Here's more evidence of heat! Leading to me thinking the heads are cracked! The ceramic coating on my driverside header is flaking off!

all due to a faulty radiator! Expensive lesson!

 

You have a picture of it? Curious to see that fix

 

When I noticed it cracked. I first called the mechanic and told him I could've cracked the housing for free, ya dumb Fu*#! You can't torque plastic down! I'm not a mechanic and I know that!

So after a good verbal beating! One, I don't take my truck to shops anymore. Unless I absolutely have to! Second, I drove around the corner to the truck junkyard and removed another housing for $20! Replaced it myself! Back when I had money. I didn't want to work on greasey trucks! Paid someone to do it. Until I realized most this work is changing parts! They get 100+ dollars an hour for labor. I can keep a commercial fishing boat run n so what's different about a truck? It's gas and the boat is diesel! Of course, the boat makes me money. This truck just costs me money!

 

Going to put the felpro manifold gaskets on and that white little pin that holds the gasket in place is gone on one end? Now what? Should I be using any silicone on this gasket? Other then the four points on the end gaskets?

 

Yeah, those plastic housings were weak from the start, always leaking, mine did, then I cracked it.. Superseded by the cast aluminum I got from the dealer around 2009. I'm a believer in torque wrenches, most mechanics are believers in their own B.S. That bit of corrosion is just antifreeze losing it's anticorrosive properties due to lack of maintenance. Pitting is strange, once it starts, it is it's own little planet, an electrochemical reaction down inside that hole, no remedy can touch it.
I use that spray red gasket sealer to hold things in place for assembly. Line it all up with a tapered punch if you need to, you won't I'm guessing. Those end gaskets kind of hold it all together. No, FelPro gaskets are the s**t, you won't need anything else.
I don't think you can expect a ceramic coating to have unlimited life. Heat maybe, just normal wear or bad prep, maybe. I'll bet when this is all done, you'll find you had more than one problem.

 

Roger that! I'm sure there was more then one problem? However, I've replaced so many parts. Should've replaced the radiator along with all those parts! It's like not replacing your bilge pump and having your boat sink! $150 is way cheaper then buying a new boat! I was always up on my maintenance. Just neglected the radiator! Which I know is a total bonehead move! For the record, if I destroyed this engine. It won't be the first one! I never had anyone to teach me about this stuff! My Oldman was too busy drink n. So I had to destroy some rigs and boats before I learned! Clearly, still in the learning phase! Kinda important to have coolant in your engine!? Like I said before, I'm a commercial fisherman. I can smell a change in my boat and I can hear a change in the motors. To know something ain't right? This truck never heated up or smelled hot! Sure I would see a puddle of coolant on the ground occasionally so I would check the overflow and fill it accordingly! Never once just put straight water in it. Always 50/50 with distilled water.

Anyways, that little plastic hold down tab I will go to O'Reilly's in the morning and get another one. Killed progress for the day!

 

That's crazy that housing was made of plastic at one time. Dodge plastic I'm sure lol

 

As far as the electrolysis? One thing I learned on a fishing boat? Dissimilar metals don't like eachother! I'm no automobile designer/engineer! But, I know not to put aluminium on steel! It's like using a stainless bolt on aluminium? Why do it? Just asking for trouble!

 

Right? Who's the genius behind that move? I would also like to know who designed that upper intake plenum? What pain in the *** to work around!

 

It's easy to check your injectors as long as you're in there changing your intake and valve cover gaskets.