Maintenance...Water Pump, T-Stat, Oil Cooler, Flush Engine/Radiator, now head-gasket blown :( (1 Viewer)

[flintknapper]

One frustrating (for me) aspect of doing this...are some of the tight confines in which some of the bolts/nuts/parts reside.

For instance: The bolt on the back of the intake (that holds a ground wire). Surely...they could have put it somewhere else. When removing that...the only thing I could get on it was a small ratcheting wrench. Just as it broke loose, the wrench went flying down into the abyss. I didn't hear it hit the concrete...so knew right away it was hung up somewhere. I figured it would be on top of the starter. NOPE!

OK, then its got to be caught on one of the many hoses or wires down there. NOPE!

Well then....possibly it took a weird bounce and is on the frame somewhere. NADA!

Hmmmm.....where else could it have gone? I got out from underneath the Cruiser and looked again from up top to see what the possibilities might be, then in horror...realized it could have gone between the transmission hump at the firewall/floorpan and the bell housing. Oh please.... no!

So with flashlight in hand I contorted myself over the back of the engine to look. Could not see anything. But this had to be where it went.

Ended up having to get my bore-scope out to locate it. YEP....that's where it is.

Using one of the long, flexible, claw type retrieving tools, I managed to push it yet deeper in the recess. But at least now I could see part of it from underneath. Finally with a magnetic retrieval tool I was able to reclaim my wrench.

My Wife aptly reminded me of my age and that we are perfectly capable of paying someone to do this, but I am loath to let anyone else work on my vehicles.

 

[JeepinPete]

Its good to know that I am not the only loony that loathes the idea of letting someone else work on my vehicles

 

[Beej]

Sub'd

 

[flintknapper]

Glad I decided to do the PHH hard pipe bypass. When I removed the hose from my Heater Valve...I discovered that the nipple (try to refrain from any nipple jokes) was in poor shape. It didn't crumble...but it's brittle for sure. So going to need to replace that as well.

 

[flintknapper]

Not too much progress today. Just had a couple of hours to work on the Cruiser this morning before needing to mow some pasture.

But...got the Exhaust Cam out and cleaned up the Caps, Bolts and Cam. Inspected cam and caps....all looked fine.

Probably pull the Intake Cam tomorrow and maybe the head. Bit by bit.

 

[flintknapper]

Got the head off today. Found one very concerning item ( a single loose head bolt).

Also found a good use for empty egg cartons:

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Slow and steady!!

 

[davidp14]

This is a great thread! Sorry you have to do all this work but glad your sharing in such a detailed manner.
Thanks for posting.

 

[flintknapper]

Just cleaning up a few parts today. Guys don't forget to replace the 3 (all the same size) O-Rings on your Bypass (thermostat area). There is a tube that needs to be removed and cleaned. Don't just replace the 2 O-Rings that you can see.

Also, if you don't plan to send your injectors off to be cleaned and/or flow tested...as least clean them up, install new filter screens and the upper and lower seals. My filter screens weren't clogged...but certainly dirty.

 

[flintknapper]

Waiting on some parts and a couple of tools. Might as well clean up some the things I took off.

I'm not as meticulous as @2001LC (Paul) but I don't like putting dirty parts back on if it can be avoided.

Got my harmonic balancer cleaned up and painted...ready to go back on. Going to start cleaning up piston tops and cylinders soon. Not in any hurry.

 

[crtx]

This thread has some great. info, keep up the good work.

It sounds like those are the original vac lines on the underside of intake? Those things look crispy!

 

[flintknapper]

This thread has some great. info, keep up the good work.

It sounds like those are the original vac lines on the underside of intake? Those things look crispy!

^^^^

Indeed they are. I have 3' of new vacuum lines but first want to explore which (if any) I can delete along with the EGR pipe.

I disabled my EGR years ago and added the resistor...but never removed the pipe or anything else that can be removed...simply because I didn't know what could be done away with (still don't fully understand).

