[dazdillenger]

Hey guys, about to tackle the studding of my 2005. Mileage is up there (284,000), and she's started to lose coolant on my extreme street tune. Ad to that the fact that injectors 2 and 4 suffer from terrible stiction. In addition, my oil cooler has rapidly started to plug-my deltas went from 2-4 degrees, to 10-20 degrees. Needless to say, It's time. I'll be starting this coming thursday (I have all the parts, however getting restore and restore+ in upstate NY is a challenge to say the least-it won't be here until wednesday.

Right now, I'm taking requests for specific pictures. I'll be documenting the entire process from start to finish-location of cab bolts, wiring harnesses requiring removal, and everything else I can think of.

Now on to another note:

I had a spare set of heads, and had them re-done before starting the job. It will certainly cut down on down time. They were done by UAP engine rebuilders in Utica, NY. Total cost was 494 dollars. This included:

Hot tanking the heads
magnafluxing to check for cracks
resurfacing both heads-one had .001 warpage, the other had NONE-both were well within service limits, but perfect is the name of the game
One exhaust valve needed to be replaced
all 32 valves were ground, as were the seats. They were then vacuum tested.

Also note-the above price also included the valve seal kit which was 88 bucks. Overall, I think the price was very fair, and the work looks top notch. They even removed several broken exhaust manifold bolts!

As for gaskets, I'm using victor reinz headgaskets, as well as there intake kit. Came with EVERY gasket on top of the engine-injector o-rings, oil cooler gaskets, turbo drain/feed seals and gaskets-It is the most complete set I've seen, and the price was right at 82 dollars shipped to my door.


So, in conclusion, I welcome any and all questions and/or requests. Stay tuned.

 

[Wicked6.0]

Where are you going to perform this at? Just curious if you have a lift for the cab or how that is going to work. Good call on a spare set of heads and good price too on the work.

Sent from my DROIDX using AutoGuide App

 

[dazdillenger]

I have a full shop at my house, including a 2 post lift.

 

[YoungMT Hick]

Where u at in NY? I am doing the same starting October 7th. Are u mike's friend out near utica? Where di u get all the other parts and what prices have u paid.

 

[dazdillenger]

Where u at in NY? I am doing the same starting October 7th. Are u mike's friend out near utica? Where di u get all the other parts and what prices have u paid.

Yes, I'm Mike's buddy. I live closer to Cooperstown than Utica. As for prices:

Oil cooler-165 shipped (ebay)
Restore 29 dollars a gallon (Fleetrite in Marcy)
Restore+ 31 dollars a gallon (Fleetrite in Marcy)
Injectors-I needed 2, paid 190 each shipped from the forum (new)
Head gaskets-105 bucks shipped (ebay)
standpipes and dummy plugs 82 dollars shipped (ebay)
Intake gasket set 82 dollars shipped (ebay)
Head work and valve seals-494 (UAC engine rebuilders in utica)
Exhaust manifold gaskets-30.02 with shipping from Tousley Ford
ARP studs-335 (ebay-used once)
ARP assembly lube-23 bucks (jegs)

That about covers it. I just searched and got the best prices I could.

 

[sinner6.0L]

sounds good though I'd be suspicious of doing all that work only to put in victor reinz headgaskets

 

[YoungMT Hick]

Those prices look good. I had a deal where I could get 25% off ford prices but those. Ebay prices look good. Let me know when you start I would like to come by

 

[dazdillenger]

VR and the black Onyx are the same gaskets. The only failures are due to people not doing the proper prep work-IE the proper RA on the heads, making sure they are perfectly flat, or not torquing everything properly. I've never had a MLS gasket fail after replacement-regardless of the application.

As for you young mt, you're definately welcome to come by and lend a hand. Ill start on it this coming thursday or friday. PM me your phone number, I'll do the same.

 

[Evil Eye]

Wow, sounds like quite the undertaking. I wish I had a two post lift in a shop at my house! How long do you think it will take you and will you be working on it non stop or will this be at your leisure?

 

[dazdillenger]

Honestly, I figure around 10-12hrs from the time I roll it in the shop, to the time I roll it out. I plan to do it over the course of 2 days. First day will be pulling the cab (roughly 2 hours) then pulling the engine apart and cleaning everything. The next day Ill get it together, and drop the cab back on.

 

[sinner6.0L]

how many cab off headgasket installs have you done?

