Gasket kit will come with a new seal no matter which flavor you get. Might just as well put it in.... They are easy to remove/install. (with the cover off the engine....)

Gasket kit will also come with a new water pump gasket. You have to take all the bolts that hold the pump to the cover out anyway, might just as well put the new gasket in there as well. You can still use the old pump. That way, you would be sure to NOT have to take the pump back off again, to re-seal it anyway.

 

 

Y'all are awesome. Thanks for all the help! I'll probably have more question as the weekend goes!

 

Save some money and get a descent brand of 7mm wires and route the according to the TSB. http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1998/18-48-98/18-48-98-v8.htm


Adjust your rear brakes also. Get a Haynes "AND" download one of the free manuals from the FAQ/DIY section. And if you are doing a tune up, get a PCV from the dealer, and check your plenum in the proper manner.

 

i wouldn't do that. remove the water pump. clean the surfaces and inspect it. install the timing cover. then re-install WP with a new gasket and a very light new coat of RTV. if the water pump bypass hose is not pretty new, replace it. because the long bolts go all the way through the water pump and timing cover and into the block as one piece, there's too much risk of cracking a gasket or seal at the water pump-timing cover seam.


yes. one will come in the timing cover gasket set. provided there is no terrible groove in your crankshaft, buy the standard seal and gasket, not the SLEEVE/seal and gasket.

 

Thought I'd update this thread. I've got all my parts in now except the plenum plate, but it will be here tomorrow. Made a lot of progress so far. I've got the whole front of the engine off and the intake as well. Check out my lifter valley pictures. I used my shop vac and vacuumed out as much sludge as I could. Is there anything else I can do to clean that area up better? I'm going to put the timing chain on and new water pump and button her up this weekend. Also doing the valve cover gaskets and I think I'll put some blue loctite on the bolts. I'm thinking red loctite is too much. Ideas?

http://s1243.photobucket.com/albums/...ano/?start=all

 

if you had any gasket debris in the lifter valley that you didn't get out - with oil drained and drain plug removed and catch pan in place, flush the lifter valley with about a gallon or two of diesel fuel. (NOT GAS) this will wash it out. allow to drain and inspect the drainage for debris.

just don't rotate the engine with timing chain off. remove the old, put on the new, don't rotate it and nothing can go wrong.

a dab of blue thread locker or rtv on valve cover bolts is fine. don't use the high strength stuff.

also seal the long water pump/timing chain bolts with rtv, as they go into the water jackets. same with t-stat cover.

the felpro rubber valve cover gaskets are very nice. i put some on 5 years ago and they've never leaked a drop.

 

nice pics, repost them in-line for us lazy people.

are you going to replace your distributor cap and rotor. now would be a very good time.

your engine has a lot of nasty sludge in the lifter valley. if its not had regular oil changes in its past life, do them regularly from here on. if the valve covers have that build up on them, scrape/clean them before reinstalling.

 

Sorry about that! Here are the pictures.









I've had the truck since 2003 and I have always changed the oil every 3000 miles and used good quality oil. These pictures are after I vaccumed the crap out of the valley!!!! I guess the truck wasn't taken care of too well before me. There for a while I was using synthetic, but now I'm using straight dyno oil. I'm definitley doing the cap a rotor. Hardiest part so far has been cleaning all the gasket material off. I didn't snap a single bolt taking the intake off, boy was I proud! I'm going to blue loctite just about every bolt I come across and RTV as well. I don't want any leaks! I got the Fel Pro Valve Cover gaskets and they are nice but kind of $$$$. They better not leak!

 

How do you get all the diesel fuel out after that and do you use a wire brush or anything to help clean it out?