Studs one at a time.

[californiadreamin]

Anyone here do it before and willing to do it for $$ in Socal?

I don't have the expertise to handle this and it's worth a shot since I think my hg are fine right now.

Lemme know!

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

A ton of folks on here think this is a bad idea. The rational is that even though you don’t have a leaking HG , there could be a micro crack or the start of a burn through, and OMG you wouldn’t know about it. I talked to a local well respected diesel shop in my area ( Pro Diesel in Augusta KS) and they said they do it all the time. Hold on to your seat for the cost $2300.00 WOW.. When I have to do stand pipes and dummy plugs or replace injectors, I will do mine one stud at a time. My thinking is it can’t hurt and if I do lose a HG in the future, I have studs already. My question is can you do this cab on? I am thinking about pulling the motor mounts loose and maybe pushing the cab up a few inches. I know some would ask if you are in that far why not pull the heads and have a look anyway and put a fresh gasket in wile you at it. The said truth is not everyone that has one of these trucks has a shop or a buddy to help get the head in and out. Some guys just want the physiological comfort of having studs and not the hassle of pulling the heads. IMHO

[amdriven2liv]

My thinking is, if you are going to pay someone to do this, have them price the rest. They might for their own protection require you to go all the way.

[californiadreamin]

Originally Posted by amdriven2liv

My thinking is, if you are going to pay someone to do this, have them price the rest. They might for their own protection require you to go all the way.

Yeah I've been callin around. Most shops want 2500 labor and 1000 to do the heads. That's a lot of dough....

I don't really know if my hg are bad or good I guess, but I'm not puking and my delta is good and my egr cooler has no hot air flowing through it. My degas does seem to build up a lot of pressure, when I open the cap....but it would puke if hg were bad right??? Or at least eat coolant?? I have no coolant loss.

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

When you say you have a lot of pressure in the de-gas tank that’s pretty subjective. The only way to know how much is to much is to Tee a gauge into the system and take a reading to know for sure. Yes you should start puking if it’s over 16 lbs

[californiadreamin]

Yeah I know it's subjective. I just open it and the coolant rises and it blows out air. I'm thinking about doing a gauge but I looked today at napa and pep boys and neither had a gauge that I thought would work. Im thinking 3/8 tee from degas hose to gauge, but apparently the gauges are all small hoses??

Oh and I keep the level at the upper mark on the bottle (does not have a sticker on bottle) so I'd say I run it pretty much full.

Also I run it hard once in awhile but haven't towed heavy at all, still no puke. Do these things always puke or eat coolant when the hg go if you run the coolant at the correct level or is it hit and miss?

[californiadreamin]

Bump

[Blackdiamond1]

BAD IDEA... BUT POSSIBLE. Ive performed that cluster f*** of a project 3xs for customers who want to save some dough.... and the psgr rear bolt is a bit** but no cab pull needed. i do not warranty labor on that.... and chances are your hgs are fine start with the egr cooler and perhaps the gatorade bottle test.... ck these out Bullet Proof Media Center

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

Originally Posted by californiadreamin

Yeah I know it's subjective. I just open it and the coolant rises and it blows out air. I'm thinking about doing a gauge but I looked today at napa and pep boys and neither had a gauge that I thought would work. Im thinking 3/8 tee from degas hose to gauge, but apparently the gauges are all small hoses??

Oh and I keep the level at the upper mark on the bottle (does not have a sticker on bottle) so I'd say I run it pretty much full.

Also I run it hard once in awhile but haven't towed heavy at all, still no puke. Do these things always puke or eat coolant when the hg go if you run the coolant at the correct level or is it hit and miss?

I suspect your HG's are just fine.


Q: Do I have a blown head gasket?

A: Generally if there is a slow gradual pressure increases in the cooling system over 16 PSI then this points to an EGR cooler / oil cooler failure. If the pressure in the cooling system tries to head to and exceed 20psi pretty fast in a cool motor then this points to a head gasket failure. Put a Tee in one of the rubber lines going to the de-gas tank and attach the line for your gauge to that. Or buy new hose and make a test rig to use for now and then loan to all your buds later on. This is as simple as a 3/8 hose barb Tee,5 clamps, 30 PSI gauge and some 3/8 air line. Cut 2 short stubs out of the air line to span the gap between the manifold and the de-gas tank. Next since you saved the end of the air line that has a 1/4 FNPT fitting crimped to it, the free end goes to the tee and your gauge attaches to the factory crimped on FNPT fitting. You will use a gauge with a 30 full scale reading. The cap on the De-gas tank is a 16 lb relief, this is why 16 psi is the magic number. The pressure you reach is not as important as the rate of climb. The reason for the slow increase in pressure for the EGR cooler/ oil cooler failure is as follows. The oil cooler plugs up and starves the EGR cooler for coolant thus turning it into a superheated steam generator. This point source of heat and excess pressure will lead to the EGR cooler failure. In this condition some have reported the melting nipple on the de-gas tank the attaches to a rubber hose that vents steam from the EGR cooler.

