Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Headgasket?

[SBrandon]

Left the local moose lodge the other night and at the second light i noticed steam rolling out from under the hood, looked down and saw the temp was approahing the warm zone ( Im running fanless) so then the light turns green and away we go and so did the temp up up and I shut it down. waited a few and started inspecting, It appeared my overflow bottle was full as it could be and dumping more coolant out its vent. So when cool enough i put the coolant from the overflow into the radiator which almost filled it, and took off. soon after up comes the temp. I have no water in my oil no white smoke no water in my trans fluid, and no loss of noticable power. but after about seven mile of driving it first looses its cab heat and then the temp comes up. I have noticed that the radiator is way overpressured which is why its blowing the coolant out of the system, I tried truning the radiator cap back one click and it still blew the cooland out . :{ Way too much pressure somehow getting into the system so Im thinking the pump is not pumping (pulled belt last night and it feels ok) the thermostat is jammed, or I have a cracked head or blown gaskett. ( a week ago my fan got into my radiator and took it out, didnt notice anything was wrong till redzone, once that was fixed drove fine for a week) Any ideas? Ps excuse the spelling, id use spell check but we dont have that option

 

[SBrandon]

Changed water pump and took out the thermostat today and still getting excessive presser in the cooling sytem, im hoping its just a blown head gaskett. So what is the best gaskett to get and how should I set this up to handle more boost psi, im tippng 35-38 right now.

 

[BrandonF]

first you need to figure out how far you want to go with your truck so you only have to do your headgasket once. Once you figure that out then post it. If you will NEVER go over 40 lbs boost or you plan to add twins.

that is the first thing you need to decide.

 

[SBrandon]

No more than 50 psi.

 

[Snow man]

Any more than 40psi,and you will need to do something non stock. I Would o ring if you intend to go to 50 . You may get lucky for a while and get by with a stock gasket at 50,but an o ring job now is cheaper than doing it again,and a proper o ring job is very reliable at 50psi. Also the head needs to be within . 002 for good seal. Trucks with stock boost levels can get away with much more.

 

[BrandonF]

o-ringing is old news. You want to fire ring. Haisleymachine or Piers in Canada is a good place to start. Where are you located? You can rent a tool to do the fire rings from Piers if you are going to do it yourself. You get the fire rings from haisley machine.

danelle

 

[Snow man]

O ringing may be old,but so is the P pump,you dont see everyone running to put a vp44 on a pumped truck. Ive had both. and for 50psi the o-r ring is better by far. The fire ring requires everything to be 100% perfect,and usually it is not the case,also you are off by . 001 on the cuts(very easy to do) you can either throw the block/head away or hope you can get oversized rings/or cut the head/block to get it back. Fire rings have there place,i dont think this truck needs them. Im running an o ring at 65-70psi,with no problems at all. I blew 2 fire ring sets,(both my fault),it was a costly mistake,cost me an engine. Also keep in mind,If you go with o- rings and want to "upgrade" later you can cut a fire ring right over an o ring. Once you fire ring you are committed,and cant ever go back.

 

[TrqMonster]

Could someone please explain the difference between the two as now I am confused to what the difference is. My truck is at Scheids now and is supposed to be Fire-ringed I thought. They are cutting grooves in the block. Dan Scheid explained to me but I guess I am confused. My block is level as they checked it and my head was machined down to be level. My understanding was that there was not a significant difference. Thanks for any input.

 

[Snow man]

There is a big difference. With an o ring you arer using the stock fire ring on the head gasket,just crushing it with more pressure from a wire ring protruding form the head/block. ,the fire ring is a separate ring installed in a head gasket that has had the stock ring water jetted out. A receiver groove is usually cut in both the block and head to accep the fire ring,and locate it,although it can go fully in either the block or head as well. If everything is right,and a good shop is doing the work,the fire rings are usually fine,as is the o ring. .