1985 6.2 in a M1010 head question and story ..

[tourus]

Ok so this is kind of long but here it goes.. 85 m1010
so back in late February early march 2015. I put new head gaskets on my 6.2.I got it to start but it smoked real bad. things got a little better after just running it quite hard for a few miles. got it good and hot and " clean it out". so after a few days I decided that I had an injector leaking.. thought that since it over heated caused by the head gasket . so put new 6.5 marine injectors in still smoked bad. going down the road or idling. drive down the road stop at a red light. step on the pedal to get going the cars behind me could not see anything for a mile or two after I got going. well do to life had to keep driving the old girl. so finally made an appointment to have timing check. due to real rough idle and not a lot of power and lots of white smoke. lots of white smoke. and the rich smell of fuel. so get to the shop to have timing reset and checked the guy says that it was not the timing but something with the valve train. IE. broken rocker arm or bent push rod or one of the rocker arm plastic retainer broke or some thing like that OK. drive the truck home got both valve covers off one side had a broken rocker arm and the other had a broke in half push rod. and one of the lifter pushed up and was laying side ways in the engine.
OK so now here is the question?? can a new lifter and retainer be put in with out taken the heads off that side?? 56800 miles on engine.
so what does everyone thing can this be done or not.

 

[cucvrus]

I think you can pull a lifter out without removing the head. that is my thoughts. I have an engine on the floor with the heads off.But I think you can get down in there and pull a lifter with the head on. Survey says?

 

[tourus]

well I hope so I really don't want to pull the head off again uuhhhgggg thanks

 

[cucvrus]

I remember they had a tool back in the day for pulling lifters. Someone else may be able to relate but I saw them and never used one.

 

[nyoffroad]

I remember they had a tool back in the day for pulling lifters. Someone else may be able to relate but I saw them and never used one.

I remember those, it looked like one of those claw/cable type pick up tools except the claws turned out ward to grab inside the lifter. If the lifter popped out of the lifter gallery with the head on the I would say it can go back in the same way.
work smarter not harder!

 

[Skinny]

I would say that if you had that much carnage, I'd venture for a full teardown and inspection. If this is something you rely on or venture far away from home in, you do not need to have the next failure down the road to occur as a result of this one. There is only one way I know of to remedy and it is to inspect, regasket, and ship it on its way. Of course if your truck is just a toy, only do as much work as is necessary to get it running again. Just my opinion.

 

[tourus]

well I guess I am going to try to do this job with out taking the head off I was given the parts from a donor engine. I talk to the gm dealer and they told me that the parts I need are sold in groups only like 8 lifters 8 of the keeps ect. I will keep an update if any one is really interested. I am still kind of amazed that the engine even run as long as it did.

 

[Csm Davis]

well I guess I am going to try to do this job with out taking the head off I was given the parts from a donor engine. I talk to the gm dealer and they told me that the parts I need are sold in groups only like 8 lifters 8 of the keeps ect. I will keep an update if any one is really interested. I am still kind of amazed that the engine even run as long as it did.

Tourus I would want to know what caused the original problem and inspect the cam. I would venture that who ever did the head gasket job didn't set the valves correctly and this caused the damage. Can you change that one lifter and not pull the head? Sure but I would bet money that you have other damage that you can't see. If you paid someone to change those head gaskets then you need to have him fix your engine, if you did it then you probably just learned an expensive lesson. Pull the engine completely down and rebuild and check everything if you ever want to trust the truck to get you somewhere. You valves have hit the pistons and may have bent the rods and valves and might have even busted the pistons, the cam could be cracked and or scared, you stand a good chance of destroying what's left of your motor if you just drop a lifter and pushrod and rocker in and go. Your money and your truck.

 

[scottladdy]

When installing the rocker shafts you must properly position the crank to ensure that the valves don't connect with pistons etc. Procedure is in the TM's. Rotate to TDC then back so many degrees. Only then should you bolt down the rocker shafts.

Also, once torqued down, you should carefully rotate the crank a full 720 degrees by hand to ensure nothing is binding.

 

[tourus]

S O I am ending this thread and question as far as I am concerned .... but I will state that I was able to get the engine back together with out taking the head off... yes it did take some time and thought but I was able to do it.. Now as far as the rest of the comments very much like and took to heart. But I did this job last year and did it just like I just did.. Now I know the reason for the broke push rode was due to over rev. the engine. yes I did the head myself. all the research said bolt and tighten the rocker arm to the right amount . now I did that over a year ago . the head gasket frailer was do to over heating due to a bad radiator not flowing .. so all other research said bolt it down an go. so that is what I am going to do... BUT I was able to get it all done with out taken the head off AGAIN ... thanks for your time and comments...

 

[tourus]

ok so I am going to up date this posting. just because I wanted to.. so I got the truck all back together and running. with the parts I got from a donor engine. able to put the all in with out take the head off again. now the truck runs great no smoke while going down the road.. only a little bit at first start up in the morning out of one side pipe. I have put about 300 miles on it since. and it is running great good and strong. for a 6.2 diesel with the pump turned p and the marine type injectors .. what a good sound to the engine and it is smooth idling and running..