Head replacement + Rabbit Hole work
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287 Posts
Already done 
Pulled the y-pipe off and sure enough it wasn't seated against the turbo. It was way more than just some residual oil. It was hard to keep my face under the hood without burning the eyes. It should be seated now. Going to try to fire it up again as soon as I can find my phone so I can monitor everything... probably under the truck now that I think about it. Hard to stay motivated. It's dumping hard and getting cold. Almost there though. Well, until I decide to pull the trans pan and start with the radius arms but that's definitely another day/weekend at this point. Just need her well enough to drive down the highway with confidence.
Pulled the y-pipe off and sure enough it wasn't seated against the turbo. It was way more than just some residual oil. It was hard to keep my face under the hood without burning the eyes. It should be seated now. Going to try to fire it up again as soon as I can find my phone so I can monitor everything... probably under the truck now that I think about it. Hard to stay motivated. It's dumping hard and getting cold. Almost there though. Well, until I decide to pull the trans pan and start with the radius arms but that's definitely another day/weekend at this point. Just need her well enough to drive down the highway with confidence.
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287 Posts
Fixed the exhaust to turbo leak. Fired up (after a long crank) and took her for a drive. It's draining the water out of the coolant system right now. I'll do one more tap water fill/flush then move to distilled for 2 flushes, then fill with coolant. Nervous, first date observations:
- Felt a little sluggish. Not bad, but not as peppy as before. (likely reason coming up)
- Still stupid easy to get above danger zone with EGTs. Was really hoping to see something appreciable with the wicked wheel. Chalk that one up to snake oil I guess.
- Deltas looked awesome. EOT stayed around mid 190s. Highest delta I saw was 4.
- Coolant pressure. It got up to 11psi. It's been sooo long since I've had a functional coolant system that doesn't overpresurize, I honestly can't recall what normal is. On the way back, I stopped to relieve the pressure (since it was up to 190-ish temp). The PSI then slowly rose to 3 and stayed there until I climbed the hill to my place (not super aggressive but slow/steady climb) and then it went to 4. So nothing alarming and time will tell once I get her loaded or am able to hit a real hill.
- When I pulled up to the house, my son came out and said "you have an exhaust leak, you can see it". Stepped out and you can see exhaust dumping out at the driverside manifold to y-pipe. So, fixed the turbo leak and created a new one. I expect this is why it didn't feel as peppy as before. It was a significant leak so definitely robbing the turbo.
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287 Posts
New glowplugs all around. I had a bad one (#5) before so decided to just swap them all out while in it. The harness looked good and the module was replaced ~2yrs ago. So, hopefully no glow plug issues.
I forgot to add earlier. After I came back. I shut her down and tried starting up. It fired right up. So hot start is good at least. Tomorrow, I'll check again for cold start.
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287 Posts
I was wrong. It's not my exhaust. Recently (before all this work) I noticed my CAC boots were oil saturated. So I decided to do a ccv reroute as part of this build. Just a simple 1" hose dumping down to the frame. That is blowing like a frigging steam engine. See pic below. That shouldn't be after all I just did (o-ring heads, new gaskets, studded), right?
![Automotive tire Bumper Gas Automotive wheel system Automotive exterior]()
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287 Posts
Okay. Thought about it some while driving for the next flush. I'll chalk that up to "too close to the problem". Obivously, it's nothing to do with the heads work and it's a matter of blowby. I did some google-fu to see what others are seeing and it looks like it's not uncommon to see white smoke/steam coming out. I'm just not sure if it's excessive or not. I know I don't like it (the smoke or the smell as I get in and out of the idling truck). I did check the oil fill cap and it does smoke some but not nearly as much. Certainly more than it has in the past. Not enough to blow off the cap if that matters. Any advice is appreciated.
