Head Gasket Again

[b.j.oneill]

I was driving around last night when my oil pressure gauge started acting erattic pulled over right away pulled out the dip stick and it had water in the crank case guess this it the second head gasket in as many months my truck has over 220,000 mi and has never had a problem before but then again it hasn't been bombed for long any ideas on better head gaskets?

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

At your power level, you should be fine with the marine gasket, 3283335 is std, 3283337 is 0. 010" thicker, and 3283339 is 0. 020" thicker. If you are going to keep on adding power, go for a thicker gasket. Be darn sure the deck is absolutely clean, scraped thoroughly, and wiped with a cloth and lacquer thinner. Mop out all the bolt holes so when you install bolts they don't dump oil onto the deck. Note that there are 6 oiling holes in the deck for the rockers. Be sure there is no crud in them from the scraping process.

Good luck

 

[Don M]

bjo,



I still think you got a bad surface on the head from the last machine shop.

The gasser guys make a wreck outta these diesel heads. Contact the guys at Trinity and let me know what they have to say about it. If you need some help on getting it installed and I can get some free time I will help you figure it all out. My head is holding with no problems and I am up a little higher in modifications.

The marine gasket is good for what you are doing like Joe said.

Joe has helped me with my cylinder head problems and now I have zero troubles in that area. Trinity can surface that head perfectly. Ask for Dennis. He is great.



Don~

 

[GSchlegel]

I'm in the same pickel. About 2 weeks ago I started to get extra pressure in the cooling system and was blowing some coolant out the bottle. No oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. You all said it probably was the head gasket. Called local Cummins distributor and explained what was happening. They agreed and quoted around $1,300. 00 parts and labor. They said since I'm tight on money (no job yet), I should be able to drive it for a while. Well, today ended the "for a while" period. She developed a BAD coolant leak near #5 cylinder behind the exhaust manifold. I assume its at the head gasket. I lost about 2 gallons on a 10 mile drive. (All temps. and pressures stayed normal).



Does that price seem reasonable?



Is this something a novice like me can do?



Does anyone know of a good, reasonable shop in Omaha?



How long should it take to do the job right?



Would you also recommend the marine head gasket for my truck? (see sig. ) How thick?



Any and all other recommendations would be appreciated.



Thanks,

Gene

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Many 96s had leaky gaskets after a while. The marine type is the regular replacement now and seems to fix the problem. Should take about a day of dedicated work to do it right and keep/get everything clean. I've heard of quicker and longer times, depends on who does it, and how carefully, and how much experience.

 

[Strick-9]

I've done more than my fair share of headgaskets. About a day is right. The only difficult part is reinstalling the head over the headgasket without damaging it. Those back two cylinders under the cowl really makes it difficult with 150lbs in your hands.



My last attempt was with a forklift and it went very easy. I would purchase an engine hoist ($199) and use that. The gasket is only about $70 from cummins. It shouldn't cost much more than that. Just time and a few cans of brake cleaner. That's assuming you have normal shop tools, air compressor, etc.



Good luck,

Chris

 

[Sled Puller]

A bottom tap is a good idea, get those holes perfect clean.



new bolts is also a good idea.



1300 is about 400 too much, back here anyway.



If you are going to have someone do it, make dang sure they have done them before, I just got mine fixed from a screw up last April.



This is no place for shoddy workmanship.



Gene

 

[GSchlegel]

Thanks for the replys!



Another question: Should I go oversize on the marine head gasket? How much, . 010" or . 020"? My next bomb this summer will be 370's - I want to break 400hp. My sig. has my current setup.



Thanks,

Gene

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

GSchlegel,

A head gasket isn't that bad. I'd do it myself If I were you. You could buy the hoist for $300 and the gasket for $70 and still save $6-900. Besides you'd become a little more intimate with you're mule().



I don't pay for anything that I have the time to do myself unless I can't(read don't have the tools).



If you're out of work sweat equity is free you'd have to redo it 5 times to waste ay money and by the second you'd have it down.



I really think this is a project you CAN DO YOURSELF, and get it right the first time.



Just make sure you have a really good torque wrench.



FWIW,

Mark

 

[JJW_ND]

Other gaskets???

I have heard a gasket kit mentioned before. Are other gastkets need in addition to the head gasket on an older engine?



When doing it yourself, do you always have the head checked? Shaved? or just clean everything up very clean and reasemble?



I have had a coolant leak on my 96 5sp by the Tstat housing for almost 100K now. Leaks very little when running empty but can push out a quart every 2K if pulling hard. I also noticed an oil leak behind the fuel filter.



I was quoted from 600 to 800 to have the job done here in ND.



If it is just a matter of replacing gasket, I would consider it myself. If the head needs to be clecked, machined then I would rather have and "expert" do the work.



jjw

ND

 

[R.E. Miller]

You could just go have the head welded to the block...

Sled Puller will tell you how well it works he he he Anyhow, I had mine done on my first gen when I got it... yikes. $980. 00 later and no problems



Russell

 

[Don M]

Gene,



If you are wanting to increase HP to the 400 mark I would not go with a thicker gasket at that level. The 20 thou gasket drops the compression about 1 full point and the power decrease will hurt you getting to the 400 mark.

I went with a thicker gasket because I plan on much higher boost and fuel levels later, past 400HP.



After looking up part numbers all day long at Cummins here in Texas. I came up with the Marine gasket being the replacement number that is used now for nearly all the CPL numbers out there.

The marine is the ticket from Cummins for the best gasket to use.

I would not go with any aftermarket stuff like Federal-Mogul, etc.



Wish I lived a bit closer I could help ya out.



Don~

 

[pwknapp]

Just got my marine gasket set for the 96 part #3804897. Also got all new head bolts. They were cheap vs stretchin'.

 

[Don M]

Paul,



holler at me when you are ready to do the gasket.



Don~

 

[LRamey]

Has anyone tried or considered Piers copper gasket? They claim it is holding very high boost. I'm going to have to replace mine because it leaks only when I pull hard with propane. If anyone has tried it yet please post any results.

Lonnie

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Originally posted by Mark_Kendrick

GSchlegel,

A head gasket isn't that bad. I'd do it myself If I were you. You could buy the hoist for $300

If you check around any decent sized town should have a place where you can rent engine hoists. I have rented one here at Pasco Rentals 3 times and they are a piece of cake to assemble and work good. I think they are around $30-40 a day.



Vaughn