Blown Head

[CAMG3X]

Well, been looking over the truck the last week. Originally had, what I thought to be, a bad water pump. Looked to be leaking out weep hole due to coolant seeping along the timing cover below it. Replaced the pump and all was well for a couple days. After a 4hr trip I found a small coolant puddle. Started tracing it and found the source at front-middle of the head. Leaks down behind the fan housing and follows the timing cover under the water pump. 

Warmed up the truck and when I squeeze the upper radiator hose small bubbles emerge from the head in the area pictured. 

Will start tackling the head in the next couple weeks. Surprised it blew with arp studs in place at 135lbs...

Is this a common area for it to go and is there a water jacket behind there? Could the new pump have had anything to do with it? 

My first time ever having to do a head so I'm sure I'll have plenty questions along the way. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Yup your going to be doing what I'm doing already is pull the head off and having the head resurfaced and reinstalled with a new head gasket. Make sure to flush the entire coolant system afterwards and use fresh coolant. My first gasket was from lack of coolant flushes in that year and head curl. This time I'm pretty sure it was just pushed too far.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Mopar1973Man

[Alexio Auditore]

9 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

My first gasket was from lack of coolant flushes in that year and head curl. This time I'm pretty sure it was just pushed too far.

 

 Your first head gasket blew because of a lack of coolant changing?

[Mopar1973Man]

I was extending out to 100k which was too long the coolant was turning acidic. Now it starts to weaken the gaskets and any seals that are in contact with the coolant.

[dripley]

Your leak is not unusual in that area.  Same place mine let go at about 465k.  There is a weak place in the gasket there. I drove mine for about 20k with the leak. Changed when the coolant finally dripped on the ground. and not just evaporated on the block. That leak should not put any water in the oil, but do keep and eye on it. It does need replacing but you not need to rush into and pay someone a premium to do the work. I did mine myself and saved a good chunk of cash.

[CAMG3X]

Sweet deal! Ya no oil in coolant or overheating going on. Just leaking a cup per hr of driving I'd say. Definitely want to do the job myself. 

I changed my coolant and thermostat in 2017 and now again a few weeks ago. Probably 50k miles between. Who knows how long it went unchanged by the previous owner. I know it had stock head bolts and a chip at one point. 

Is Oringing the head worth it? 

Leaning on machining the head with stock gasket and new valve seals. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Here as far as I made it in under 2 hours and just about ready to pluck the head off. My down fall is I need to removed everything off the cowl cover and remove the wipers and pull the last batch of push rods and then start unbolting the head and pulling studs. Mine is leaking in the exact same spot but engine oil not coolant. 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Mopar1973Man

[dripley]

10 hours ago, CAMG3X said:

Sweet deal! Ya no oil in coolant or overheating going on. Just leaking a cup per hr of driving I'd say. Definitely want to do the job myself. 

I changed my coolant and thermostat in 2017 and now again a few weeks ago. Probably 50k miles between. Who knows how long it went unchanged by the previous owner. I know it had stock head bolts and a chip at one point. 

Is Oringing the head worth it? 

Leaning on machining the head with stock gasket and new valve seals. 

I put mine back like stock. Machined the head, stock gasket, and reused the stock bolts. They were well within Cummins spec. I do have Comp on it and it held the power just fine. If I ever went to a Quad I would put studs in it. As far as o ringing it, i dont have a clue.

 

@Mopar1973Man PLUCK THAT HEAD.  BAWK!!!!!

[CAMG3X]

Sounds good, I'll stick with stock. Wish I knew why it let go, was still running low timing from my winter tune on the Quad and she has it pretty easy lately. Must have just been her time ha. 

Dang, that's pretty smooth progress for 2hrs!

Whenever someone gives their time to get something done I usually double it for myself haha. Took me all day to do studs, injectors, and valve lash. Need to get my hands on an engine hoist before getting going

[Dieselfuture]

Sounds like it's original hg then, and at some point you put in arp studs in one at the time I assume. Could be just the time for it being that old. Mine never leaked coolant, it was pushing oil from a front middle stud, I took the nut off and clean the hole real good with carb cleaner then squeezed bunch of rtv between the stud and the head and torqued it back down, benn good for years then I was playing with quad and it started pushing oil out between the head and the bock. 

If you take the head off I would personally have your guides checked and then have the valve seal seats machined to accept the newer top hat valve seals. My shop said it would only cost 80 bucks to get it done, just wish I knew about it before I put the head back on. 

[dripley]

12 hours ago, CAMG3X said:

Sounds good, I'll stick with stock. Wish I knew why it let go, was still running low timing from my winter tune on the Quad and she has it pretty easy lately. Must have just been her time ha. 