I think the 'less peppy' feel is a matter of the wicked wheel, to be honest. I feel like it lags a bit when I get on it. It certainly smokes a lot more while it builds up before accelerating when I get on it (not punch it, just get on it to accelerate). It could all be a placebo effect since I'm really paying attention and looking for issues right now. I can say for sure, it doesn't sound any different than the stock one. I have a dual exhaust so maybe that changes the dynamics of it.
I think the 'less peppy' feel is a matter of the wicked wheel, to be honest. I feel like it lags a bit when I get on it. It certainly smokes a lot more while it builds up before accelerating when I get on it (not punch it, just get on it to accelerate). It could all be a placebo effect since I'm really paying attention and looking for issues right now. I can say for sure, it doesn't sound any different than the stock one. I have a dual exhaust so maybe that changes the dynamics of it.
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1,969 Posts
I, among many others, are more fond of the stock CCV. Oily boots are better than the smell and smoke coming out to me.
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3,985 Posts
But the exhaust carbon/oil cake that builds on the intake valve and stem and then breaks off to pit the exhaust valves are not fond things.
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287 Posts
Yeah, I'm a bit torn on the ccv right now. I could live with the smoke but the smell is annoying and I'll put money on it that my wife will complain about it. I'll give it a bit of time to see where I stand before reverting. I was really looking forward to not oiling up my intake.
Did several drives/flushes (lost count but something like 2 w/ filtered well water and 4 with distilled). Everything seems to be running good. I'll take her into work tomorrow. It's a 50min highway drive one way with a pretty good hill climb. So, this should be enough of a torture test to check out all the specs.
For now, I'm calling it a success. I REALLY appreciate all the help and advice you guys provided. It was truly invaluable.
Did several drives/flushes (lost count but something like 2 w/ filtered well water and 4 with distilled). Everything seems to be running good. I'll take her into work tomorrow. It's a 50min highway drive one way with a pretty good hill climb. So, this should be enough of a torture test to check out all the specs.
For now, I'm calling it a success. I REALLY appreciate all the help and advice you guys provided. It was truly invaluable.
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287 Posts
Ran like a friggin champ. Deltas were near zero except when cruising down the backside of the hill climb (EOT cools off faster than ECT). Coolant pressure stayed low (6-ish). Boost peaked at 31 for a split second when I really hit it on the hill climb. MPG was doing very well at ~20 (normally around 19).
My EGT's climb way too fast when I get on it. Pretty effortless to get this think into the 1500 range very fast. Any strong opinions on using something like the Snow system setup to keep EGTs low?
My EGT's climb way too fast when I get on it. Pretty effortless to get this think into the 1500 range very fast. Any strong opinions on using something like the Snow system setup to keep EGTs low?
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287 Posts
Sorry. I should have been clearer. I don't know much about them but, yes, just as Bismic said. As I understand it, you can go two ways with it. Key off boost to kick on a methanol heavier mix for performance. Or key off EGT to kick on a water heavier mix to bring temps down. Outside of that, I don't know but it's intrigued me. If it's safe, it seems like more people would run it. Though I've yet to come across any threads where bad things happened?
There was a recent thread showing damage and the snow system was a potential suspect.
I'll try to remember where it was.
EDIT
www.powerstroke.org
I'll try to remember where it was.
EDIT
#2 Cylinder Repeat Contribution Code
I installed a set of 155/30 plugged spill port injectors in my truck about a month ago. Resealed the upgraded stand pipes I already had in with AP0028 seal kit. Started it up with the revised tunes and everything was alright at first. Had the occasional cylinder 2 contribution code but I thought...
www.powerstroke.org
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287 Posts
Small update on the CCV. I am no longer seeing anything come out of the vent, nor smelling anything. I'm thinking there was some initial burn-off that needed to happen after the rebuild. Or perhaps it's dependent on the temps (it's warmed up considerably the last few days).
This weekend, the plan is to drop the transmission pan to upgrade to the larger pan + filter and swap out some solenoids. I also have a dummy plug that, as I understand it, is smart to replace while in there? I'll figure it out as I go.
