well boys at just shy of 85000mi i think my headgaskets took a crap

[hazard]

the last 2 weeks ive had to add coolant and noticed signs of puking, i already have the egr delete so the egr cooler is out of the question, today i went and got a new surge tank cap, filled coolant to the min line and went for a nice little drive, beating the crap out of her the entire time, came back coolant was puked all over, the funny thing is it never got over 192-196 degrees and oil temps never exceeded 8 degrees difference. most head gasket issues ive seen on cummins engines at work always overheat if compression is getting in the cooling system. anyways im going to do the head gaskets myself with the cab on, if anyone has some good tips please let me know, i plan on using arp studs, black onyx gaskets (if worth it), like to do the stc fitting fix, and possibly and oil cooler (although it dont think it need to be changed) i want to find somewhere with a kit with all the gaskets and o rings i will be needing. also wondering how big of a pita it is to remove the hvac box from the chassis and if you can get the condensor off with it without draining the refrigerant? any help will be appreciated. thanks

[jstokes1987]

not sure about the disassembly procedure since i had a shop do my studs and egr delete but here is a site that sells complete kits. Complete 6.0 Ford Powerstroke Solution

[PGreenSVT]

Originally Posted by hazard

the last 2 weeks ive had to add coolant and noticed signs of puking, i already have the egr delete so the egr cooler is out of the question, today i went and got a new surge tank cap, filled coolant to the min line and went for a nice little drive, beating the crap out of her the entire time, came back coolant was puked all over, the funny thing is it never got over 192-196 degrees and oil temps never exceeded 8 degrees difference. most head gasket issues ive seen on cummins engines at work always overheat if compression is getting in the cooling system. anyways im going to do the head gaskets myself with the cab on, if anyone has some good tips please let me know, i plan on using arp studs, black onyx gaskets (if worth it), like to do the stc fitting fix, and possibly and oil cooler (although it dont think it need to be changed) i want to find somewhere with a kit with all the gaskets and o rings i will be needing. also wondering how big of a pita it is to remove the hvac box from the chassis and if you can get the condensor off with it without draining the refrigerant? any help will be appreciated. thanks

Have you verified the presence of hydrocarbons in the degass tank? I would do that before tearing it apart. Good luck with the repair.

[hazard]

How do I do check that? Never done it before, I don't know what else it would be if it wasn't the head gaskets

[PGreenSVT]

A shop with a probe can do it in a couple of minutes.

[05_PSD_Erik]

Also, if you do get in there, DO change the oil cooler, Cheap insurance since you are going to be in the engine anyway.

[hazard]

just called my dealer, said they would do studs and gaskets under warranty and stc fitting and oil cooler at parts cost unless the cooler is covered with headgaskets. i have to buy the studs is all, they said they would turn the other cheek to my egr delete. going in first thing monday, i should do them myself but i paid for ford extended warranty so i might as well use it.

[john3488]

Pay the extra money to have your heads checked at a machine shop. flatness and magnafluxed for cracks. Cheap insurance or you could be doing headgaskets sooner than you want.

[MoyockPowerstroke]

Originally Posted by hazard

the last 2 weeks ive had to add coolant and noticed signs of puking, i already have the egr delete so the egr cooler is out of the question, today i went and got a new surge tank cap, filled coolant to the min line and went for a nice little drive, beating the crap out of her the entire time, came back coolant was puked all over, the funny thing is it never got over 192-196 degrees and oil temps never exceeded 8 degrees difference. most head gasket issues ive seen on cummins engines at work always overheat if compression is getting in the cooling system. anyways im going to do the head gaskets myself with the cab on, if anyone has some good tips please let me know, i plan on using arp studs, black onyx gaskets (if worth it), like to do the stc fitting fix, and possibly and oil cooler (although it dont think it need to be changed) i want to find somewhere with a kit with all the gaskets and o rings i will be needing. also wondering how big of a pita it is to remove the hvac box from the chassis and if you can get the condensor off with it without draining the refrigerant? any help will be appreciated. thanks

Am I missing something...looking at your sig...it appears you've already been through all this...what happened?

[hazard]

i just changed my sig after i got the work done, my dealer did it under warranty, studs, oil cooler, stc fitting, coolant flush and oil change, dealer said they check the heads for warpage and they were ok, no they didnt magnaflux them. trucks back runs great, no issues what so ever with the work they did, i know the service writer that took care of everything and hes a good guy, he wouldnt have done the work if they were going to half _ _ _ it. i need to change coolant though i dont want the ford gold junk.