In fall of 2005, I elected to have my
headgasket replaced. Robbie was available and had commented that he saw signs it was starting to go.
Head gasket set replaced, New Spark plugs, Distributor cap and rotor replaced, Spark plug wires replaced, fuel filter replaced, EGR gasket replaced, Distributor O-ring replaced, Water pipe gasket replaced, Fan Clutch replaced, Thermostat and O-ring replaced, Throttle body cleaned out and the PHH replaced.
When the head came off I was told there was tremendous buildup of carbon, more than normal for my engine. The pictures below show the before and after shots.
The head was also slightly warped and the valves needed to be resealed. The head was milled .11. It was running pretty good for all that crap. Must have been the computer compensating. It runs great now.
The PO must have run cheap oil and did not change the oil when they should have. They probably ran cheap gas as well.
No one better than Robbie to do this work. I was very fortunate.
Robbie was unable at this level of break down to get the carbon out of the ring packs. So, researching on bobistheoilguy.com, I found lots of praise for a product called AutoRX. I followed the treatment and won't know for sure if it got the carbon out, but over the next 4 months, my average MPG increased from 12.5 to 14MPG. Same style driving and a steady rise over the 4 month period. I can only surmise it did the stuff, making it easier for the rings to operate. I performed two treatments like they recommended.
Also, before all the work, I was burning about a qt of oil every 6 weeks. I have now gone 6 months without burning any oil, or at least the dip stick still says full.
I then installed the
Slee Receiver to my Bumper because I was looking for a pop up camper
I then decided on which Pop-up Camper I wanted and found a brand new last years model (2005) Jayco Baja in Rapid City South Dakota for $3500 off. I drove to pick it up and
came back in one day
Now it was time for Moab 2006. This year I brought Sarah (ROD - Romer's other Daughter)
Due to the additional weight on my truck since 2005 (winch, Rear Bumper), my lift had decreased and my truck dragged in places it had not the year before. I elected to
upgrade my lift by going OME 850J's in the front and 863's in the rear. This raised my lift an inch overall.
I also decided to swap my brake lines for some of Slee's extended lines and flush the Brake Fluid. I replaced the fluid with Synthetic.
I was flushing my Brake fluid using a Vacuum Bleeder kit from Harbor Freight and had an idea about using it to flush my power steering fluid. I stuck the hose all the way down in the reservoir and sucked out the fluid. Filled it with new synthetic fluid, turned on the truck and turned the wheel a few times. I repeated this step 3 times until only clear and new fluid came out.
It was easy and took 5 minutes. These Vacuum Bleeders are a lot easier for bleeding the brakes as well. Mine was $24 with a 20% coupon.
