First time ever taking the head off a motor since I'm doing my second motor swap on my new-to-me 99. I bought another motor for it, as some may know, when I bought the truck it came with an 02 motor and that wont work and I ended up stumbling into this deal for a 99 but the kid took the head off to check it for cracks so the bolts aren't necessarily tight, but is there a certain way they need to come out?? Also does the head necessarily need decked? The kid I bought it from said it wasnt cracked and I will check it for my self when I put a new head gasket in it but does it need to be decked really?? Anything helps, thanks!

 

TL;DR: I know the bolts go in a certain way but is there a certain way they come out? Also do I need to get the head decked if its not cracked??

I always take them out from outside to the middle of the head. Pretty much opposite of torque sequence. 

 

Edited August 1, 20186 yr by 04Mach1

5 hours ago, TheGreatWhite said:

Also do I need to get the head decked if its not cracked??

If you ask any machine shop they will say yes, I've done it on gassers before without decking and got away, but they were nothing special, although went through some beating, but small block Chevy Ford can be forgiven at times. And there were times I put a brand new set of heads on and leaked coolant on the ground before I started the engine, which sucked because I had to take them off and to the shop but was lucky I didn't start it and bent rods. Shop said it took .015 to be true  that was edelbrok Victor Junior heads bolt on out of the box my  then they checked guides and said they were to tight and had to hone them to losen up a bit and that few valve seals were damaged.

So it's up to you to make that decision. If it was never surfaced before I would have them shave a little off, I usually tell them least amount possible to make it true again. 

5 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

If you ask any machine shop they will say yes, I've done it on gassers before without decking and got away, but they were nothing special, although went through some beating, but small block Chevy Ford can be forgiven at times. And there were times I put a brand new set of heads on and leaked coolant on the ground before I started the engine, which sucked because I had to take them off and to the shop but was lucky I didn't start it and bent rods. Shop said it took .015 to be true  that was edelbrok Victor Junior heads bolt on out of the box my  then they checked guides and said they were to tight and had to hone them to losen up a bit and that few valve seals were damaged.

So it's up to you to make that decision. If it was never surfaced before I would have them shave a little off, I usually tell them least amount possible to make it true again. 

Is it possible to have them check how far off the head could be? I've took a break from the project for a good 2ish weeks and I'm ready to get the ball rolling again and would like to avoid having it in the shop for a couple of days.

 

Don't get me wrong though, I want to do a good job on this and have it last.

They usually have a straight edge they can kinda tell with, from what I've seen 

2 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

They usually have a straight edge they can kinda tell with, from what I've seen 

Huh, ok. Might go ahead and call one and take it there.

I am no engine guru by any means, but having the checked for flatness before putting it back together should be done. I have to replace my head soon and I am  going to have it checked and decked if necessary. Don't want to have to do it twice.

3 minutes ago, dripley said:

I am no engine guru by any means, but having the checked for flatness before putting it back together should be done. I have to replace my head soon and I am  going to have it checked and decked if necessary. Don't want to have to do it twice.

I 100% agree with that, that's my biggest pet peeves.

Yup, straight edge and feeler gauge to the head and to the block- as stated in the Cummins manual.

 

If in spec- no worries for a stock build

If not- do what's necessary to get back into spec

 

Personally I prefer to remove head bolts in inverse order of the tightening sequence- but the tightening sequence looks after "squishing" the head gasket outwards and not having "ripples" or "folds" in the middle- and you will put in a new head gasket and it should not matter in which sequence the bolts were loosened on the old gasket- if the head and block check out as flat and crack-free.