This weekend, the plan is to drop the transmission pan to upgrade to the larger pan + filter and swap out some solenoids. I also have a dummy plug that, as I understand it, is smart to replace while in there? I'll figure it out as I go.
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287 Posts
Just reporting back. I've done a few trips either hauling a horse trailer across the state or the toy hauler further into the mountains. Everything is running beautifully. When towing, I am running my fan constant (blue-wire mod). I didn't try to push it without flipping the switch so coolant temp never got above 210-ish. It really feels like, if left to it's own, the fan engages wayyyy too late to be effective when towing. I recall the tuner (Vivian) telling me they had lowered the trip point for the fan on my tow tune as well but I've only seen it kick on when temps were above 220 (pre rebuild) which is too late. After the last trip, I seriously considered installing the 7.3L fan clutch but for now I'll just remember to flip the fan switch when towing and just leave it. I know there seems to be two camps on this and I don't think either one is wrong. I really do like the idea of the 7.3 clutch so I never have to think about it again.
When not towing, EOT/ECT are within a couple deg of each other if not identical. Even when towing (and fan is on), they stay within reasonable range of each other. Coolant pressure rises with temps and highest I saw was 14 before I kicked on the fans to bring temps back down. Normally hanging around 9-11psi.
EGTs do seem to run hotter than before. For towing, I did detune the ficm and put my tow tune on. It's too easy to get into danger zone w/ EGTs which is annoying but it's manageable.
Overall, I'm super happy with the results. Time will continue to tell but I'm hopeful the KDD heads and all the work I put in to do it right will translate into a truck that lasts for many more years to come.
As soon as I get time, I'll be doing another oil change (short interval after the new heads) and will clean out the IPR filter - mostly out of curiosity to see if it's still collecting crap and how much.
I also still have it on my todo list to install the PMF radius arm drop brackets (hoping to put a nail in the coffin of the caster induced wander) and replace some u-joints on the front drive line so I can use 4x4 without sounding like its going to drop the front end.
Oh, I forgot to mention. When camping, I like to tinker on things so I usually bring a bucket of small projects to do. This last trip, I installed my ham radio (finally), ran some tubing in the door seals and put some dynomat over the vent behind the back seat (drivers side because that was cut out and exposed and noisy). I'll be going back and dynomatting the whole back behind the seat and some of the firewall as well as the door panels. Just trying to add a bit of comfort for the longer road trips by getting rid of the freeway drone.
When not towing, EOT/ECT are within a couple deg of each other if not identical. Even when towing (and fan is on), they stay within reasonable range of each other. Coolant pressure rises with temps and highest I saw was 14 before I kicked on the fans to bring temps back down. Normally hanging around 9-11psi.
EGTs do seem to run hotter than before. For towing, I did detune the ficm and put my tow tune on. It's too easy to get into danger zone w/ EGTs which is annoying but it's manageable.
Overall, I'm super happy with the results. Time will continue to tell but I'm hopeful the KDD heads and all the work I put in to do it right will translate into a truck that lasts for many more years to come.
As soon as I get time, I'll be doing another oil change (short interval after the new heads) and will clean out the IPR filter - mostly out of curiosity to see if it's still collecting crap and how much.
I also still have it on my todo list to install the PMF radius arm drop brackets (hoping to put a nail in the coffin of the caster induced wander) and replace some u-joints on the front drive line so I can use 4x4 without sounding like its going to drop the front end.
Oh, I forgot to mention. When camping, I like to tinker on things so I usually bring a bucket of small projects to do. This last trip, I installed my ham radio (finally), ran some tubing in the door seals and put some dynomat over the vent behind the back seat (drivers side because that was cut out and exposed and noisy). I'll be going back and dynomatting the whole back behind the seat and some of the firewall as well as the door panels. Just trying to add a bit of comfort for the longer road trips by getting rid of the freeway drone.
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