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Head Gasket or Boiling Coolant? Need advice

6K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  Fanman43 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Hello
normal this is the head gasket, i had the exact same problem month before and changed the head gasket last Wekend, and also put arp studs in the head
when i had the head removed i can see a tiny spot where the exhoust gases leak into the coolant passages,

now i had no problems more

did the upper radiator hose are solid when your engin is operating temperure?, mine is now never solid/hard
also not when its about 180-190°

greats from austria

kevin
 
#3 ·
Update: Did a compression test on all 6 cylinders last night, Cylinder 5 seemed to be the problem child. all other cylinders were above 400 (Which is max on my tester) and cylinder 5 was at ~345 PSI.

No blow by at any temperature, just a slow bubble into the overflow bottle and coolant hose is pressurized. I am now sure i have a HG leak.

I took it to my local shop, I am getting a Mahle gasket set and ARP 425 head studs. shop quote is a little over $2500 (US) for some reason the quote doesn't include resufacing the head. so it will be higher. Likely $500 higher. Thanks all.
 
#4 ·
Fanman43, please consider installing the Fleece Coolant Bypass to eliminate future issues on Cyl 4,5,6.. this will give you a much better temp distribution on cooling.
 
#8 ·
That was a ton of information that I was not expecting to get! I VERY MUCH appreciate it! Thank you!

As for getting it, I think I might in the future. I dont tow all that often - if at all anymore - my truck is not a competitive racer by any means, but I do beat on the poor thing from time to time. Never really anything above 3000 RPM (which is still too high for it.... I'll admit) I currently have a 180* Thermostat. I had to replace the other one because it got stuck open. but it's got the stock charger on it and I'm pretty sure I don't go above 25ish.... I dont have a gauge....

I can agree with your line of thinking though. I can relate to such a mindset.


One thing I have noticed is that it doesnt start to bubble until it's up to temp While it's warming up or just making a short trip to the parts store and back (not even a mile) it either doesnt bubble at all or will send a very slow bubble. After I've driven for more than a mile or two it will bubble but not violently. (Like displayed in my video which was taken after a 60 mile drive)
 
#9 ·
The bubbling in your video did not look as violent or aggressive as the bubbling I had. To possibly save you a few thousand, take an oil sample and send it in to confirm if there's any coolant in your oil (like I had).
 
#11 ·
A bit difficult but not impossible. Best advice is take the directions seriously and make sure the truck is cooled down. Completely. Like, cold. Some coolant is going to come out so if i had to do it again I'd try harder to drain a lot more of it. I found a hint to use a bunch of 3/8" extensions to get at the freeze plug to rotate it and it worked once I got it lined up, which was an adventure in and of itself. Woulda been easier with the exhaust off, but I left it in place... never been accused of being the brightest crayon in the box.
 
#12 ·
@Fanman43 if you're getting a foot in it pretty regularly, I'd highly recommend you pick up a set of gauges. Lots of folks on here (myself included) are big fans of the edge cts and cts2 because of all the parameters it can monitor via the obd2 port - it's not exactly cheap, but it's impossible to pick up analog gauges to monitor all that stuff for anywhere near that price. Most critical IMHO are boost, EGT, and trans temp. Keep in mind that these are factory sensor probes though, which are known for being acceptable but not what you'd call scientifically precise. Rail pressure can be an indicator of not only injection pump issues but also potential lift pump issues. You'll need a pyro probe to monitor actual EGT as opposed to one of the factory sensors in the exhaust post-turbo. Flopster makes a plug and play harness to keep an eye on drive pressure that plugs in to an expandable accessory harness you can get for the edge, and it's amazingly accurate. High drive pressure is bad for these engines especially on stock head bolts.
 
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#13 ·
I want to get gauges but it's been a matter of need VS want. Lately I've had to fix the needed instead of installing the wanted. :/ u-joints, ball joints, TIPM, and now head gasket...
 
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#14 ·
I'm pretty sure my truck is already set up with a boost gauge off the HS Intake horn, for either a HS programmer or cts2. But I haven't messed with it too much.
Do the 3rd gen 6.7s already have all the probes you're talking about? I didn't think they monitor all that from factory on the 3rd gens
 
#15 ·
Everything I've tried to monitor with my CTS has been able to pull directly from the OBD port, with the exception of the drive pressure. And that's not due to the truck not monitoring it, but rather the CTS not reading it. EGT can't be monitored pre-turbo, because the truck doesn't have a pyro probe there. The truck does monitor exhaust pressure at a few locations for the stock emissions if you're not deleted yet, and also has three stock pyrometers probes in the exhaust. But they're mounted behind the stock cat in the down pipe, behind the DPF, and behind the NOx filter. They're helpful as a guideline to monitor over time, but not terribly useful to tell you what's really going on in real time with anything except that individual filter.
 
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#16 · (Edited)
Update: Even though every shops around me seems to be offering about the same price for a full HG repair... I think my wallet is telling me that I need to do it myself as labor alone for most shops is over $1200 dollars... I have been looking online and have found a few head gasket sets that I like but I think I will be going with a company that I know (Garafalo Enterprises) to source the gasket set and use a local ma and pa shop to resurface the head for me. or go the real ghetto route and get some sand paper and glass! (More of joke there) I'm still a couple of months out before I can get everything I need together and you will likely see me bringing up old posts on HG repairs and walk throughs as I attempt this on my own.

Special thanks to @el_pozzinater for the advice and info.

Thanks all!
 
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#17 ·
Pulling the head yourself is actually a fairly easy job... As long as you have an engine hoist ! Sucker is heavy !
 
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