 

[dmausel]

subscribed

 

[dazdillenger]

This will be my 4th. However, when I stated I had never had a MLS gasket fail, I wasn't referring solely to powerstrokes.

 

[IRNFST]

Can't wait to see everything in progress. Thanks for taking the time to document everything.:thumb:

 

[dfuzz78]

:worthless[1]:

 

[dazdillenger]

Made some progress-cab is off and in the air, engine is stripped down to the heads. Tomorrow they get pulled off, and studs/new heads installed. Few notes so far.

1. I was SUPER dissapointed with my cooling system flush. I pull the t-stat, dumped in a half gallon of restore, and filled the system with distilled water. Drove it for 3hrs with cardboard over the radiator so as to allow it to get up to temp, and drained it. The result? Clean, clear soapy water. No chunks, no gel-nothing. I figured-maybe I didn't do it long enough. Repeated with another 1/2 gallon, 3 more hours. Same result. Just for good measure I did the vc9, and repeated.

2. My HPOP screen was INTACT! No rips, tears, or breaks. 288k, factory nylon screen. Who's the man? My truck is. lol.

3. Working on lifted trucks sucks.

Attached are a few pictures, Ill do a quick explanation under each one.

 

[dazdillenger]

Cab mounts-very easy, I didn't take pictures of each one, but they are self explanatory. There are 8 on a crew cab truck-2 next to the intercooler on the core support, 2 in the front floorboards, 2 right behind the seats, and 2 behind the rear seats. The center 2 (behind the front seats) are tricky if you don't want to pull the seats. What I do is this-I pull the sill plates, reach my hand under, pop the small rubber cap that covers the bolt holes, and find the correct socket. After that, I make a small slit in the carpet that I can slip an extension through-allows me to remove the bolts without taking out the seats. The rearmost bolts are very simple, just fold the seat forward. The front 2 require removal of the kick panels and sill plates.

The first 2 pictures are of the core support nuts, the third is of one of the front cab bolts holes. I didn't see the need for more pictures, they are easy to find, and self explanatory.

 

[dazdillenger]

The next step (for me anyway) Is the inner fenders. I remove them to facilitate disconnecting the wiring harness. The first picture is of the drivers side with the inner fender removed-very simple, just seperate all connectors that go from the cab to the chassis harness, and remove the transmission harness from the pcm. You can leave the PCM bolted to the cab. On the passenger side, disconnect the vacuum lines going to the hubs (if you have esof) as well as the vacuum line going to the ball valve on the heater hose. Remove the entire vacuum resovoir via the 3 11mm nuts, and take it out of the way. You also need to remove a few ground wires from the body-for instance on the passenger side, there is a small ground that comes off of the negative battery terminal. Remove that one. Also, remove the positive leads that bolt to the positive cables via a 10mm nut.

This next step is all about the inside of the truck, and the work that gets done there. Don't forget to disconnect the e-brake cable, shifter cable, and the single bolt that connects the steering column to the power steering box, then retract the long shaft that connects the two through the firewall. After this, remove the 4 nuts for the hydroboost, and disconnect the master cylinder from the brake pedal. Push it through the firewall. If you do it this way, there is no need to bleed the brakes after reassembly as none of the brake lines are removed. The hydroboost can stay with the engine.

Another often overlooked step are the ground straps. There are 2. One going from the firewall to the engine on the passenger side, and another connecting the frame to the cab/body on the passenger side behind the front tire. After this, it's time to remove the heater hoses, unbolt the ABS and fuse box from the core support, and disconnect all the power steering lines.

The second picture is with the grille and lights removed. I do this to allow access to the a/c lines. I disconnect them at the condensor, and the engine. I then remove them completely. The less you have to get caught when removing the cab, the better.

 

[dazdillenger]

After all of that, I pull the cab off. It helps to have a helper-someone to ensure that nothing gets snagged while lifting the cab off. The next pic is of the cab off, and the room that you have to work afterwards. My engine is torn down to the bare heads, tomorrow I'll pull the rocker boxes, injectors, and heads.

 

[dazdillenger]

I'll also note that it's not necessary to remove the fan or the fan shroud, but I was replacing the waterpump while I had the chance. All of this work is exponentially easier with the cab out of the way, especially when your truck is as tall as mine is.

I'll take requests for specific pictures-whatever you guys want to see, just let me know. I have all the time in the world with this.