Dang, that's pretty smooth progress for 2hrs!

Whenever someone gives their time to get something done I usually double it for myself haha. Took me all day to do studs, injectors, and valve lash. Need to get my hands on an engine hoist before getting going

Mine let go in the same place except right around the corner on the passenger side. It is definitely not uncommon. Mine went around 460k but I drove it for about 20k before I could change it out. It never leaked enough that the coolant did not evaporate off the block. When the first drop finally hit the ground I swapped it out. That was stretching it a bit though. 

That is also good advice @Dieselfuture offered. I wished I would have done that myself. 

[CAMG3X]

Oh, good call on the valve seal upgrade. Are they the Ford style or newer cummins style? 

Ya, mines dripping fairly good. A drop every 5 seconds I'd guess. Who knows how much while driving. Like I said maybe a cup per hr with how much I have to fill it. 

Need to look up a good machine shop in Missoula, MT for the task. 

[Dieselfuture]

4 hours ago, CAMG3X said:

Are they the Ford style or newer cummins style? 

They are cummins, newer generation started using them. I used ford ones, to make them fit over what we have. They were the closest match, but I still had to modify them to get them to work. Hey they're still working, time will tell how long. All I know if I researched that ahead of time, it would have saved me a lot of screwing around. At least they're not blowing off the stems now and getting hammered by the retainers. You must have seen my write-up on that  to mention ford seals there was another member here that tried that but apparently you can't fit them inside the original spring, I have aftermarket Manton conical springs and they fit just fine. 

[CAMG3X]

Must have been you that did the write up! Remember seeing something about Ford seals on here quite a while ago. I've thought about upgrading springs and push rods, but that might be later. Still running the Hx35 with no exhaust brake. Plan to go to maybe a 62/68/12 when the hx bites the dust. It's my DD and hauls firewood when I can. Does what I need currently and then some! 

 

[dripley]

10 hours ago, CAMG3X said:

Must have been you that did the write up! Remember seeing something about Ford seals on here quite a while ago. I've thought about upgrading springs and push rods, but that might be later. Still running the Hx35 with no exhaust brake. Plan to go to maybe a 62/68/12 when the hx bites the dust. It's my DD and hauls firewood when I can. Does what I need currently and then some! 

 

Mine has done the same for the past 19.5 years. Hard to let go.

[MikeH]

You might want to check the valve seats for cracks also. Seems to be a common problem especially on the 24 valve engines. Would hate to see you get the thing put back together only to drop a seat later on down the road.

[Mopar1973Man]

More like check valve guides. Valve guides that wear out will ruin the valve seals.

[Mopar1973Man]

Like this...

[Blueox01]

On 4/26/2021 at 4:46 AM, CAMG3X said:

Well, been looking over the truck the last week. Originally had, what I thought to be, a bad water pump. Looked to be leaking out weep hole due to coolant seeping along the timing cover below it. Replaced the pump and all was well for a couple days. After a 4hr trip I found a small coolant puddle. Started tracing it and found the source at front-middle of the head. Leaks down behind the fan housing and follows the timing cover under the water pump. 

Warmed up the truck and when I squeeze the upper radiator hose small bubbles emerge from the head in the area pictured. 

Will start tackling the head in the next couple weeks. Surprised it blew with arp studs in place at 135lbs...

Is this a common area for it to go and is there a water jacket behind there? Could the new pump have had anything to do with it? 

My first time ever having to do a head so I'm sure I'll have plenty questions along the way. 

Original gasket? Mine leaking and not because of old coolant. If not original what brand?

On 4/26/2021 at 6:46 PM, Mopar1973Man said:

I was extending out to 100k which was too long the coolant was turning acidic. Now it starts to weaken the gaskets and any seals that are in contact with the coolant.

 

1 minute ago, Blueox01 said:

Original gasket? Mine leaking and not because of old coolant. If not original what brand?

100k, how many yrs? Is it the miles or the age? Never had a Cummins gasket leak, I know this is against the book, But I reused my head bolts 3-4 times, never a leak, when I did my restoration, bought new OEM bolts, Mahle Gasket 1 1/2 yrs 150K leaking like a sieve, going back to Cummins for the gasket, and ARP head studs this time. Had a u-joint fail, 12 east of Ellensburg,WA,e cost me mor than I want to admit, time down, lost revenue, motel, food. Decided to get my old FSO8406 remaned by Inland Truck, and rebuild rear diff. Had to pull the cab to get trans out. Puzzles apart hope I can get Humpty Dually back together right.

[Royal Squire]

What is capacity of lift straps?