oh well, i drove it some...

[jrisingmoon]

looks like I lost the oil pan gasket since I see oil dripping down the sides of the oil pan and onto the starter. I don't THINK this would be the reason for the sooty exhaust and the oil smell coming from the intake but that shows what I know. The engine dies when I'm about to come to a stop or I'm pointing down hill. I think the timing is off, among other things...

Screw it, don't feel like messing with it anytime soon...

 

[jrisingmoon]

I hate being wrong.

Looks like I was looking too low on the engine. Both head gaskets are gone. That's where the oil's going from. Back to the drawing board...

 

[Joe Mc]

I recently replaced the Intake on an 82 E-350 with a 460, man it is tight in there. If you pull the 6.9 out of there I would like to see some pictures if you have the time to take some.

Are you sure that it is oil? If the IP starts to weep it will wash down under the intake and drip down the sides of the block, the starter, and oilpan. An IP is easier to replace than the head gaskets.

 

[jrisingmoon]

yeah, pretty sure its oil. I spent part of this past week degreasing the underside of the engine to pinpoint the engine leak and it's next to the heads. I can even see enough of the gasket to probable pull it out with some needle nose pliers. Maybe its always been like that but the oil leaks are coming from the same place on the heads, near the #7 and #8 cyclinder.

I don't have the time or money to pull the thing yet, and, as it stands now, if it's going to be pulled, I may as well rebuild the whole damn thing. I'll post pictures whenever I get around to doing it all but that won't be for LONG time. I have a lot of pictures of what I've been up until now, might post those when I get the chance. There's a diesel program at the local tech school where I grew up that I planned on enrolling in at the time but, there wasn't time. They have taken student's engines in and rebuilt the things during the course of the semester. That's the most practical solution for the time being, don't know how realistic it will be, though.

There'll be pictures since my wife is okay with it simply being a hobby van now, so there isn't any rush now. I was in a big push just to see where it was at with the most OBVIOUS and EASIEST problems fixed. Now that the least time consuming stuff is overwith and it is STILL broke, I know anything beyond this is out of the scope of possibilities now.

 

[Joe Mc]

I don't know the condition of your engine, but from what I have read, a lot of these engines don't need to be rebuilt when the headgaskets go bad. If you can get by with just the gaskets and the oil-cooler rings, it could be a cheap way to get another 100k to 150k.

 

[jrisingmoon]

I know the cost of gaskets is practically nothing but I'm not sure about oil cooler rings.

The reason I suggested taking the engine out is simply because it's a van and trying to remove the IP was difficult enough. I can't imagine what it would be like to remove the heads. that's why I suggested having the engine rebuilt was because I figured the engine would have to be pulled and might as well fix anything that needed to be fixed while it was out. I've thought about trying to remove the valve cover and heads myself since that's something I can do in my spare time. It's simply the lack of space that gets to me. If I'm going to remove the heads and replace the gaskets I might as well put studs in it, too, which is money I don't have.

I'll post a picture to give you an idea about how much space we are dealing with here but to give you an idea about how little room there is, in order for me to loosen the air filter stud, the top of my wrist is butted up against the underside of my dash board. I don't know the number of times I've gotten insulation on my shirt sleave and how long my hand's been itching afterwards...

 

[scheid6996]

are u sureits not a valce cover gasket? the ****** stock ones always leak

 

[jrisingmoon]

not 100% sure. I'll check tomorrow.

come to think of it, there is a leak around the exhaust manifold; it isn't oil but smoke/exhaust.

 

[krawlr]

Do these engines even have pressurized oil passages in the head.

When you're chasing oil leaks always work from the top down. A valve cover gasket leak can run down along seams and other edges making it look like other stuff is leaking.

I believe the oil cooler seals are a fairly common failure on these engines too.

 

[jrisingmoon]

I posted images in my garage of the interior of the van to show how little space there is and a picture of how much room there is underneath the hood.

The valve cover gaskets are leaking, too, not as bad as the head gaskets but it is noticeable. I'm going to have my van's title redone and cancel the insurance on it during the course of this whole thing. Yep, I'm going to pull the heads off of a van while the engine is still in it. Or at least try... I can't afford to have a pro do it so it is DIY all the way with this. I figure I'll remove the driver and passenger's seats and setup some sort of hoist or lever thing in the middle of the van's cabin so the heads can but lifted and slid out from the inside. I'd been thinking about this for awhile now I have the opportunity to try it out. It'll take awhile though. I got nothing better to do with it. could be fun...