Going to be doing a headgasket on my ram2500 5.9 gas. Some people on here may remember providing some very helpful info on the motor swap i did about 7 years ago. Motor has about 50k on it now days. Most recently i did my own at home install of electric fans an needless to say it didnt work out, my engine was constantly changing tempatures over heating an getting so cold the heat wouldnt work. Which leads me to believe it ate up the headgasket overheating due to finding a whit milky substance on the oil cap an the oil not being as black as usual as well as thin. Very hopeful the heads didnt get warped i will take them in for the hell of it to be resurfaced.
I thought it would be a good idea to ask for any helpful tips on doing this job, like i said i put it together 7 years ago so my memory is a little fuzzy without doing much mechanical work myself lately.

something i am aware of already- new intake bolts,fuel sync,coolant an oil change. When i did the motor i purchase new heads so im pretty confidant these one wont be cracked.

thanks in advance!!

 

Is your issue as simple as a bad/stuck open thermostat? I'm running a 195 degree Stant Superstat and the temperature gauge sits right around 195-200 all of the time.

 

Ya know now that you mention i think it very well could have been. I discovered that switching back to a mechanical fan my thermo housing was a rusted out. but i continued on with doing away with electric so i could never say for sure. But since you brought it up i think that was the culprit. It is my guess when i had a shop do the water pump for me they mixed coolants which caused the coolant to become "corrosive".

 

So i dug into the engine tonight got down under the intake an popped the valve covers an discovered some milky substance under the valve covers pretty convinced the head gasket is bad. Gonna pull heads tomorrow after work.
A couple videos i watched said i would not be able to rip up the intake with just brute force it would need to be pryed up to break the seal to the engine... well i was able to just pop my intake off with minimal effort.
Should i be concerned the seal wasnt good enough?
What steps should i take to insure a good seal on the intake, i believe i seen something about silicone on the corners of the intake years ago?

 

Yes there are points to put silicone. Also when you rebuilt did you re use intake bolts? Many say they are torque to yield so maybe you got a false torque the first time?

 

Use good gaskets! Did you do this with the head gaskets the first time?

 

New intake bolts torqued to spec, i remember doing that pretty well as that was the reason i bought an in lb torque wrench. Planned on buying new bolts this time as well. Where are the points to put a little silicone?

i would have to double check my reciepts but i believe i used fel pro for everything. Is that a good gasket?
a friend of mine had mentioned using copper seal (i think it was) on the mating surfaces to insure the heat gasket set up correctly or i guess got a better seal?

 

Fel Pro gaskets are fine. Should have no issues with them. Might want to silicone around the front and rear of the intake manifold (on the block) instead of using the provided intake end rail silicone seals, which may cause the intake to sit up too high for the intake gaskets to properly seal.

I learned the hard way once about the intake sitting up too high when using those silicone end rail seals. Thought I had the intake installed correctly and noticed coolant pouring into the oil/oil pan due to the intake manifold not sealing properly with the intake gaskets. Never made that mistake again!

 

Indeed, using RTV on the china walls actually works better than the gaskets. Run a fairly thick bead, let it cure for 15 to 30 minutes so it skins over good, then set the manifold STRAIGHT down onto it. (cut the heads off a couple intake bolts, and use them as guides.) Also, a thin layer of rtiv on both sides of the gasket around the water passages as well.

 

Good information. Thank you.
i believe when i installed the engine years ago i did not use the provided gasket either an went with just silicone. I really like using old bolts as quides.
there are 2 coolant passages in the front of the engine that go thru the intake i also did the silicone there last time like heyyou said. What about the 2 spots on the rear of engine that coolant comes into the spot that is blocked off at the rear of intake mani? Should i put a little silicone there as well?