i finally bit the bullet and decided to replace the head gasket after smelling antifreeze for more than 5 years......the deciding factor was the little drip off the rear of the engine......at first i thought the freeze plugs were the problem, but every thing in that area was dry........i could see evidence of antifreeze above the starter on the block, so i'm having industrial injection do the job......i am going to take some pics of the cylinders to see what kind of wear is there

 

You wouldn't happen to have a 53 block would you?

http://www.stamey.info/Truck/Cummins53BlockFAQ.htm

 

nope! but i have close to 250,000 miles on it

 

update on the head gasket, as suspected the leaks were on the passenger side front and drivers side rear. just coolant leaking to the outside.
no indication of internal leaks..........
the head was cleaner than i thought it would be, almost no carbon.......the block is as clean, these pics were taken before any cleaning was done

 

250,000 miles and still have crosshatching in the cylinders! Amazing!


Rick

 

I had 340k when I did a head swap and still had cross hatching.


Johnh- are you going to have the head magna fluxed?

 

yes, it's done........

 

i think all cummins have that,unless air cleaner problems take them out

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

how many hours did that take? i have to do one on the 99, i finally found the culprit of the green dots in the driveway. mine is at the rear only, down the bellhousing, onto the FASS wiring harness, to the ground.

 

around ten hrs complete , r & r head . cleaning and inspection

 

Looks like you have pretty high timing, or wide spray pattern on your injectors, as your fuel is spraying out of the bowl a bit.

 

it's what the edge comp does, although it could be the results of an occasional use of propane