Please help- Potential Head gasket

[Marsh]

New to this Forum.
I have been trying to determine if my HG is bad or not and looking for some thoughts. Here are my current symptoms. Truck has Heat, Temps are normal around 190ish. But my coolant level in overflow never goes up when hot. My upper radiator hose gets very hard when up to temp and radiator cap has a lot of pressure when I open it and overflows. After truck cools down overnight there is a little pressure under cap when I open and I will hear it bubble a little.

I have replaced radiator cap, thermostat and just eliminated the EGR cooler. Prior to its current state. I had no heat and radiator was about 1 1/2 gallon's low. I added coolant with vent tube open and have burped system many times.

My problem is pressure just seems to keep building in radiator and does not go into overflow. Anyone have ideas or is this a sign HG is bad? Thank you in advance!

 

[bigblock_doc]

I had the same problem. Warped head, gasket is a multi-layer steel so really shouldn't go bad.
Ram dealer hit me for $4,500, 3,500 for the head and the rest for labor.
You can buy the head from Cummins for $1,600.
No one in my area would mill it, as it is too big etc.
Try to find a machine shop that can handle the job, will be a lot cheaper.
I filled a complaint with Chrysler about price gouging and got $1,500 back
from them.

 

[Bob4x4]

New to this Forum.
I have been trying to determine if my HG is bad or not and looking for some thoughts. Here are my current symptoms. Truck has Heat, Temps are normal around 190ish. But my coolant level in overflow never goes up when hot. My upper radiator hose gets very hard when up to temp and radiator cap has a lot of pressure when I open it and overflows. After truck cools down overnight there is a little pressure under cap when I open and I will hear it bubble a little.

I have replaced radiator cap, thermostat and just eliminated the EGR cooler. Prior to its current state. I had no heat and radiator was about 1 1/2 gallon's low. I added coolant with vent tube open and have burped system many times.

My problem is pressure just seems to keep building in radiator and does not go into overflow. Anyone have ideas or is this a sign HG is bad? Thank you in advance!

Fairly common problem on 6.7's with a programmer,vendors should make delete kit/programmer buyers aware of the down sides as well as the benefits.Pull the head,check the deck surface.I have seen may that the deck was still fine.Do not continue to drive it the way it is-the repair cost will only go up

 

[NIsaacs]

There will always be pressure under the cap when the engine is hot. The overflow tank/bottle will not change much under normal operating temps. I don't see a problem based on what you say. If the head gasket was bad there would be no doubt.

Nick

 

[Marsh]

There will always be pressure under the cap when the engine is hot. The overflow tank/bottle will not change much under normal operating temps. I don't see a problem based on what you say. If the head gasket was bad there would be no doubt.

Nick

This is exactly what I think to. However everyone on other forums says its my HG. Your the first one to say it's normal. What would be a good test you would recomend or something to check and tell me its not the HG or head?

This diesel shop I took it to put this rubber stopper on my radiator cap with hose coming out of it running into a clear bottle. And then he pinched off the hose going to overflow tank. truck was hot and I had coolant and air bubbles going into the clear bottle.(this was before I removed EGR cooler) He told me it was the HG. I am not sure that test makes sense because wouldnt the pressure from heat just push the coolant out and that would be normal? How much Pressure is normal when you open cap when hot? It seems to have a lot, and it will overflow. Thanks for your help!!

 

[NIsaacs]

Everything you say is normal. There will always be a lot of pressure in the radiator with a hot engine (normal operating temp). If the head gasket was bad you would have water everywhere, bottle overflowing and on the ground. You could not drive it. Under normal conditions, the bottle will not change over an inch or two from overnight cold to normal hot.

As far as your coolant being low before you worked on it could be for any number of reasons. The way I understand you the radiator is full and stays full, right, and the bottle is at the cold full mark when cold?

Nick

 

[Beast2B]

you could have the oil and coolant samples tested. that should help confirm any contamination.
also, when it is under pressure, can you get any air escaping from the vent screw? maybe do this after a couple hours of cool down time to prevent extreme hot!

 

[Marsh]

you could have the oil and coolant samples tested. that should help confirm any contamination.
also, when it is under pressure, can you get any air escaping from the vent screw? maybe do this after a couple hours of cool down time to prevent extreme hot!

Where would I go to get those tested? Also If I get air to escape from vent screw after it was hot. Is that a bad sign?

 

[NIsaacs]

A sample is if you were worried about something you can't see, such as fuel in the oil. Water in the oil or oil in the water is obvious to the naked eye. There would only be some air if the engine block was not quite full of coolant, not a bad sign.

Nick

 

[Marsh]

A sample is if you were worried about something you can't see, such as fuel in the oil. Water in the oil or oil in the water is obvious to the naked eye. There would only be some air if the engine block was not quite full of coolant, not a bad sign.

