Junkyard engine issues. Dont overseal your gaskets?

[Rusgo]

Grabbing a set of 6.9 cylinder heads today at picknpull. Looks like the engine was rebuilt at some point. The tiny rusty cooling passages at the top of the head gasket had a column of sealant trailing off out of them. Like there was too much sealant used and the cooling system drew it through before it cured.

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[chillman88]

If a little is good a lot must be better!

Yeah some people get carried away. A little dab will do ya!

 

[79jasper]

Sure it's not block seal?....

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[Rusgo]

Sure it's not block seal?....

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I always thought blocker seal crystalized and hardened? This stuff was like one inch long stranded coming out of the holes. The consistency resembled clear rtv.

If it is block seal, not too great either! The block looked rebuilt at some point. The cylinder walls had so pretty great cross hatching on them and the gaskets looked newer.

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[Rusgo]

Dropped the heads off at the machine shop for a complete rework! They looked pretty great, but it's like waiting for the call from a doctor.

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[79jasper]

Actually, I think it does.
I'm just not seeing any reason to use anything on the headgaskets. Lol clear would likely be silicone. Aka, not automotive compatible.

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[Rusgo]

What's the deal with the the tiny coolant passages in the head gasket anyway? Kind of scary that they could be clogged pretty easily. Anybody every open them up a bit?

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[79jasper]

Iirc, the 7.3 doesn't even flow coolant through the head.
I believe on the 6.9 you can open up the head end. Been awhile since it's been talked about.

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[Thewespaul]

That’s just an aftermarket head gasket that has a orange sealant layer around the water jackets, I see them a lot.

 

[79jasper]

That’s just an aftermarket head gasket that has a orange sealant layer around the water jackets, I see them a lot.

I didn't think he was talking about the orange stuff, I thought he meant actually in the coolant passages.

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[Thewespaul]

The picture that’s posted is the deck surface with the head gasket still on it, you can’t see the coolant ports there, that’s why it looks like such a small pinhole. The picture of the parts on the trolly you can see the ports are much larger and just have the regular surface rust on the inside of the coolant ports.

 

[Rusgo]

The picture that’s posted is the deck surface with the head gasket still on it, you can’t see the coolant ports there, that’s why it looks like such a small pinhole. The picture of the parts on the trolly you can see the ports are much larger and just have the regular surface rust on the inside of the coolant ports.

I meant the small pinhole passage in the head gasket. Can it be opened up? Does the 7.3 have the same tiny hole on the upper head gasket passages?

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[Rusgo]

Heard back from the cylinder head shop. Heads were in really decent shape.

Valves weren't sealing great, but I wanted them fresh anyway.

And had a small crack in the intake mounting surface that needs repair. Odd place for a crack to form..with it being so far away from the combustion chamber.

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[IDIBRONCO]

I meant the small pinhole passage in the head gasket. Can it be opened up? Does the 7.3 have the same tiny hole on the upper head gasket passages?

By "upper head gasket passages", I assume that you mean the ones that are toward the top of the heads as pictured with the exhaust ports facing up. These are actually in the lower front and rear corners of the block. Yes they can be opened up. These are inserts that come with the new head gaskets. They have to be used. Wes did take a die grinder and cut his open a little bit larger. These are also the places that 79Jasper was talking about when he said that 7.3s don't flow coolant through the heads. That was misspoken. 7.3s don't flow coolant through these ports, but they do have coolant flowing through the heads.

 

[Rusgo]

If you look on the upper part of the block/head gasket, closer to the intake valley side of the gasket, you can see the 3 larger rusty looking circles with a pin size holes going through the gasket. So the cooling passage made the rust circles, but the actual passage through the gasket is like a penhead size. And those small holes were clogged.

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