6.9idi head retorqueing.

Now that these trucks are 30+ years old and usually high mileage, 6.9 or 7.3....its probably worth considering for all folks who have a truck that has not been apart, never had head gaskets done etc. ; to consider re-torqueing the head bolts as a preventative maintenance procedure. Just my $0.69 worth

Thanks. Major help. I will get after it this weekend and let you guys know how it works out. Good or bad. I know its a long shot but hey, It should be done anyway right.

Right. Worst case scenario, you have to go back in there to pull the heads off. Not the end of the world, just a little annoying. But hey....it helps us practice our patience

Thanks for the help guys. It's a blown gasket now. I drove it to a friends garage to do the work this weekend. And it started smoking from the tail pipe. And really blowing pressure into the coolant. I just ordered the head gaskets. Maybe it would have save a little time if i had caught it quicker and torqued them down. I did drive it like that for some time before major failure, so im not to upset with it. Probably 500-600 miles before it really made itself known.

Well my advice would be to pull the engine out. It's so much easier to replace head gaskets while it's on a stand. Since you're doing both head gaskets, this would be the perfect time for head studs if you can afford it. Then it will be ready for a turbo in the future.

For the guys who don't know. My truck 6.9 idi had extremely high pressure in the coolant system causing loss of coolant through the degas tank. And bubbing in the tank. Otherwise it ran good. Was very loud at shut down from the bubbing coolant

Ok guys, so I went ahead and retorqued the heads, because I was planning on pulling the engine for the topend rebuild I figured. Hell its worth a shot from what the awesome guys on here said.. Last Saturday 9-28-19. Soon found the problem. The driver side head bolts weren't very tight. Most took a full turn, 3 took 1 1/2 turns. Then 1/4 turn on second time around. Passengers side was so tight I left a few alone for fear of snapping them. So long story short I have put around 50 miles on the truck and its running perfect. No more pressure, no more smoking. And it seems to have a different tone. Almost smoother idle. So to all that advised me to retorque. THANK YOU ! Im very pleased with it and will update when and if the gasket fails.

WOW! That's lucky. I'm glad you got it fixed, even if it's temporary.

IDIBRONCO said:

WOW! That's lucky. I'm glad you got it fixed, even if it's temporary.

Click to expand...

DITTO on that!!

More you work on these Jacob, the more you will love these IDI's

Good work. Yup its incredible how loose the bolts can get over time

Well what's most satisfying is that since it did work. Im pretty certain that the gasket surfaces are going to be good when it does need replacement. And the heads are not cracked. Again maybe this will change but it makes the head gasket job a little less nerve racking. I was worried the heads were damaged or cavities where causing this. After the body is fixed up right, and other minor issues are fixed. I'll want it to be done right so I can tow a 35 foot GN trailer. All at a later date. But very impressed with the IDI so far. Would a turbo in the future really impress me? Or should I 7.3 swap it instead? At a later time I may be looking for a better set up but it moves my small 20 foot trailer and makes runs to the dump for now.

JacobHansen said:

Well what's most satisfying is that since it did work. Im pretty certain that the gasket surfaces are going to be good when it does need replacement. And the heads are not cracked. Again maybe this will change but it makes the head gasket job a little less nerve racking. I was worried the heads were damaged or cavities where causing this. After the body is fixed up right, and other minor issues are fixed. I'll want it to be done right so I can tow a 35 foot GN trailer. All at a later date. But very impressed with the IDI so far. Would a turbo in the future really impress me? Or should I 7.3 swap it instead? At a later time I may be looking for a better set up but it moves my small 20 foot trailer and makes runs to the dump for now.

Click to expand...

To answer your question regarding the turbo. My truck runs the older style turbo system and was on 7 cylinders with bent pushrod and I was pleased with its performance lol for what’s it worth

And keep that 6.9..

JacobHansen said:

Would a turbo in the future really impress me? Or should I 7.3 swap it instead?

Click to expand...

A turbo would probably impress you unless you watch a lot of old Knight Rider reruns. Unless you're going to go with a lot of boost, a 7.3 swap isn't required. A studded 6.9 will hold up to 10-15 PSI of boost.

edit Removed due to ....

Updated, its been quite some time and have been using this f350 pretty heavily and not extremely easy miles. Must be over 10k since retorqueing the heads. Have not experienced one problem yet with the cooling system. Absolutely no bubbing, steaming, only smokes a little on start up.. Id say thats normal anyway. But this was a very easy fix for the minor gasket leak. I know a head job is in the future but this for sure has gotten me by longer then expected. Thanks for all the help.

That's good news. At least you have a long winter to work on it.