Nick

Thanks NIsaacs for all your help! I was prepared to spend 3200 on a new HG and you may have saved me!! Your the only one that has told me it normal to have a lot of pressure in radiator. Now that my EGR cooler is gone do you think that was reason my coolant was low. If that was not where it was loosing coolant where else is a common area to loose coolant?

 

[NIsaacs]

Do you keep an eye on your coolant level or watch for spots in the parking lots? Has any work been done on the truck where the system may not have been completely filled? If the leak is slow, sometime they can be hard to find, it's like the hot engine can evaporate a small seep, yet over time add up. Look for any coolant color when the engine is cold, most times it is easier to find. Some places to check are water pump, hoses, radiator and even the head gasket can develop an external leak, not related to excess pressure in the radiator tho, provided the system is not so low that it is running hot. Use a good flashlight when you look, even in daylight, there are shadows that can hide a leak.

Nick

 

[Marsh]

Do you keep an eye on your coolant level or watch for spots in the parking lots? Has any work been done on the truck where the system may not have been completely filled? If the leak is slow, sometime they can be hard to find, it's like the hot engine can evaporate a small seep, yet over time add up. Look for any coolant color when the engine is cold, most times it is easier to find. Some places to check are water pump, hoses, radiator and even the head gasket can develop an external leak, not related to excess pressure in the radiator tho, provided the system is not so low that it is running hot. Use a good flashlight when you look, even in daylight, there are shadows that can hide a leak.

Nick

I did have the coolant flushed about 5 weeks before I had symptoms of no heat and temp. spikes, when I added coolant got my heat back but then seemed like I was building to much pressure in radiator. I will be keeping a close eye on everything and get a good look at the areas you mentioned. Thanks again for all your help!!

 

[NIsaacs]

You are welcome, make sure the overflow bottle is at the cold full mark on the first start of the day. That is the only way you can completely fill the closed system. As the system cools down overnight it creates a vacuum and fills itself from the bottle, until it is full. It might take a few times of adding to the full mark before it stays full.

Nick

 

[NIsaacs]

I did have the coolant flushed about 5 weeks before I had symptoms of no heat and temp. spikes,

This is a sure sign of what no doubt started your problems. I think most dealerships will have a fill system machine to fill your system, if they used it. An independent shop probably don't have one so they fill it old school. However, some mechanics just don't have a clue what is going on with the fill process and don't do it right. 1.5 gallons low is about right for a dumb bell tech, a good one will get it full except for the final quart, that takes a couple of overnight cool down cycles and the owner to top off. The tech needs to advise the customer of this.

Whatever you do, don't mess with the radiator cap. Anytime you open it, you mess up the pressure/vacuum cycle. Also don't let the bottle go empty, if it does, the cool down cycle will suck in air and you add problems. Good luck!

Nick

 

[sag2]

NIsaacs is correct. They didn't open the vent on top of the EGR cooler and the air pocket made the cooler overheat and crack internally. If your still worried stop by a good Napa store and purchase a "block check" kit. They are way less than a HG and will tell you if hydrocarbons are getting into the cooling system, But based on your description I also think it's fine.

 

[Bob4x4]

Normal block check kits designed for gassers rarely will show a problem on a diesel,I have been told Ford has a chemical that will work on diesels

 

[rashwor]

I have had a similar experience with my 5.9. Had a simple wrench-turner change my leaking water pump. Supplied coolant for the refill. Got it home (2 miles) and didn't have any heat in the cab. Heat was on, but only cold air was coming out the vents. Engine coolant temp was showing cold after the drive. Parked the truck and let it set for a while. Overflow coolant bottle still had coolant in it up to the full cold mark. Opened the radiator after it cooled down. Took 1 1/2 gallon of coolant to fill the radiator. After this, coolant temp and heat operated as they should. I was #@$%! Now appears that there was no permanent damage, but I am very glad I caught it when I did.

 

[Marsh]

I have had a similar experience with my 5.9. Had a simple wrench-turner change my leaking water pump. Supplied coolant for the refill. Got it home (2 miles) and didn't have any heat in the cab. Heat was on, but only cold air was coming out the vents. Engine coolant temp was showing cold after the drive. Parked the truck and let it set for a while. Overflow coolant bottle still had coolant in it up to the full cold mark. Opened the radiator after it cooled down. Took 1 1/2 gallon of coolant to fill the radiator. After this, coolant temp and heat operated as they should. I was #@$%! Now appears that there was no permanent damage, but I am very glad I caught it when I did.

Wow yeah sounds a lot like what I had happen. Except I drove for like a month because a shop told me I had a bad blend door and wanted $900 just to remove the dash and check it. So glad didn't do that! The whole time it was just low on coolant. That shop was trying to rob me by saying they fixed blend door and all they were probably going to do is fill my coolant.

 

[sag2]

I doubt they were trying to rob you, they don't sound bright enough to think up that one.