Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Replacing head gasket questions

[GAmes]

I'm losing a little coolant from a tiny leak below the thermostat housing, less than a pint per 5000 miles. A mechanic at Cummins NW told me that it would do no harm but after a recent post by OTRPU I've become nervous about it and have decided to change it.



1. I've talked to other owners who have had the same problem. Is there a better gasket available from someone else?



2. Anyone have a good source for the gasket kit?



3. The manual says to remove the injectors. Why?



TIA, Gary

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Answers.



1. Yes



2. Marine gasket from Cummins... . you pick the thickness stock, . 010 over or . 020 over



3. Because if you lay the head down on the bench you will bend the injector tips... ... . pull them out!



If your wanting to pull the head for that little bit of coolant your bored, not that hard of a job but the head weights 130 lbs.



Jim

 

[GAmes]

Not bored..........scared

Jim,



I've seen (and paid for) the damage water does to alum pistons. Although I haven't been in the business as long as a lot of guys I still drive over 3000 miles a week and with winter approaching I'm not crazy about the prospect of being stranded somewhere, far from home, with a cooked engine. The weather in Tx is still not bad, so now is the time to do the repair in an unheated garage.



I'm assuming the 10 and 20 over gaskets are for heads that have to be shaved a little. By chance do you have part numbers?

 

[PUMPERDUDE]

#3283335 is stock

#3283337 is . 010 thicker

#3283339 is . 020 thicker



Do you have the link or title to that post by OTRPU?Thanks

 

[GAmes]

It was in towing, hauling and RV forum a couple weeks ago. Anyone pulling commercially was the thread name. Said he blowed the Ram up. The head gasket failed allowing water into the cylinders. Thus I am nervous about mine.



Thanks for the part numbers.

 

[hsmith]

Originally posted by GAmes

It was in towing, hauling and RV forum a couple weeks ago. Anyone pulling commercially was the thread name. Said he blowed the Ram up. The head gasket failed allowing water into the cylinders. Thus I am nervous about mine.



Thanks for the part numbers.

Welcome back to Texas.

Don't know how serious a problem yours is. Mine has a minute seepage in the area of the t-stat. Am not worring about it at this time. When the time comes I will go with the marine version gasket.

have done a couple of upgrades since we last visited. The old truck may run as good as yours now.

The head gasket repair is not an easy repair. You will need to allow plenty of time and patience.



Good to see you back on the site.



Smitty

 

[JJW_ND]

For you procrastinators...

My 96 start leaking a little coolant around the Thermostat housing area. Tried a few Tstat gaskets and finally determine the leak was the headgasket. I would only leak much when pulling hard (hotshotting stock trailers at the time). I had been pulling oil samples every 6K and continued which showed NO antifreeze getting into the engine oil. I continued to have the small seep for over 90K miles. Oil sampling never showed antifreeze issues.



WHen I finally had the gasket changed you could see the area the gasket let loose was all external.



I have read of atleast dozens 96-97 trucks with gasket leaks (very slow) around the headgasket area. I would guess most if not all of these are external leaks.



I added about 2 gallons in those 90K miles.



Grab a oil sample or two for piece of mind. The standard replacement Cummins gaskets are now the better Marine gasket. If you have lots of miles a good head resufacing to get everything flat is probably a good idea. Use the . 010 or . 020 over gaskets like Jim mentioned.



jjw

ND

 

[PUMPERDUDE]

Same here. Been seeping right there for a long time. 50k miles or so... . It cant wait anymore though. Started getting some blowby problems and the coolant reserve level has been creeping up. Hope its just the gasket. Fingers crossed.

 

[NBowlin]

copper

how much do the copper head gasquets go for?

thanks

 

[SMorneau]

Mine seeped for awhile and I put in about 1/2 the amount of Barrs leak that was recommended on the package and it stopped. Last spring I flushed the system and replaced the antifreeze. It started seeping again about 25,000 miles later. I put in about 1/4 of the recommended amount of Barrs Leak and its seems to have stopped, although it took awhile to stop up. I would use this stuff sparingly because I found quite a bit of it in my overflow tank when I flushed it last time. It doesn't seem to take much to stop the seeping.



To date I show no signs of coolant in my oil. I talked to a tech at Cummins and he was not concerned with the leak which he said was pretty common. Someday I will get an O-ring job, I mean head gasket



Cummins tech looked up the standard repair time and it was 6. 2 hrs.

 

[dpuckett]

Re: For you procrastinators...

Originally posted by JJW-ND

If you have lots of miles a good head resufacing to get everything flat is probably a good idea. Use the . 010 or . 020 over gaskets like Jim mentioned.

I had 255K on my early 91 last summer when I finally got around to replacing the HG. Head was within . 002 of flat; well within spec. Thus, a regrind may not be necessary. If you plan to BOMB, get a . 010 or . 020 over gasket- lower compression ratio.

Daniel

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Re: copper

Originally posted by NBowlin

how much do the copper head gasquets go for?

thanks

I have read somewhere that a copper head gasket might not be the way too go. They might have sealing problems. ?

 

[BrandonF]

copper head gasket

Brandon hasn't had any problems with his copper head gasket sealing. Have quite a few hooks on it now too.



danelle

 

[GAmes]

Re: Re: For you procrastinators...

Originally posted by dpuckett

If you plan to BOMB, get a . 010 or . 020 over gasket- lower compression ratio.

Daniel

OK, I'll bite, why would I want a lower compression ratio?