M1Lover

Well, I've been hauling a lot of stuff from AZ to NM. Been smelling antifreeze and hoses checked out OK. Thought the thermostat housing was leaking. Turns out its coming from between the head and the block right behind the thermostat. ****. at 96k miles, I've sure been getting a lot of headaches outa this Cummins. Is this common? When/ if I remove the head to replace the head gasket, should I rebuild (valves, re-plane) the head? What a PIA. Thanx for letting me edit. H.

Benjamin b2

i dont know if its common because mine had 300'000 miles on it, and it never blew, but i put one in anyways, but it is 16 years old so yeh it doesnt matter if it had 20000 miles, it still hasnt been drivin every day of its life. I think time is what killed your head gasket, not the cummins. changing the head gasket is a pretty simple if you know your way around a motor, i can pretty much tell you your motor is going to be fine, i wouldnt stud it unless you have big plans for it, id by a 'regular' head gasket from cummins and torque your bolts to the books specifications and be done with it.

Rick 12v CTD

just make sure it's not the seal for the water pump before you go pulling the head. Mine sorta looked like the headgasket went but upon closer inspection it was just the seal for the water pump needed replacing. Just a thought.

Chrisreyn

GOOD ADVISE!! When my thermostat seal went, it leaked just enough to run back on the head, and apearred to be coming from it instead of the T-stat

Load Hauler 04

450,000 + on my 92 and no problems. I would do a careful check on everthing else before pulling the head.

Rick 12v CTD

that's a good point. I forgot about the t-stat seal too. I'd replace the t-stat seal and see if that does anything. The t-stat seal is only like $3-4 and you'll lose about a gallon of coolant replacing it, but that's it. It might be worth a shot.

SOOT4BRAINS

Same here, thought my head gasket had blown out, but it was just a thermostat housing seal. Looked like it was coming from the head though.

M1Lover

Thanx for the replies Gents. Will look at this REAL closely before pulling the head.... H.

Rick 12v CTD

I'd just replace the thermostat seal and see if it fixes the prblem. The seal is only like $3 at Napa. You'll either need to drain about a gallon of coolant as well or you'll have to replace it one way or another. When you take the thermostat housing off you lose about a gallon of the precious.

M1Lover

Had already stopped into the Cummins dealer in ABQ and bought a thermo and seal. They're in and..... Its still leaking.... H.

Chrisreyn

REALY make sure you have that T-stat seal installed correctly, they can be a real PITA to put in without leaks..
Cummins will tell you that you do not use silicon on the t-stat housing to seal it, however, many find it necessary. ( see the write-up in the stickey)
I would also invest in a cheap pressure test kit and test it that way before pulling the head...