Head Gasket Checklist, things to consider replacing as long as I am in there. (1 Viewer)

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Looks good so far. Wait until you torque up the new head bolts. I went and spent the money on the thread cleaning tap and the special Lisle torque angle tool. I bought them both from Amazon.

Tom- what's the ground cable thing for on this thing?

Red Merle- you've passed me in progress already. I spent 4 hours taking my intake off on Saturday. Two of the rear bottom intake bolt were a bear to reach. My truck is lifted so the height is a bit of an issue. I dropped tire pressure down to lower the front end a bit. I pull the intake and then realized that the pesky heater hose was still attached.:bang:
 
Tom- what's the ground cable thing for on this thing?

Red Merle- you've passed me in progress already. I spent 4 hours taking my intake off on Saturday. Two of the rear bottom intake bolt were a bear to reach. My truck is lifted so the height is a bit of an issue. I dropped tire pressure down to lower the front end a bit. I pull the intake and then realized that the pesky heater hose was still attached.:bang:

Yeah, what is that thing in the first place? Can't I just use a torque wrench and then do 2 90 degree sweeps once I hit the torque spec?

As for the intake bolts, those were a bear. I used a piece of window screen spline to pull the socket up to the nut or bolts so I could then crawl under there. I had the wheels off and the truck on jack stands. I am not sure I could have gotten back there with the wheels on. The inner long one towards the rear of the motor was the only fitting I started to round off on the whole project, but it broke free before I rounded it entirely.
 
I had a heck of a time reaching the one behind the wiring harness. I'm doing a timing chain, so I've got everything off of the front of the engine including the radiator. My truck has around 5" of lift and an ARB on the front. I've done almost all of the work so far standing on the bumper, or with my knees on the light mounts. for the intake, I started standing in the void where the radiator goes. I'm 6'3"/230, so it has to look funny seeing my straddle the engine with my arms tucked down between hoses and brake lines. If I were under it, I could reach anything. I did spend an hour under it scraping old grease/dirt caking off of the transmission/transfer case and back of oil pan. The truck is probably 20 pounds lighter due to all the oily dirt that was piled on from the rear arch leak.

Like most, the more time I spend under there, the more stuff I find to deal with. That's not a bad thing in the end.

On the torque angle tool, I suppose it produces a very consistent 90 degree angle for the final torque value. I was figuring I'd do it by eye, but for $15, it's probably not a bad idea to be precise. I sure don't want to do this again.
 
The cable on the torque tool prevents the scale from rotating after you zero it. One doesn't need the tool to do the final torque up, but it helps. I've used cardboard with marks on it in the past. I will just say that some of the head bolts are awkward to get to and apply to the final torqueing, so it was worth it to me to have the indicator.

The intake manifold bolts I've been able to get from the bottom with long wobble extensions. My truck is only lifted 1" and has 32" tires, so not as tall as yours.

Most of the work I did I stood on the winch bumper, which makes a handy shelf. If I do anything like this again, I will buy the step rack that hangs on the tire and also use that, rather than the milk crate I currently use.
 
So I have a question about re-installing the timing chain. I made the match marks on the gear and the chain and I got it wired up with some zip ties. It occurred to me on my six hour drive this evening that I don't know what happens on the bottom end though if I don't have enough tension on it while I wait to put the head back on. Is it possible for the chain to slip off of the gear down below and screw everything up? As long as it gets tightened back up when I go to reinstall, I should be OK, right?

This is the only pic I have at the moment and I won't b e back to take more until Friday. Did I make a mistake?

P1000388.JPG
 
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Assuming you have the PDF of the FSM, look at EM-21c. It shows the zip tie around the timing tensioner slipper and glide. In the picture at EM-23(17), it shows the timing gear mark at vertical, aligned with the bright link. from you pic, it looks like the gear needs to rotate 180 degrees.

If you don't have the FSM PDF, PM me.
 
Assuming you have the PDF of the FSM, look at EM-21c. It shows the zip tie around the timing tensioner slipper and glide. In the picture at EM-23(17), it shows the timing gear mark at vertical, aligned with the bright link. from you pic, it looks like the gear needs to rotate 180 degrees.

If you don't have the FSM PDF, PM me.
I have the FSM both the hard copy and the PDF. If I spin the motor 180 degrees, do I risk having the chain slip off down below? Also, as long as I end up with the dots on the back of the cam gears lined up directly across from each other and the harmonic balancer at TDC, can I just line up the pin on the back of the timing gear and roll with that, or does the bright link need to be on top too?
 
As far as rotating the crankshaft, if it were me, I'd put a dowel through the cam gear to maintain chain tension, and rotate the crank back to TDC with the cam gear under tension to make sure it doesn't slip a tooth. I'd say that the slipper and guide are keeping the chain on the crank gear.
On the bright link, I can't say. My timing chain broke, which is why I'm doing this. When I pulled the valve cover, I could pull my chain out, so it eventually rotated to the point that the break was at the bottom of the crank gear and both ends came loose. When I pull the chain, there is no bright link.
 
As far as rotating the crankshaft, if it were me, I'd put a dowel through the cam gear to maintain chain tension, and rotate the crank back to TDC with the cam gear under tension to make sure it doesn't slip a tooth. I'd say that the slipper and guide are keeping the chain on the crank gear.
On the bright link, I can't say. My timing chain broke, which is why I'm doing this. When I pulled the valve cover, I could pull my chain out, so it eventually rotated to the point that the break was at the bottom of the crank gear and both ends came loose. When I pull the chain, there is no bright link.
OK, that is helpful. I am not sure if I skipped a tooth down below, but I should be OK if I can get the bright link so that it is on top of the cam gear, the two dots on the back of the cams are lined up and the harmonic balancer is at TDC, right?
 
Also, what was the point of zip tying the chain to the cam gear and making the marks if i am going to remove them to shift the chain? Won't it automatically line up if the balancer is at the TDC mark and cams are lined up? Shouldn't the only way the gear fits back on to the cam be in right spot? Sorry, my brain is having trouble getting wrapped around this.
 
I didn't roll my engine after I pulled the head off. The timing chain didn't slip off the lower drive gear. But if it did, you could get everything lined back up using the cam marks and knowing where TDC is. Shiny link doesn't come into play.
 
I didn't roll my engine after I pulled the head off. The timing chain didn't slip off the lower drive gear. But if it did, you could get everything lined back up using the cam marks and knowing where TDC is. Shiny link doesn't come into play.
Thanks for this. I re-read through the FSM and looked through a bunch of threads. There was no mention of the bright link in any of yhem and the FSM diagrams don't indicate skipping a tooth is likely. I am just going to carefully wiggle the crank back and forth a hair to clean the cylinder heads and cylinders and make sure I have everything lined up before I put it all back together.
 
I got a bunch of stuff done.

Things are coming together. Another day of cleaning and polishing tomorrow and then re-install next weekend.


New water pump, oil cooler gaskets, thermostat, oil pressure gauge, polished everything as it came off, every nut, every bolt, new lower hoses, etc.
P1000423.JPG
 
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Did you get a new accelerator cable? Mine looked like yours, but was getting sticky, and after a cold morning, and leaving the driveway and the throttle stuck at WOT, I bought an aftermarket one. It needed one small mod to use, but has been great.
 

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