I definitely will!

 

Summit Racing has the pushrods and rocker arms. Do they sell quality parts?

 

Got any photos of the head gaskets and the pistons? If you see a couple of piston tops are different from the others ignore the water pump. Diagnosis is the key now.

 

I think your head is swelling

 

I'll take a pic of the pistons and gaskets. It was hard to get a good look at the gaskets because of all the oil/coolant mix nastiness that were on them after I got the heads off. I wiped them off to look for any alarming discoloration and didn't see any other than one spot where I could tell there had been some deterioration in between two of the cylinders. The machine shop saw the same spot when they initially looked at the heads. I heard back from the shop and they told me the heads are not cracked...just pitted valves and seats. They're going to put new seats in and then I'll get them back. I was secretly hoping for a cracked head so maybe I'd have an answer to the original coolant problem. As far as the appearance of the pistons, they all have the expected amount of carbon deposits but none looked way different than al the others.


So moving forward, I'm going to hope the original problem was caused my a bad head or intake manifold gasket. It'll be a nervous first 100 miles or so after I get this thing put back together and I check coolant levels! Right now, I'm just cleaning everything up as I wait for the heads. I also am putting in new rockers, rods and lifters. Those should arrive in a day or two.


I have question about rocker installation. I've tried to figure out the recommended shimming procedure for the rockers. I have the type you tighten down to a torque spec and that's it. The only available adjustment is to add shims to get the proper preload. I've had trouble finding info on how to achieve zero lash plus a certain preload. Can any of you point me in the right direction concerning this? I also ordered the Haynes engine service book for this specific engine. I know many people have different techniques/philosophies on this stuff and it helps to hear all the different angles! Thanks again for all your help guys!

 

The pre-load is the amount the hydraulic lifter is compressed from the circlip that holds it together. There is a range in which the lifter is compressed correctly. Shimming is done to prevent bottoming the lifter out if the valve stem height increases which in your case can be from the machine shop grinding the valve faces and seats. However I'm sure they are aware of this and they won't "sink" the valves too much. One check is to lay a straight edge across all the stems and they should all be even, with no one valve sticking up much past the others.
So when you install the rockers do it on a cylinder that is at top dead centre on the compression stroke. Torque the rockers down, but as you do that note how the pushrod is loose and then tight as the rocker is tightening. When the pushrod is tight ( can't spin it with your fingers ) continue tightening the rocker and the distance that the pushrod is further pushed into the lifter is the preload. It should be only a turn or a bit less, of the bolt holding the rocker pedestal down.
If all the valve stem heights are the same, and on the one cylinder the pushrod preload is good, then just install the rest and don't worry about it.
I hope the engine repair works out for you!

 

My 97 3.9 had a corroded intake manifold bolt, and the leak did not show up on pressure test when I bought the truck. My mechanic pulled the manifold and replaced all the bolts and installed new gasket. The broken bolt was on the back cylinder on the passenger side and was just barely weeping onto the bell housing where it could not be seen easily.

 

Pull the water pump give it a look may as well be sure that's not it. Your heads are off why not?

 

I'll pull the pump and check for leaks. Right now I'm about to put the heads on. Before I do that, I need to put the new lifters in. There's an oil hole in the side of them. I didn't take note of the position of that hole when I took the old ones out. Does anyone know if the hole goes up or down?

 

After some research, it looks like the hole should go up.