Replacing head gasket

[IDI_Journeyman]

Hello again oil burners, I'm doing some work on a service truck my friend has for his hay business. It's a bricknose N/A 7.3 idi zf5 2wd. He took it to a shop to get some tires on it and the mechanic found the passenger side head gasket was leaking just a tad. My friend doesn't want to spend a lot of money on it and only wants to replace that side. My question is: can I reuse the stock 7.3 head bolts? And what is the best gasket to buy? Any tips or helpful hints are much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Thewespaul]

Yes reuse them, felpro is what I use and haven’t had one leak yet.

 

[Dieselpowerking]

I used felpro on mine when i did them. I would recommend doing both it's a smart idea since you already have everything off the top of the motor.

 

[Macrobb]

There are still engine gasket kits out there on the Uhaul Ebay site for cheap; they are Enginetech kits which come with 2 head gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets and a whole bunch of other gaskets... everything except a new valley pan gasket(which I would definately replace when doing head gaskets)

 

[IDI_Journeyman]

I will try to talk him into doing both sides but I doubt he will budge on it. Thanks for the information. Hopefully everything goes smoothly

 

[Macrobb]

Be aware: If it's an earlier-model 7.3, it will have open coolant gallery ports on the intake manifold side of the head, between each intake port.
These get blocked off by the intake valley pan gasket. Late model 7.3s have "freeze plugs" pressed into each of those ports, and don't require sealing of the intake valley pan.

If you have these open ports, make sure to replace the valley pan/gasket. Otherwise, you could leak coolant down into the lifter valley, into the oil. Not so fun.
If you have closed ports, it's not as critical to replace it, though it will probably be stiff/sticky and you'll want to anyway.

 

[david85]

He took it to a shop to get some tires on it and the mechanic found the passenger side head gasket was leaking just a tad.

Could you please clarify what you mean by "just a tad"?

Reason I'm asking is because a leak at the thermostat housing will follow the engine down to the passenger side cylinder bank. Then it follows the edge of the head gasket to the rear of the engine (engine normally tilts aft), before finally dripping off the rear passenger side of the block.

Without looking too closely, it can appear like a coolant leak from the head gasket itself.

Is the coolant overflowing in the recovery tank?
Is there low compression on two adjoining cylinders?
How did the mechanic determine the engine has a leaking head gasket?

 

[IDI_Journeyman]

He didn't specify how this mechanic came to this conclusion. My friend said "You can still run it, there's nothing real bad yet. Just add some coolant every now and then" i personally want to take a real good look at it and try to see this leak for myself.

 

[david85]

If it is indeed a leaking head gasket, then it should be fixed sooner rather than later. Diesels develop so much combustion pressure that any leak past the fire ring of the head gasket will eat into the block and head surfaces. Now, if it's only from the water jacket escaping out, then it *might* be ok for a while, but you're still running the risk of surface erosion if the gasket continues to weaken.

But, based on the description, it could just be a leak from the thermostat area (housing, upper rad hose or temperature switch).