hello again fellas, while under my truck fixing my axle and replacing a welded diff with one that isnt ive realized that my head gasket on the pass side is blown. **** MY LIFE! it never ends for me with this damn truck. i know ive been losing coolant slowly somewhere, but didnt realize it was the head gasket cause i was also dripping from the bottom radiator hose. put a new clamp on the hose and thought that was that but now that it is on jack stands and nose up higher than the bed it is very slowly dripping from the head area down where the tranny meets the engine. but i also see some fluid by the crank pulley so i guess im just going to have to drop another cpl hundred bucks on parts and fix all this **** now. i guess my question is how much of a bitch is it to do the head gaskets? is there any other parts i should replace while im that far into the engine? its a 5.9 gas and i plan on doing all the upper gaskets and water pump. anything else recomended? im far from rich, probably closer to homeless so i cant afford to dpend a whole lot more on this pig. thanks for the info and listening to me rant and bitch about my truck!

 

its time intensive, but not too bad.

You'll need an intake manifold gasket kit for about $33, manifold bolts as they are torque to yield, and a new head gasket at the very least. You can reuse the head bolts if you are careful to put them back in the exact same place. New are recommended, but if the budgets tight, you can reuse them.

The absolute most important 2 steps are to clean the head and deck surfaces thoroughly, but not with anything that will scratch the surface, like a wire wheel
I'd use a sponge with the scratchy back on it.

The second step is to torque it down in at least two steps and the correct sequence, and then keep checking the bolts every 15 minutes to see if they'll take any more torque. The last time I did mine, they kept taking torque for about an hour and a half.

If you've never been that deep into the engine, get a haynes or chilton manual, and a buddy to help. Give yourself a weekend to do it, too.

 

Timing chain and gears. Reseal the front cover as well.

You might want to simply replace the heads, rather than just change gaskets.... these heads are notorious for cracking.... and new, better design, units can be had for about 270 a pop. The obviates the need to have any machine work done on them... Which, if you have them off, would be a VERY good idea anyway.....

 

I would do some more investigating as to where the leaking is actually coming from. Could be freeze plugs or tstat housing, bypass hose, temp sensor , intake or timing cover gasket. Lots of possibilities before jumping to a conclusion.

 

stop.

as zman said, determine where your leak is. unless you have coolant in the oil, or coolant in the exhaust, or little/no compression on a cylinder, then your going to feel really stupid when you pull the heads and find nothing wrong except a bad water pump, timing cover (around the wp water channels), or freeze plugs.

if you have coolant around the crank pulley, its probably the water pump which is directly overhead of it.

 

i figured as much about the waterpump, but i will check the freeze plugs and the sensors more closely tomorrow when im back out there again. i have a manual and the download from here on the site, and ive been that deep on engines, just not this one. how awsome is my life!

 

You should get the surfaces machined, it doesn't cost much and will save you a headache.

Though it isn't 100% a neccasity like it is when dealing with aluminum block and iron heads or vice-versa, its still a good idea.

 

And make the already thin decks thinner? I would rather put the money toward better heads......