybe one of my lifters is leaking down with the hot thin oil? Any other ideas?

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

Good to here that it is running again.
About what you call "valve clatter" at 2500-3k RPM, I would like to say, that with 252k miles on the odometer, I am assuming this is the original engine and never been apart before, I think it would be a good idea to check the bottom of the oil pan for sludge, and to make sure nothing is obstructing the oil pump pick up screen in the bottom of the oil pan. Oil starvation at a higher RPM can cause a reduction in oil flow to the lifters, and then they will start to make noise, like you described.

 

[masospaghetti]

Good to here that it is running again.
About what you call "valve clatter" at 2500-3k RPM, I would like to say, that with 252k miles on the odometer, I am assuming this is the original engine and never been apart before, I think it would be a good idea to check the bottom of the oil pan for sludge, and to make sure nothing is obstructing the oil pump pick up screen in the bottom of the oil pan. Oil starvation at a higher RPM can cause a reduction in oil flow to the lifters, and then they will start to make noise, like you described.

This may be a dumb question but is there an easy way to inspect the pickup screen? Dropping the pan on a 4WD vehicle isn't exactly trivial...

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

Before dropping the oil pan to check for sludge, install temporarily, or permanently (your choice), a mechanical oil pressure gauge to watch the "actual" oil pressure gauge at all engine operating conditions.

 

[masospaghetti]

So I noticed a pretty obvious oil stain on the ground in the morning, much more so than before. Using an inspection mirror I realized I could see directly into the lifter valley! The RTV I applied wasn't thick enough to form a seal there. Remember this is where the two piece gasket differed from the original design.

On one hand, I should have checked this carefully when I first put it together. On the other hand, I'm a bit annoyed there were no instructions, also because the gap is pretty large.This might also explain the valve clatter simply because the valvetrain is literally wide open.

I've started taking things back apart....stay tuned.

 

[masospaghetti]

Here is the gap I was talking about on the front side of the manifold.

 

[masospaghetti]

So after a separate issue with my 3rd gear losing a couple teeth, the truck is back up and running again. It drives well. BUT, there's a significant amount of blue smoke on startup, and I can see a little after sitting at a stoplight at idle, and revving it up a bit.

It passed CA emissions today but the HC's were really close (48 ppm vs 50 ppm limit).

I'm thinking either my scotchbrite on the cylinder walls was a mistake, or the new heads have bad stem seals. Any thoughts?

I did order some "Restore" which supposedly helps worn cylinder walls, so I'll try that tomorrow and see if it makes any difference.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

I'd check the PCV valve/system first. You might get lucky.
If no joy, it's got to be bad valve stem seals, or piston rings.
(Maybe a stem seal has split or was installed incorrectly.)

Might also pull the plugs and see if one has been oil-fouled
more than the others. That'll at least isolate the problem.

That's a bummer to do all that work and then see smoke...