Brown Truck Under the Knife Project - Engine

[TheOne]

man that REALLY sucks iv spent most of the day reading this thread off and on and its a really heart ache to see that ur truck succumbed to something else!

 

[david85]

*Side note* Valley pan studs? Where did he get them? Got a link?

*Back to thread* I never thought of it that way. Can you cut the holes a bit bigger and add screw in plugs?

SWS

You could probably buy some ARP studs that are the right length but Dave and I both used grade 8 threaded rod and cut them to length. Then use grade 8 nuts and washers an lubed with grease to reduce friction during torque down. Both of us did the same for the exhaust manifolds too. And we both used copper gasket spray on both gaskets. So far both of ours seem to be holding but I rarely can get over 10 PSI for some reason. I'm really surprised Sean was able to get 15 PSI so easily considering we run identical turbos. What I did with mine was really a sever overkill considering how the truck actually performs.

I don't know what could be done for the coolant passages but on the later 7.3 version of what is basically the same casting, they installed small core plugs at the factory. Depending on what machine shop you find, it might be possible to make such a mod for the 6.9 as well. A thread in plug might also work but you still have to accurately drill, and tap the hole in the casting. The hole itself is not machined or circular either, its just a rough oval opening in the casting.

A compression check should be able to confirm if this is a head gasket. A blown intake gasket will not affect compression. But roll the engine over by hand before attempting to crank it just in case water is in there.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

I've got milky moisture buildup in the top of the oil fill cap and watery deposits on the dipstick. Just thought I'd update a little. I'm not really sure what to do with this truck right now. My dad has told me to scrap the original heads, he has a point, I'll never know for sure if that guys work will cause me problems down the road or not. Not to mention he did take them down to within 1thou of the min for thickness, so if there's something wrong them them they are junk.
I'm gonna call Barnett High Performance tomorrow and find out what they'd charge me for a set of stage 4 6.9 heads with rings installed. My guess is gonna be around $1750-$2000.
But I guess first thing's first, try to figure out what's wrong.

 

[idiabuse]

I've got milky moisture buildup in the top of the oil fill cap and watery deposits on the dipstick. Just thought I'd update a little. I'm not really sure what to do with this truck right now. My dad has told me to scrap the original heads, he has a point, I'll never know for sure if that guys work will cause me problems down the road or not. Not to mention he did take them down to within 1thou of the min for thickness, so if there's something wrong them them they are junk.
I'm gonna call Barnett High Performance tomorrow and find out what they'd charge me for a set of stage 4 6.9 heads with rings installed. My guess is gonna be around $1750-$2000.
But I guess first thing's first, try to figure out what's wrong.

Soory to hear your troubles, hope you can overcome the issues.
I would like to add that I used a set of 6.9 heads on my 7.3 for about 7 years that were cut beyond the limit.
After all was said and done the heads I used were cut .017 and .022 past the maximum allowed thickness.
The heads are still in useable condition, I will keep them around until my new engine makes it a few months without any failures, after reading this thread I am having a hard time getting to sleep at night now

Javier

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Talked to Tim Barnett from Barnett High Performance the other day about fire-ringing a set of new heads for me instead of using head gaskets. He's talking about possibly costing $1500 for a set of their stage one heads with fire rings. I need to check the runout on that side of the block now, since it's blown a headgasket it could have dug a channel in the deck.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Well now that its atleast decent weather outside I really should contemplate tearing into this thing if nothing else to drain the water out of the cylinders, if there is any. I'm betting its full.
I've been putting in 60+ hour weeks at my new job, I'm a shop assistant and machinist at a local machine shop (not the engine kind, the big job kind, lol). Not really looking forward to it but it needs to be done.

 

[87crewdually]

I was getting combustion bleed under a fire-ring on the head gasket(s) which practically melted the coolant passage o-ring which in turn allowed coolant to get into the oil drain passages yielding similiar results you're experiencing.

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For the record this happened twice o the passenger head but on different ends. The last time I redid it I used Spray Copper Coat on all mating surfaces (headgasket and head and block) (3 even coats) and still have no failures. I'm over 16 psi boost towing slight grade (Banks gauge only goes to 15) and temps stay moderate and no coolant issues thus far. I also blame the Felpro brass rivets as a weak point in the design. I only replaced driver side once after a felpro failure and the Victor Reinz is still holding up after 2 passenger side felpro failures.
Don't get discouraged, others been there too.

 

[OLDBULL8]

You should NEVER re-use a valley pan gasket, they are a crush gasket, one time use only. I know they are expensive, but if they blow it gets a lot more expensive..

 

[87crewdually]

You should NEVER re-use a valley pan gasket, they are a crush gasket, one time use only. I know they are expensive, but if they blow it gets a lot more expensive..

Tell that to my third time used pan- granted it started out new and was reused within 8 months of each time, but with a little copper coat it's fine.

 

[david85]

Valley pan also has no effect on the head gasket or compression even if it completely blows out.

 

[aaron1976]

Viva La Copper Coat! I love the stuff

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

I guess I never have given much thought to copper coating both deck surfaces or even just the head gasket. I'm going to grind me a piece of precision ground stock and test the deck on the block for trueness with a go-nogo gauge. If all checks out and I'm pulling the whole top end apart anyway I'm going to have a set of cometic head gaskets made. To be honest though, I'm betting since I assembled this motor after the last catastrophe in -14* temps that the temperature alone during reassembly and torquing could have had some effect on the failure of the gasket.
I copper coated the snot out of the valley pan and head mating surface, if there's a leak there, its because of stretched bolts.

 

[icanfixall]

The minus 14 degrees will have an effect on the torque.... The copper coat spray can be applied too thick too. Just s simple coating will work fine... Too much will cause issues. Remember your trying to compress whatever you put on the surfaces. Everything between the two surfaces are demensionally a thickness... Even a fingerprint is an issue. Its like oil across a gasket surface. You will have oil leaking from it because the oil is being wicked thru the void. A single edge razor works great for cleaning the block and head surface. I use brakeclean after that because it leaves no film. Wipeing with a rag can leave tiny threads or fuzzys and those will cause leaks. On my second rebuild I used a wet rag with brakeclean. It left all kinds of fuzzys everywhere. I couldn't get them removed so... A map gas bottle torch got it done fast. Then a quick spray off with brakeclean again and alls well....

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Here's what's going to happen with this thing, as of right now anyway this is the plan. We'll pull the GP's blow all the water out of it and do a compression test on all the cylinders. Then the head is coming off again, maybe both (if both the cab is coming off again and the motor is coming back out). Going to clean all the rust out of the cylinder that has had the antifreeze sitting in it for 2 months. Going to put a piece of precision ground bar stock over the block deck and head mating surface, check runout on the head, and if all checks out I'm going to have COMETIC make me a set of head gaskets.

 

[Clydesdale]

Haysuess, 585 posts, I quit at 407.. will come back to it later.. your tribulations have made me question the validity of building up my motor...