Old Purple laid down on me yesterday, possible head gasket?

[alabamafrog]

Well I think my truck is really messed up AGAIN.

A couple weeks ago I noticed a very faint difference in the rattle of the motor when idling especially on initial start up, like a very slightly harder or deeper tone to the normal “knock” of the 7.3.
Friday I noticed it turned over slightly harder like a battery might be getting weak.
Saturday I hooked up my new 28' camper and headed out. As I merged onto I-65 I noticed the little light for the oil temp was on, took me a second to figure out what the heck that light was. I looked at my many gauges and noticed engine oil temp pegged near 300*, then I noticed the water temp gauge standing straight up pegged out, all other gauges looked normal. I pulled over immediately and noticed large amounts of white smoke coming from the CCV mod hose.
I also noticed the coolant bottle was empty and the engine oil (which I changed 3 days ago) was milky and way over full.

I let her sit for a while then tried to restart and she made very unhappy sounds as she turned over but then caught a few licks and began to idle just fine.
I turned her back off and called a buddy to haul my camper back home and get the GN and then hauled old purple back home. When we got there with the trailer she started fine and drove right up on the trailer.

So now what?
Head gasket?
Cracked head or block?
Some other problem?

Do I have time and patience to fix it myself?
DO I trust anyone else to fix it right and not screw it up worse?
Do I push her off a cliff and go get a Dodge???


Here she is awaiting her fate;

[justinlogue5_0]

That sucks man. Its cheaper to rebuild then buy a whole new truck. Any ways, Any external leaks?

[NIT2WN]

Ummm, Cummins swap? I'm not a fan of a Dodge body myself. I'd either fix the motor or upgrade it if possible. I'm finding it harder in my older days to swallow a truck payment. I would rather pay a dealer to fix it than to buy a new one. But, it she's got other stuff that starting to need to be addressed, body rattles you can get rid of, or an interior that just worn out, them maybe a new one, or newer one might be in order.

[mv7fd]

you have a very nice truck man have you looked into the black mamba motors? i was looking at those the other day but if everything else is beat and worn then i'd trade up for a newer one

[alabamafrog]

In the last 8 or so years I have completely rebuilt the engine, replaced the tranny, replaced the rear end, replaced 2 turbos, replaced the injectors, replaced the entire steering system, numerous little things like blower motors, door locks, windows, mirrors, water pump, etc.....

I figured it up one time that I paid $17K back in like 2002 and since then I have spent over 20K on parts fixing it.

Heck I thought I had a “new” truck figuring that I have replaced or rebuilt the whole darn thing. Just a couple weeks ago I was thinking about how it has been several months since she has needed something fixed and was just starting to think I might have all the bugs worked out. But now this new engine problem is really irritating. It has been around 65,000 miles since the engine rebuild. I don't want to buy a new truck but I don't want to keep sinking money in this thing if it is going to keep breaking over and over again.

So, what do yall think is wrong with it considering the symptoms???

[NIT2WN]

I would say it just needs head gaskets but I'm nowhere near the mechanic you are. If you haven't studded it, that would be in the plans with the heads getting checked and milled if needed for flatness.

[SixStringMadness]

dang bud. i hate to hear this frog.

[zambonimaxx]

I would have to say Head Gasket. The main symptom being the milky oil, and the lack of coolant. We see that every-day in afghan, the high-temps and massive loads the diesel generators see they will separate the heads (too bad John Deere doesn't make a stud kit haha). Anyways, I would go with what your gut is telling you. I personally bleed blue, however, if I had a catastrophic failure (cracked block etc.) I would make it a Fummins. If you feel like spending a weekend on her, get two cyl-head-gaskets...some ARP head-studs or H11 depending, and just replace, do oil change, coolant flush, and see how she sits. Thats less than 1k$ in parts...or get some stock studs for cheaper, but I think that you blew the HG because you were towing and on an on-ramp. Your gauges (on the dash) are dummy gauges, however, as soon as High Temp coolant gets into the oil, and vice versa, it will peg the gauges, especially since the coolant will sit on top. I say spend a weekend, see if you can get it fixed especially with the time you have put in it.

~Phil

[Zaairman]

I'd do a compression check first, and pray that maybe your oil cooler let go.

[alabamafrog]

I got a lot of work going on right now so I don't really have much time to mess with the truck and I need the truck.
I am thinking of hauling it to the local mechanic shop I use and have him test and diagnose it then if necessary do the head studs and new gaskets.
I got way too much in this truck and new trucks cost way way too much.
I hope its the oil cooler but the way it was acting I have a gut feeling it is a head gasket or head or