see my other post 'blew out my rear main seal'....went out and just checked it, and pulled the radiator cap, and sure enough black goop... oil seems to be coming from cyl 6, the rear of the head...nowhere else...which really doesnt change anything. but oh well... so my question for the guys whom have done it... im in gillette wyo, and i dont know who o-rings close to me...do i o-ring and fel pro gasket, and put my studs back in, or do i throw a cometic gasket in there??? o ringing is 300 from source automotive, i think 300 from ats in CO, i dont know if rapid diesel in SD does it or not... any help here guys??? i do plan on staying under 60-65 psi in the future...

 

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jakeydiesel:

I would recommend "ATS Diesel Performance" to you. I have been doing business with them since 2001 and they do very good work at their shop and give a warranty on the work they do. You call my friend Mike Meineke @ ATS on Monday, his number is 1-800-949-6002. A good number of their employees including the Owner, Clint Cannon, and many of their Technicians drag race and sled pull like alot of us and that is one thing I have always liked about their shop. Tell them what you do with the truck and they will be able to give you the best set-up for your truck.

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John_P

 

what do you think of just running a marine .020 gsket, and re studding it without o-rings?

 

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jakeydiesel:

Yes, you could go that route but IMHO, if you have to take the head off of the truck anyway, why not do the o-rings or even firerings while you are in there?? IMHO, it is cheap insurance. Alot depends on what you use your truck for.

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John_P

 

Just heard of guys even blowing o-rings at a 50 psi or so...so many variables to say what caused it though...So that why i question if they are even necessary?? At oringing for $300, i have to weigh the downtime of the truck, which outweighs the o-ringing...But i underdstand some guys are running o-rings and are having luck, what if they just ran a gasket without orings? what the outcome would be...

 

jakeydiesel, JohnP is correct on the issue of firerings. But since you said that downtime was a issue, just the marine headgasket and studs will also work. This is what we did to my brothers 97 after he blew his hg. So far it is holding like a champ. It held even after the little 55 turbo didn't. 4700 rpm, 60+ lbs boost and the turbo did not like it. We switched back to the stock turbo so it is only puttin out about 50 lbs right now but it too is still seeing alot of hard driving and the arp's are doing their job until it is time for a complete rebuild when we will switch to 14mm studs. But, i do believe this is just a temporary fix. How temporary, i do not know. It has been almost a year now so it seems like it is a pretty good temp. fix That is my $.02.

Tim

 

thinking that might be the route i take... .020 over?

 

jakeydiesel, i dont remember what it was over, but i think it was .030 so total was a .090 hg. I believe stock is a .060? We did have to get special copper washers for the injectors that were thinner. The truck is still going!! Tim

 

You could also go another way. Cometic MLS gasket with studs and a clean and decked head. Check the block deck too. Get away from the o-ring setup and much easier to do.

Richard

 

Those Cometic MLS gaskets have yet to prove themselves as being equal to a stock HG, let alone an upgrade.

3rd gen trucks have great success with their stock MLS gaskets, but for some reason, not many of the guinea pig Cometic testors have had success.