and i'm not too excited. i posted a couple days ago about my overheating situation. and at first had thought it was a cracked radiator core. wasn't anywhere near the right guess.

the diagnosis determined this.....

a blown head gasket . the rest of the system holds water, but it will only hold 7 pounds of pressure and not 16 like it should. it's a fine enough crack that no water can pass into the cylinder, but cylinder pressure is definitely high enough to allow exhaust gas into the coolant passage and is now coming out of the radiator. joy! so, as you can probably guess already, my next project will be removing the head!

i'll need a lot of your help with this one guys. i'm beginning to build a plan of attack and thinking that while i've got the head removed, i may as well change valve springs out to the 60 pound springs just for additional strength. though i don't plan on turning my motor over 4k rpm, i'd like to have the comfort of knowing they're strong. i'll check the head surface for any warping. maybe a port and polish job. also, have it machined for a smooth, clean mating surface for the new gasket. as far as a gasket goes, i hear a marine gasket is the better way to go. any thoughts/opinions on that are welcome. i'm at a loss for words at the moment. there's nothing i could've done about it but i, still, am blaming myself. i will be killing the KDP along with this project. what things haven't i mentioned that would be a good idea to take care of while i've got the head off? you guys are awesome and i look up to every one of you who has done this kind of work and can speak from experience about what to do and what not to do and so on. any additional information and help will be greatly appreciated!!!

 

If you can afford it have the head O-ringed and put a set of studs in there. That is the one thing I wish I would have been able to afford to do when I had my head off.

 

I know your pain jimbo. My 90 worries me as well. I have some type of fluid on the front part of the head next to the injector pump,can't tell if it is coolant or oil. I am not loosing coolant. Makes me wish i had an intercooled motor..

 

sorry to hear that. they all seem to need a knew one at some point.

 

coolant or oil. either way, it's the head gasket. what point are you making when you say you wish you had an i/c motor?

 

i have no external leaks either. that's why i didn't make the assumption that it was the head gasket. nothing leaked! i was baffled. judging by what the pressure test told me, i could only assume then. i dunno what kinda money this is gonna take, but i am going to do the work myself. at least the tear down and build up. machine work i can't do so i'll be researching for a good local shop. anyone wanna buy my drum set?

i also wanna have the injectors pop tested and at least cleaned up. i'm sure they're nice and carbon covered. would love to o-ring the head and throw a set of studs on it. my thinking is, "why not?" i'm not planning on ever racing the truck, but to have a street/tow tune or the best of both worlds, is what i'm looking for.

i'd like to upgrade my h1c with a gds 60mm comp. wheel. then i can run a 4" intake tube with the bhaf and maybe get me a set of coolertubz. it's all money, but i'm on a very tight budget since i'm not working. i'm sure i'll save some dough by doing most of the work myself though. i may have to sell myself on the street corner! i'm feeling better about it. looking forward to the tear down. it'll be a learning experience and cool to see it come back to life with a little more power.

 

Here's a thread going over most of what's involved with replacing the head gasket ~ https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/....html?t=236843

Hope it helps.

 

i've read through that thread. and what a great write up it is! i was hoping to use it someday, but not as soon as now.

man, you have a clean engine and compartment! and i'm jealous. i'm almost tempted to pull the entire motor just for the added room to work. and since i'm thinking of an i/c radiator and would like to try and find an i/c radiator support.

 

The non ic motors have 9mm injectors and the head is prone to crack between the injector bore and the valve. That is why I put a ic head on mine when I did the gasket. Mine was cracked when I removed it at almost every injector.

 

hmmm, now i'm worried. but i guess i won't know until i pull it. i'll hope for the best. i haven't worked the price of a new head into the bill.

 

Its pretty common for the 9mm heads to be cracked but suffer no issues with that. From what I read its not the end of the world.

 

i wouldn't think so. are the cracks deep enough to be a serious problem? what if the head is cracked where mentioned? can i run it and be ok? i'm sure the injectors are sealed in the cup pretty well. how exactly are they installed and how are they held down? i've never looked close enough to see if they have hold downs on them or what.

 

I talked to a guy tonight that has blown a couple head gaskets due to way overboosting and he said he has had 4 cracks in his head and still going strong. I have also heard that the industrial 9mm head equipped engines had the cracking issue also and it was rare to find one that was not cracked. I don't know first hand, Never had one off. So take it as web he said she said.

 

3 HG's to be exact and 1-4 are cracked between the injector bore and the valve

 

according to the shop manual for our motors, it states...

"Reuse Guidelines:

These guidelines apply only to cracks extending from the injector bore to the intake valve seats. Replace cylinder heads which exhibit valve bridge cracks in any other location. If the crack does not extend into the valve seat, the head is reusable.

If the crack extends into or through the valve seat, the head must be repaired by installing a valve seat insert per the Alternative Repair Manual, Bulletin No. 3810234."

so after reading that, if you have cracks from the injector bore to the intake valve, it's ok. but say you have one between the injector bore and the exhaust valve? i'm trying to understand why, then, the head is no longer reusable. loss of compression during the compression stroke?