Possible Blown Head Gasket?

[Maniak]

Once all 3 parts are torqued down together you can pull the intake off as the heads won't move now. But as they are being torqued down if the heads aren't exactly in the right spot the intake may not seal well at the bottom if you put it on later.

I was also told this doesn't affect all motors but it is a good habit to get into. This came my the machine shop that worked on my heads.

~Mark

 

[jd4242]

You can put the heads on first just finger tight them.yes it is very important you do the lower intake and heads at the same time.these motors blow lower intake gaskets all the time,i would sugest checking the lower intake blots after a couple miles and make sure to use rtv in all four corners too.

 

[jd4242]

Wow, i didn't think you could repair that. I dont know if I'd trust it, but I do have a set of 95tm heads to go on.

You did end up going with 95tms?you go with the EQ i assume?

 

[racer_x_one]

You can put the heads on first just finger tight them.yes it is very important you do the lower intake and heads at the same time.these motors blow lower intake gaskets all the time,i would sugest checking the lower intake blots after a couple miles and make sure to use rtv in all four corners too.

Ok thanks. I'll wait till I can put them on together.

On a side note I was surprised at how relatively easily all the exhaust bolts came out (for a 18yr old 250k+ miles) I thought for sure one or more of the top one's would strip or snap.

 

[racer_x_one]

You did end up going with 95tms?you go with the EQ i assume?

Yes I did from ebay as per your suggestion. Thanks again.

 

[jd4242]

Yes I did from ebay as per your suggestion. Thanks again.

Sweet.just remember you need to run higher octane

 

[racer_x_one]

Sweet.just remember you need to run higher octane

Not a problem. I've actualy been running high octane for a while now. When I would run low octane it would knock and ping especialy under load and running higher octane alleviated that and I got slightly better mpg. I'm excited to see how it runs with the 95's...

 

[racer_x_one]

Well here's the drivers side. Same story, the front water jacket ports are almost blocked and #4 is cracked across the vavles.

Had a few more questions. As I have stated before I do not have a garage and work when the weather permits.

Will this cold weather have any ill effect on assembling, torquing and then firing up the engine?

All of the white-ish deposits in the chambers and build up in the exhaust ports...what is this and is it a sign of anything bad?

Also my water pump has 60k on it...should I replace it while I'm in there? Thanks

 

[jd4242]

Head bolts should be fine, they are tty.lower intake i would check after a couple miles.i would be very worried about all that water in the oil,not good at all for bearings.i would replace the water pump.i would also take a shop vac and try to suck all that crap out the passageways.also i would run some sort of engine flush in it for the first start,run it for 15mins and change my oil right away.even after that i wouldnt put any stress on the motor till i did about 5-10 warm up and cool downs,run it up to temp in park and shut down and let cool,repeat 5-10 times.it should steam like crazy and then you will probably need to change plugs after a couple of miles,all that steam and bad oil getting sucked up prob will foul your plugs.

 

[jd4242]

O i dont know if i said to pull those lifters out one at a time or mark where they came from and take them apart and clean them good.

 

[racer_x_one]

Ok thanks jd. I found a thin hose to tape to my vac to get into all the small crevices. How would sea foam work as an engine flush? I bought it a week or two before this all came to light and never got to use it.

 

[jd4242]

Thats a good idea.umm i dont know to be honest,i have never used it.check the lable,i sure it can be used.i would even consider hooking the vac up to the line off the oil fill or tape it to it to help suck the water vapor out for the first couple runs.you dont want that water cloging your new heads up.it will take awile to get all that water and bad oil out so buy cheap oil and change/flush it as many times as you can afford.

 

[fireball 440]

Can you expand on this?

well.... I think I had a brain fart LOL! It is a good practice to get into I agree, locking all 3 pieces together at once.

 

[racer_x_one]

I've never used it either. I decided to try it after all the positive results people have gotten on the forum. Apparently it can be used in the gas, oil and in the intake (burned in the engine). Obviously I would only need it in the oil.

