Howdy. This is my first thread. I've had my DN for about 5 years and it has 86,000 miles on it.

I have a blown head gasket caused by a collapsed lifter which caused the rocker on the #4 cylinder exhaust valve to fall off....that was caused by an engine flush I had done. I have no good reason for the engine flush other than my paranoia due to seeing a TONNE of that white sludge under the oil fill cap....what a mistake that was.

Anyway, I am going to be doing the head gasket job over the coming weeks (months).

I was wondering if anyone had any tips, or had any of the special tools for sale that I could buy?

I would really appreciate any good feedback form someone who has done this job before.

Thanks.
Kevin.

 

Hey Kevin,

That white emulsion under the cap was snot, not sludge. BIG difference caused by oil/air/water mix. There is a TSB and a easy fix to prevent that. It doesn't hurt anything to leave it, it just looks bad.

With that said, look up my post on "snot" and the TSB info will be in there.

Sorry to hear about the busted motor from the flush. Ouch/Sucks! Wish we could have helped just a little sooner.

IndyDurango

 

Before taking on the job ensure you are on #1 TDC compression stroke!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm not sure you flush had anything to do with it. I have a 2003 in my Ram Quad cab and I just started getting a leak in my head gasket at 133,000 and the #4 cylinder is giving me a P0304 error. I have a ticking when the engine is started and cold, but goes away within 3 minutes. It stutters once and a while when I start to take off, and then settles out. I'm thinking of having all the lifters replaced when I have them do the Head Gasket.

 

If you're doing a head gakset replacement and want to do it right all you need really is a good set of tools and a torque wrench of course. I did head gaskets on my 5.2 and it wasn't that bad, I could have gotten it done in 2 days if I wanted to, but the 4.7 is a little more tricky. A service manual or a good memory will be your best tool. And of course you'll need to replace all the other gaskets on the top end as well.

Since you're in there, might as well replace all the valvetrain parts if you have the funds, and do check your heads for cracks or warpage.

 

Holly old thread Batman!!!!!