Head Gasket Replacement *(2 Years Overdue) (1 Viewer)

[VFRMAN]

Just realized how long it's been since I've been on MUD. Damn!

The short version is my head gasket blew a year or so ago. Kept driving it back and forth 3 miles to work thru the winter (aka 0-10 degrees below zero everyday) so it would barely heat up by the time I'd get to work. If it did start to rise, I'd shut it off and coast with the fan on and it would go down just long enough to roll into work. 10 hours later, repeat......
*Would obviously not advise this routine as a long term (*or short term for that matter) plan for any other 80 owners with bad head gaskets.....I even resorted to changing the oil every few weeks just so it didn't sit with milky oil very long. Crazy how damn good it still runs by the way with an (original) blown gasket and 315,000 miles.
Anyway, looking to do just the minimal amount of "extras" while I'm in there because she's really starting to rust away and dumping the typical excessive amount of things you SHOULD do just doesn't seem prudent. She's had a long hard life but has never let me down so it's tough to not throw everything at it.

Anyway.....here we go.....

 

[simple]

3 miles to work in the North Dakota winter? That's it? Why not just take a snowmobile and at least have some fun freezing your ass off?

Edit: Snow machine for you oddball Northerners

 

[SpenserAK]

3 miles to work in the North Dakota winter? That's it? Why not just take a snowmobile and at least have some fun freezing your ass off?

Edit: Snow machine for you oddball Northerners

Local preferred term is sled

 

[VFRMAN]

Sled.....snowmobile.....Tracked Vehicle of Death.....but never "snow machine"....sorry....

 

[VFRMAN]

Oil is just a bit "murky"......

 

[SpenserAK]

Funny how terms vary by area. Not a single person up here says mobile that I know of, hah

Yep, looks a little milky there..

 

[VFRMAN]

That's funny. Our oldest works for Polaris and he and his wife were just in Alaska a week or so ago. He would've said "snowmobile" or "sled" for sure.

 

[SpenserAK]

Well, I haven’t met every person in the state, to be fair! Typically the stories I hear are from AK folks visiting family in the midwest, who get looks when they say snow machine. “Like... a snow maker...?”

I hope not to lose my HG until after 300k.. would be nice. 6-7 more years until then. Recently had my valve cover off and it looked pristine, and combustion gas test came back negative earlier this summer. Currently waiting on oil analysis too, just for a checkup.

I once bought a 4.0 XJ with the infamous cracked head, drove it maybe 1k on a few short oil changes until I had time to fix it. Sadly bearings were already eaten up but not gone.. kept running perfectly 4 more years with gentle driving, until it ended up on its side in a ditch one winter...

Good luck on your repair - I bet your engine will be fine

 

[VFRMAN]

That's also funny......half the time when we're traveling somewhere and I tell people we're from "Fargo" they ask "Do you know......?" And more times than not I've known who they were asking about.

 

[VFRMAN]

Got all but the last 2 of the exhaust manifold bolts out. The 2 farthest back were more than my knees could stand for today kneeling in the engine bay. Will have to get those tomorrow.

Also in my haste while taking out the camshaft half moon pieces I broke the edge off of the backside of one of them. Wiggled "back and forth" too much, and didn't pull "straight up" enough apparently. Is this junk now, or would it somehow still seal up with fpg when reinstalled?

Got it all set to TDC and put the 6mm(?) exhaust cam lock bolt in place so cams should be lined up properly if/when the time ever comes to reinstall this crap.

Zip tied the cam sprocket to the chain

Probably not really doing this in the typical order but I'm hitting the things I have easy access to first and those that I think are going to give me the biggest headaches or stop me in my tracks.

Still debating egr delete, but leaning toward "probably" doing it while I'm waiting for machine work to get done. What's the latest consensus on deleting it? I read too many threads on it earlier today that I'm back to "indecisive" on whether or not to delete it.

Will hit this again tomorrow and see how far I get. Cheers!

 

[b56tc]

that'll buff out

 

[VFRMAN]

I think I'm officially too old for climbing around inside an engine bay like this. I feel like I went to the gym for 4 hours.

Got the upper intake off and most of the bolts for the lower. Exhaust manifold is loose. Gotta work all weekend now so probably won't touch it again until next week.

 

[VFRMAN]

Had a little time to make more of a mess. I think there might be an oil leak somewhere?.....not sure......

IH8OLDBRITTLEELECTRICALCONNECTOONS!

 

[VFRMAN]

Harness is out, Head's off, time to clean everything up and see what we have to deal with. Wondering if there's a local parts washer tub that can accommodate a full size truck just driving in and soaking for a few days?

 

[VFRMAN]

This is one sensor/connector I know I broke trying to get off. I'm sure there are others once I remove all the gunk. Just confirming that this is the 89615-30050 knock sensor? And that it's indeed broken. Not just the connector end that stuck to it or something? I was in a hurry before my wife rolled in so I didn't look online close enough at a new one to make sure, but assuming I snapped the actual sensor in two? Thx

 

[Kernal]

That's correct. In the past some of us have found aftermarket made in Japan knock sensors. O'Reilly's Import Direct line of parts used to have a Made in Japan sensor identical to the OEM sensor but since I bought a couple of those some years ago it may not still be from the same manufacturer?? Worth it to shop around.


Oem on the left, replacement aftermarket on the right:

 

[Devils Paw 80]

..Still debating egr delete, but leaning toward "probably" doing it while I'm waiting for machine work to get done. What's the latest consensus on deleting it? I read too many threads on it earlier today that I'm back to "indecisive" on whether or not to delete it...

You could use the Hudd Expo kit to just block it out of action, then easily restore later if so desired.

In your situation, I'd get rid of it all while it's an easy job.

Fram oil filter-shame, shame!

 

[VFRMAN]

Fram? 17 years worth? 315,000 very hard miles?
*And on original head gasket too?

As long as the Fram didn't cause my rusty quarter panels, I'm ok with it.

**I did run OEM filters for awhile, but laziness took over.....

 

[VFRMAN]

Thanks Kernal. I use OReileys quite a bit for most of my other ehicles. Reminds me to check my ujoints as I have 1 that OR has replaced 4 or 5 tinems now under their lifetime warranty.

A smarter man would've finally swapped back to an OEM joint, but the tight ass I am I'm curious to see how many times they'll replace that damn thing. I've got an old thread on here somewhere about it. The factory u joint on the other end of the drive shaft has 315k in it.

 

[inkpot]

Got all but the last 2 of the exhaust manifold bolts out. The 2 farthest back were more than my knees could stand for today kneeling in the engine bay. Will have to get those tomorrow.

Also in my haste while taking out the camshaft half moon pieces I broke the edge off of the backside of one of them. Wiggled "back and forth" too much, and didn't pull "straight up" enough apparently. Is this junk now, or would it somehow still seal up with fpg when reinstalled?

Got it all set to TDC and put the 6mm(?) exhaust cam lock bolt in place so cams should be lined up properly if/when the time ever comes to reinstall this crap.

Zip tied the cam sprocket to the chain

Probably not really doing this in the typical order but I'm hitting the things I have easy access to first and those that I think are going to give me the biggest headaches or stop me in my tracks.

Still debating egr delete, but leaning toward "probably" doing it while I'm waiting for machine work to get done. What's the latest consensus on deleting it? I read too many threads on it earlier today that I'm back to "indecisive" on whether or not to delete it.

Will hit this again tomorrow and see how far I get. Cheers!

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I usually get those last2 bolts by reaching under the exhaust manifold. It's a trick that ToolsRUs taught me.