As far as coolant in my oil I don't think I got much if in there. Any time I've changed/checked the oil there was never any sign of coolant in the oil. Here's my theory...
the heads were cracked (what I found/could see) across the valves, one on each head (opposite corners). The coolant (mostly in steam form) was pushed up through the valve guides and in to the valve covers. From there it exited through the oil fill and pcv vent (I just have a mini cone filter there no pcv vavle) and some got sucked back into the engine via the tube going from the oil fill neck to the intake tube and some condensed on the top of the valve covers and in the oil fill neck. In this pic you can see how the coolant condensed and mixed with the oil over the cylinders that were cracked. Please don't get me wrong I'm not tring to second guess you I'm still going to do what you suggest even if what I propose was the case. What do you think?...or am I way off base here and thinking to much into it?

 

[jd4242]

Thinking to much into it.if it got in the cover and is in the passage ways it through the whole motor.also just having a filter there instead of a pcv is bad.it cause a vac leak,sucking air from one side,the filler neck and through the filter.get a pcv.did you ever leave the oil you drained in a glass jar for days to see if it will separate? Most was prob in steam form and combined with oil right away and stuck to everything.please ask all the questions you want,here to help.ps ive rebuilt a motor three times searching for cracks so know a little about water in the oil

 

[racer_x_one]

Good point never thought about it being mixed and letting it sit to separate.
Isn't the pcv a vent and not a source of vac. Without it won't fresh air just be sucked in from the draw on it from the oil fill side (the tube connected to the intake tube) or vent out if the pressure exceeded (from blow by) the vac draw on it?

 

[mr cribb]

One question... how many miles are on the truck? (assuming this is the first time the engine has been opened up) I'm asking because there's a decent amount of sludge (nothing horrible) that I noticed.

Seafoam: I used it in my fuel.... that stuff is awesome! It definitely cleaned stuff out.

I agree w/ JD use some sort of flush, both coolant and engine.

If it's only been a year since you've done a flush, there shouldn't be that much rust and junk in there. How old is the radiator?

Again I'm only asking because I'm comparing to mine (cooling system) I replaced my radiator (cracked side tank) last Feb around 196k and I didn't have any rusty buildup and it was the factory radiator. Maybe the original owner took care of mine?

Maybe the cracked heads have something to do with the rusty build up?

 

[racer_x_one]

One question... how many miles are on the truck? (assuming this is the first time the engine has been opened up) I'm asking because there's a decent amount of sludge (nothing horrible) that I noticed.

Seafoam: I used it in my fuel.... that stuff is awesome! It definitely cleaned stuff out.

I agree w/ JD use some sort of flush, both coolant and engine.

If it's only been a year since you've done a flush, there shouldn't be that much rust and junk in there. How old is the radiator?

Again I'm only asking because I'm comparing to mine (cooling system) I replaced my radiator (cracked side tank) last Feb around 196k and I didn't have any rusty buildup and it was the factory radiator. Maybe the original owner took care of mine?

I have 250k on it and as far as I know and can tell this is the first time it was opened up. I replaced the rad (used one from a local yard) and flushed it on 04-10 at 225k. It's kinda funny I was replacing the tensioner pulley after it failed and shredded my serpentine belt and I accidentally leaned on the upper rad hose (were it connects to the rad) and snapped it off. Which added insult to injury as I was doing this repair road side about ten+ miles from home.

 

[jd4242]

Good point never thought about it being mixed and letting it sit to separate.
Isn't the pcv a vent and not a source of vac. Without it won't fresh air just be sucked in from the draw on it from the oil fill side (the tube connected to the intake tube) or vent out if the pressure exceeded (from blow by) the vac draw on it?

Nope have it little backwards.both vac lines create a sealed vac on the crankcase and suck any blow bye that occurs. When you only have one line on it sucks fresh unmetered air in witch is a vac leak.

 

[racer_x_one]

Nope have it little backwards.both vac lines create a sealed vac on the crankcase and suck any blow blow that occurs. When you only have one line on it sucks fresh unmetered air in witch is a vac leak.

Ok makes sense, thanks I'll have to get one back on there.