Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) 40k bombed miles, headgasket leaking

[jwilliams3]

Lately I have noticed that I have a slight leak coming from the front of my engine near one of the front head bolt bosses.



So now I must take the hated journey of replacing the headgasket!

I have the turbo off, but I have quit for the day (laziness strikes!)

Or is it the 7 day work week?

Anyhow, what I am getting to in this post is that if you start the bombing process within the first 20k miles or any amount of miles.

Be ready to wrench on the truck down the road (I am my own warranty station).



If I had the knowledge then that I have now, I would have untorqued every head bolt one by one and re-torqued it.

I think this would have saved me that hassle I am going through now.

This will be my 2nd headgasket replacement for a bombed truck.

Last time it was for a good friends truck that had seen 40psi on a regular basis and was under 30k miles! This truck blew it good though (oil spraying out the front of the engine).



My truck has a total of 70k+ miles and is still going strong!

So you ask yourself is all this work worth the extra power???

Hell yeah!!!!



I would advise though, that you purchase in advance the extra parts (like upper gasket set) if your are not stock. And also learn how to set valves and other nuances of your engine. Unless you can afford to have it worked on by a professional.



Hmm..... I wonder if DCX will warranty my engine?

Maybe the local Dodge dealer wont notice my Edge Comp, Gauges, AFE, Caltracs, Hx40, 4" exhaust, ATS manifold and ATS transmission, and 100hp injectors???



--Justin

 

[Rob Thomas]

Justin, sorry to hear about the headgasket... ... ... . wait a minute... ... ... . no I'm not, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. :-laf :-laf J/K of course.



The funny thing is, since my last headgasket went south(oil out the front like you describe) at 3x,xxx miles, it has lasted through 94,000 miles, with 60psi regularly, and not o-ringed, and still doing fine. I wonder if it was the torque method many vendors told me about? You know, the one you disagree with.





Good luck changing it, hope you get back on the road soon.



Rob







Pssst... ..... 130#'s

 

[jwilliams3]

I still disagree with torquing until a giving torque value.

Remember these bolts stretch as they are being torqued and going beyond their given yield is pointless, but so is a hydraulic dump bed!!



:-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[Rob Thomas]

#ad

 

[Got Smoke?]

Originally posted by Rob Thomas

#ad

:-laf my *** off!!



Rob where did you get that? I need that for Dodgeman01 over on DTR!

 

[John]

That Cummins head torquing procedure is the lamest BS I've ever seen! I was BSing with Evan (Beck... that's Mr. Evan Beck to the rest of you guys! ) at The PowerShop a few years ago as he was installing/torquing the head on a "B" series engine (can't remember now if it was a 12v or 24v). Anyway, here he is systematically torquing the head, increasing the torque values per each pass. Once he reached the "top" torque value, he starts cranking on the head bolts an additional 90 degrees!



I said, "WTF?" He laughed and stated that's the official Cummins head torquing procedure.



I know one thing, I've never in all my years around performance engines etc. seen such a Mickey Mouse torque "plan. " Probably the same corporate moron who thought the non-captured dowel pin was a great cost cutting idea.

 

[Evan A. Beck]

That's right, torque plus 90° is the Cummins spec... However, I no longer torque it to their spec. Rather, I am going to 105 lb as the final step. I have found this to be more accurate than the torque by angle method. Also, I have not had any failures on engines where I have torqued the bolts to 105. Some of my other colleagues in this business have had failures due to torque by angle. Going to the spec of 105 seems to fix it. One more thing, I NEVER re-use head bolts. Cummins (and others) say you can re-use the bolts if they measure out correctly. New bolts are cheap, and don't have thousands of miles of high-stress use... :--)

 

[HVAC]

Head Gasket

Evan. if your only going to 105, you don't want to know what I do with engines running twins!



JW, get a set of studs. I am working on a tool to redrill the holes in the deck to retap for larger studs for us high perf guys. Need to test the template on my engine. Only thing is, my headgasket has been holding up for over a year now!!! Been runnin' 90 psi too.



Head sealing technilogy has improved immensly over the last year. Go see Van Haisley, he has one of my O-ring tools and has been working on a couple neat systems for sealing combustion.

 

[jwilliams3]

Yeah, I did get to see one of the new Haisley gaskets systems at Muncie, nice!!

But, for now I will install a head that I had O ringed a while back at Haisleys.







--Justin