 

[flintknapper]

After a cursory cleaning....I started breaking down the head components in preparation of a preliminary inspection.

Didn't get too far this afternoon as I didn't have a lot of time to work on it. But did get all the Exhaust Valves out and sorted.

Getting the 'keepers' out was a little tricky since they are down in the bucket bore and the Spring Compressor I have has only a small 'window' to work through...but a combination of a pick with a small magnet attached to it, finally worked.

The worst part was removing the Valve Stem Seals. They were rock hard and very much determined to stay in place. IF you replace these yourself...make sure you have a GOOD pair of seal pliers and that you eat your 'Wheaties' that same morning.

If you disassemble your own head be sure to 'sort' your parts (Buckets, Shims, Valves, Springs, etc). This will allow you to associate any parts that are out of spec with a particular cylinder. It can also be of value if you don't need to recondition any of the parts but need to put them back where they came from (account for wear patterns).

Little by little.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Making some progress! Looks like your head is brand new it's so clean!

 

[crtx]

Curious- when you "flushed" your coolant system, did you do natural flow/ gravity with engine power? Or did you "power flush", with a hose, or anything of that nature?

Find it interesting your head gasket went from a coolant flush, maybe its more common than I think?

 

[flintknapper]

Curious- when you "flushed" your coolant system, did you do natural flow/ gravity with engine power? Or did you "power flush", with a hose, or anything of that nature?

Find it interesting your head gasket went from a coolant flush, maybe its more common than I think?

I did use hose pressure...but attenuated. This was the third flush in the 20 yrs. I've had the vehicle, same product (Prestone Flush) same procedure. My head gasket did not have any obvious (to me) failure spots (voids, tears, distortions). Really think the loose head bolt along with the 'flush' allowed the gasket to 'lift' ever so slightly. I'm hoping the head is not warped too badly in that corner.

I should be able to get a precision straight edge on it tomorrow sometime and get an idea.

 

[flintknapper]

Got all the Intake Valves out this morning. The old dried out Valve Stem Seals (like the exhaust one's) were a bear to get off.

Put a Precision Straight Edge on all the surfaces (Cylinder, Intake and Exhaust). Everything was good except for the one corner where I had found the loose head bolt. I had concerns that it might be warped a bit there. Need to check the threads in the block at that spot.

I'm roughly .002" two thousandths out (side to side) at the very back of the head (#6 cylinder) but not over the combustion chamber itself. Since the discrepancy is so outboard I think I can pull that corner down enough to get a good seal by going slightly out of sequence when I torque the head down. Then I'll have it corrected later when I pull the engine to go through it.

Intake Valves weren't too bad looking, not as crusty as the exhaust one's.

Anyway, that's all for today, have other things to do around the ranch.

Tools are cleaned up and put away (always do that folks...so they are ready to use next time).

 

[SteveH]

Have you found the leak point, visually?

 

[flintknapper]

Have you found the leak point, visually?

I've seen the 'results' of the leak point(s)..........**Coolant in my Oil Pan** but have not seen anything on the head-gasket itself that was particularly alarming.

 

[TriaxialBulls]

Just cleaning up a few parts today. Guys don't forget to replace the 3 (all the same size) O-Rings on your Bypass (thermostat area). There is a tube that needs to be removed and cleaned. Don't just replace the 2 O-Rings that you can see.

Also, if you don't plan to send your injectors off to be cleaned and/or flow tested...as least clean them up, install new filter screens and the upper and lower seals. My filter screens weren't clogged...but certainly dirty.


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How did you get that circular pipe out so easily? I tried to take mine out earlier today and it did NOT want to budge. Literally had 2 pairs on pliers on it, standing INSIDE my engine bay, pulling hard as hell and got nothing. I am really considering trying to dissolve the o-rings but pouring some acetone on them andletting it eat them away. I have a new pipe and o-rings ready to go.