HG Failure - I think it just happened (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Threads
31
Messages
297
Location
Frisco, TX
About an hour ago on my way back home out of the blue I get a rough idle... then a sweet smell of coolant.

I have not had a chance to look into this any further, but I can see that there is definitely a coolant leak right where the exhaust manifold is. I could not tell exactly from where because the heat shield is on the way. It drips right onto the engine mount

I also got codes P0300, P0301, and PO0303

Is this an obvious much anticipated HG failure? and I need to start calling Dan for parts or is there a hope that it may be something else ?

Thanks !
 
That means you have misfires at cylinders 1 and 3. Could be the headgasket (maybe), but my guess would be that you blew coolant out of hose and fubared your injector harness for 1 and 3.

Random guess. Obviously, you need to not run the rig again until you get the coolant situation figured out.
 
Head Gasket is gone !

It is amazing to me. About 8k miles ago I did a Blackstone report and everything passed with flying colors, and I even checked the compression and all cylinders were in spec

All the sudden, out of the blue... I got rough idle, codes, coolant leaking in the exhaust, and exhaust manifold, and a lot of white smoke with sweet smell of coolant. I also saw bubbles in the coolant reservoir, and was also loosing coolant.

Oil looked like chocolate milkshake. At this point I was 99% sure the head gasket was gone, but I still took an oil sample and sent it to Blackstone red taped. The same day it arrived they sent me the report confirming the head gasket failure !

Now, let the fun begin ! The much anticipated HG job is here !
 
Bummer man. Post up your experience, help us who have not gone down that path yet.
 
CruiserDan went fishing but BENO is your man, if he hasn't hooked you up already. Just keep thinking about the confidence you will have driving around with your fresh, updated headgasket. That is a feeling that the uninitiated like myself just won't get. Instead I drive with one eye on the temperature gauge and one eye on the rearview.
 
did you drain it all?
 
Very important: drain that oil, get it out of there if there is any left. I just got done doing mine and have alot of stuff still fresh in my head so if you get stuck, need advice or reassurance shoot me a pm. Good Luck Buddy.
 
Pull the spark plugs and see if one is clean, which would indicate steam cleaning from coolant. If so, you've moved to a very high % that your HG is failing. If this is the case and you need a DVD, PM me and I can speed up your info by emailing the "tools/tips" sheet while you're waiting for the DVD to arrive. Give you a jump on the situation to start lining up parts and tools. I've done this for many in your situation and I'm glad to help.

DougM
 
Parts have already been ordered.

We'll get this one up and running real soon. Had a nice talk with H. today about what to do next.

:cheers:
 
Guys, thanks for all the great advise and support

I spoke to onour this PM and got all the parts !

I drained the oil to take the sample, but had to put it back in so I could move the truck to my garage. It sounds like tomorrow the first thing to do is drain the oil out of there

Doug, I got your DVD about two years ago :) I knew this was going to happen eventually so I started getting ready since a while ago. The tools and tips sheet is awesome ! thanks a lot for that. I still need to gather a few things.

I will prep a little more tomorrow, but I am not sure when I can start working on it. I think Sunday PM I may have time to start removing things.
 
Get that heat shield off and fire some PB Blaster or Kroil on those exhaust man bolts. You won't need to disconnect anything on them but the bolts holding them on the block and the bracket down by the firewall. I am pretty certain this tip is on your DVD and tip sheet. Just pull the exhaust mans back from the head and hold it back with something saves messing with the Y junctions. I get more comments about getting the alternator in and out, too - favorable ones about the tip on that pesky bracket. It's a time waster if you don't absorb that tip.

I'm itching to do another HG or at least help. Ironically there is a new owner now in my town and he's thinking about doing his. Might be a nice way for me to lend a hand on a nice summer weekend.

DougM
 
For the Alternator I simply undid and remove the upper bolt then moved it back away from the bracket. Took me about 3min and I did not see any reason to remove any more. I also left the intake manifold in one piece and pushed it back out of the way (there is a stud on the very front and the very back of the head that can get in the way). The hardest part I had was the EGR bolts to the head, I could not get the big nut undone so I un bolted the valve and pipe and pulled it out in one piece.

The HG job is really very easy to do just time consuming.......great time to get the injectors serviced. I spent more time cleaning parts like the inside of the valve cover and intake manifold than I did re and re'ing the head.

If you have lots of build up in the intake manifold take it off I did and did not remove it....it took me hours to get it moderately cleaned out.

Good luck! it is nice to know its done and out of the way.

:cheers:
 
For the big nut on the EGR, remove there's something toward the driver's side that restricts a tool, I think a wire or small hose. Remove that and a simple crescent wrench will unscrew the big nut. Getting that nut restarted is tricky, too. Loosely attach the EGR, then get a few turns on the big nut, then return to the two studs that attach the EGR then return to the big nut.

Doug
 
For the big nut on the EGR, remove there's something toward the driver's side that restricts a tool, I think a wire or small hose. Remove that and a simple crescent wrench will unscrew the big nut. Getting that nut restarted is tricky, too. Loosely attach the EGR, then get a few turns on the big nut, then return to the two studs that attach the EGR then return to the big nut.

Doug

Or, s*** can the entire system and be rid of a serious headache.

:)
 
Does the HG always fail as quickly as hzavarce did or can it be gradual?

Knew a guy once who had no smoke, no coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant, thermostat was good, fan clutch was good, no smoke from the exhaust but it would climb in temps to the 3/4 mark every now and then and sometimes (not always) it he would see bubbles in the overflow tank :meh:

What would that be? Dont know the outcome as he sold the truck about a year ago
Sorry - dont mean to hijack just curious
 
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Doug ( or someone else):

1) Where do you get the 3M red pads ? or which one did you get ? I saw some at Lowes and Autozone today, there are several kinds and I got confused

2) Torx Female Sizes E7/E8/E9 are recommended. However E9 seems very difficult to find. I have seen several sets of these and none come with the E9. Do I really need the E9

3) Where can I get the 11M x 1.25 tap ? that one is also hard to find

Thanks !!!
 
mscdirect.com

Item # 04993051 M11X1.25 HSS MET HAND PLUG TAP
Item # 79771556 M11X1.25 IMPORT CARBON HEX DIE

is where I got mine.


Doug ( or someone else):

3) Where can I get the 11M x 1.25 tap ? that one is also hard to find

Thanks !!!
 
mscdirect.com

Item # 04993051 M11X1.25 HSS MET HAND PLUG TAP
Item # 79771556 M11X1.25 IMPORT CARBON HEX DIE

is where I got mine.

Thanks !!!!
 

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