The rapid rise in pressure associated with a head gasket failure is caused by combustion gasses entering the cooling system and raising the cooling system pressure until the vent on the de-gas tank cap opens and the puking starts. I think NAPA has a test strip you can use to detect combustion gasses in the coolant.

OK so with a quick check of a saturated steam chart this is what we know.

15.3 PSIg steam equals 250 degF

20 PSIg steam equals 259 degF

What this mean is that if you take a cold truck out and run the heck out of it and it builds pressure to 20PSI or more and the coolant isn’t 260 deg then it’s a safe bet that combustion gasses are entering the cooling system because you have a bad head gasket.

Water boils at 212 deg at zero PSIg. In a closed system there is a very predictable relationship between steam pressure and steam temperature. This is why cooling systems are pressurised. This way you can have 248 deg coolant that is at about 15 PSIa and you make no steam because the coolant isn’t it’s boiling temp for that pressure, it is however saturated. Now at addition of ethylene glycol raised the boiling point too but for what we are taking about we can use a table for water-based steam. If the system doesn’t get hot enough to the point it should make steam and its building pressure you know that pressure is from a different source like combustion gasses entering the cooling system. From ---- wait for it ------ BAD HEAD GASKETS.

[californiadreamin]

Originally Posted by HAM_RADIO_MAN

I suspect your HG's are just fine.


Q: Do I have a blown head gasket?

A: Generally if there is a slow gradual pressure increases in the cooling system over 16 PSI then this points to an EGR cooler / oil cooler failure. If the pressure in the cooling system tries to head to and exceed 20psi pretty fast in a cool motor then this points to a head gasket failure. Put a Tee in one of the rubber lines going to the de-gas tank and attach the line for your gauge to that. Or buy new hose and make a test rig to use for now and then loan to all your buds later on. This is as simple as a 3/8 hose barb Tee,5 clamps, 30 PSI gauge and some 3/8 air line. Cut 2 short stubs out of the air line to span the gap between the manifold and the de-gas tank. Next since you saved the end of the air line that has a 1/4 FNPT fitting crimped to it, the free end goes to the tee and your gauge attaches to the factory crimped on FNPT fitting. You will use a gauge with a 30 full scale reading. The cap on the De-gas tank is a 16 lb relief, this is why 16 psi is the magic number. The pressure you reach is not as important as the rate of climb. The reason for the slow increase in pressure for the EGR cooler/ oil cooler failure is as follows. The oil cooler plugs up and starves the EGR cooler for coolant thus turning it into a superheated steam generator. This point source of heat and excess pressure will lead to the EGR cooler failure. In this condition some have reported the melting nipple on the de-gas tank the attaches to a rubber hose that vents steam from the EGR cooler.

The rapid rise in pressure associated with a head gasket failure is caused by combustion gasses entering the cooling system and raising the cooling system pressure until the vent on the de-gas tank cap opens and the puking starts. I think NAPA has a test strip you can use to detect combustion gasses in the coolant.

OK so with a quick check of a saturated steam chart this is what we know.

15.3 PSIg steam equals 250 degF

20 PSIg steam equals 259 degF

What this mean is that if you take a cold truck out and run the heck out of it and it builds pressure to 20PSI or more and the coolant isn’t 260 deg then it’s a safe bet that combustion gasses are entering the cooling system because you have a bad head gasket.

Water boils at 212 deg at zero PSIg. In a closed system there is a very predictable relationship between steam pressure and steam temperature. This is why cooling systems are pressurised. This way you can have 248 deg coolant that is at about 15 PSIa and you make no steam because the coolant isn’t it’s boiling temp for that pressure, it is however saturated. Now at addition of ethylene glycol raised the boiling point too but for what we are taking about we can use a table for water-based steam. If the system doesn’t get hot enough to the point it should make steam and its building pressure you know that pressure is from a different source like combustion gasses entering the cooling system. From ---- wait for it ------ BAD HEAD GASKETS.

I am having a hell of a time finding a pressure gauge that I can hook to a 3/8 in line and run into the cab. Any ideas on where to find one? So far tried napa, autozone, pep boys, oriellys aka kragen