complete engine overhaul including head gaskets

[Diecorpse]

I also wondered, because I had a bent push rod, and I know the timing is off for that cylinder, is there an easy way to fix it or just keep adjusting it over and over again until it sounds right? I did it before and it took me over an hour.

 

[eagle4g63]

Did you change out the bent push rod? Being mechanical, I can't see the timing being off for just 1 cylinder and not all of them. Anyway, you should only set the valves with the motor off and a feeler gauge. set them to the specs and run the motor(after a rebuild) you will have to check them and readjust if needed after everything seats on the initial run.

 

[Diecorpse]

I will replace the rod after I get my parts and gaskets on there. When I bent a rod before and put the new one in, it didnt sound right. I shut the motor off, pull the rod out, turn the engine over a little, then replace the rod. I tried to eye the valvea to see if they were in sync with the others. The reason the timing for the exhaust/intake was off was because the rod bent, fell off from the valve and was sittin against the block. The rod bent just before my hg blew.

 

[Diecorpse]

I know it sounds confusing but thats the best way I can explain it. I did it by the sync of the valvea and the sound of the motor. If that makes sense.

 

[Dipstick]

Actually, your doing it right by keeping the block in the chassis... He only hadthe block out because he switched from the LDT to the LDS 5 ton motor... Basically the same motor but a lot more pep... TD on the block means you have thick deck heads which is a good thing...

Would like to know lot's more about the LDS swap. I'm just finishing up installing a new Whistler turbo on my LDT.

 

[eagle4g63]

Ok, wanted to put this up. Not saying you don't know how it works, and I don't know how much you do know on a motors workings. This link will show you a camshaft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camshaft

You can see how it works and what it looks like. From this you will be able to understand my saying that you can NOT have just one valve out of time with all the rest. In our motors the camshaft is low and uses push rods, so sitting on the camshaft are lifters(one for every valve) also in our motors they are solid lifters not hydraulic(this is the reason for the valve lash settings) on the lifters sits the push rods, then on them is the rocker which in turn pushes down on the valves.

For you to bend a push rod you have to have something set too tight. So the valve is opening too soon and hitting. You must set the valves according to specs. Don't quote me the spec isn't in front of me right now, but it is something like .010 gap on intake and .015 gap on the exhaust. You can not set valves by eyeballing them with the rest, each valve will open and close as the camshaft dictates. The only other thing that can make it not right is if your camshaft is worn(one of the lobs) but that would only make the valve open less.

 

[Diecorpse]

Ok that makes sense. I know some about motors but I'm still learning. Thanks I appreciate the tip. Thats probably why the same rod bent again cause I didn't have it set right. It probably didn't help when the piston melted, I'm sure with the adjustment being off, the valve met some resistance and that caused my rod to bend. Thanks again for the tip!!

 

[ducer]

Diecorpse,
You may want to send the heads out to be checked. with a piston that melted your engine saw a lot of heat.
1. Have the heads deck checked for straitness.
2. Have the valves removed to make sure none of the seats are dammaged.
3. No warped valves.
4. No sticking valves or bad guides.
5. No worn or bent or broken valve springs.

With 2 bent pushrods out of the same cylinder it would be cheap insurance to have this all checked out by a machine shop. I would bet they find something wrong.

Denny
SASS

 

[Diecorpse]

Yes I have thought about that. My engine got so hot it stalled itself and locked up. I thought she was done for but a couple of days later, it turned over just fine. After I got the heads off I found the melted piston, hunks of metal melted to the head which I was able to scrape off. I was going to sell it to the guy who towed my truck for scrap price, but after a buddy of mine who worked on these trucks told me these motors are built tough and its not junk. I believed he was right so I am fixing it. One of my favorite quotes which came from Henry Ford, "If you think you can, or you think you can't, either way your right, it's the thinking that makes it so." I haved lived by this for a few years now, and every way I look at it with my situations, it pans out to be true. I do thank everyone for their help and ideas, I hope someday I can repay the favor.

 

[SCSG-G4]

Have you come up with new poppet valve push rods yet? As someone said earlier, it's likely that there is something wrong in the head if the same cylinder has bent a push rod twice. BTW, I only have 347 new push rods left, $2.50 each plus the ride, or $25 for a set of 12 plus the ride.

 

[Diecorpse]

What?! Thats it for new push rods?! I would definetly take a set of 12. Let me know where to send the money. 68801 is Grand Island, Nebraska. Not sure what shipping is but let me know. Sounds like a great deal. I can tell you the two times I bent my rods is when the truck overheated. When I beat up mud holes and such with rpms at 2500 I never had a problem. I plan on having the heads inspected for peace of mind. I will post pics of the head' and such were the piston melted and were it went through the exhaust manifold.

 

[Diecorpse]

I have pics where you can see the valves under the head, exhaust manifold, and top view withthe piston still in the engine.

 

[ducer]

Gonna need a new injector and I would not be suprised to find a cracked valve seat or 2. If it were me I would replace the rocker arms on that cylinder also (probably tweaked) and keep an open mind about finding a new head.

Denny

 

[Diecorpse]

Well I'm goin to go clean my parts tomorrow so I will inspect the valves and such. I will remove that injector as well so I can see if it needs replaced. I'm not worried about the exhaust manifold to much but I plan on cleaning it out, at least the turbo seems fine, no metal got that far when I checked. Also got to scrape the old gasket off so I can get stuff ready as my parts come in. I plan on cleaning out the oil pan cause there is a lot of metal chunks in it from that piston. The old oil seemed fine, no metal in it. It all seem to be in the pan. When I get things back together and start it I think I might uses some cheap oil to clean the engine out. I ordered new oil filters but because they are not cheap, I thought about using rolls of tp for oil filters to clean the cheap oil before I drain it and put the good stuff in. Any tips that may be better to clean the motor or using things for filters?

 

[ducer]

Do Not Use Toilet Paper For Filters!!!!!!!
If it seems like I'm yelling at you it is because I am! Use only the recomended filters, NAPA carries them usually. Trust me that injector is junk and may have caused the problem in the first place, it got way too hot. Pull the pan hose everything out with brake clean then put it back together. Make darn sure no metal made it to the turbo. Disassemble oil pump clean it out and check for ware pack the gears full of vasoline (strait vasoline melts fast, has low viscosity and does not run out of pump). Remove and clean oil pressure regulator also.
For peace of mind change the oil filters again and oil after run a while ( to flush out stray antifreeze).

Denny

 

[Diecorpse]

Ok then I won't use tp. I planned on using break clean. I didn't think about using the vasoline in the oil pump, i did plan on using it on the sleeve to easily install it from what I was told. My main concern is the metal chunks so I will be inspecting everything very well when I go to clean it. I will go to napa and get some more filters so I can flush my motor. I already flushed my radiator and plan on doin the motor once I get it running. If I use cheap oil of any kind, just for the flush, I would assume it wouldn't hurt anything since it would be drained after she runs for a while.

 

[Diecorpse]

Also I didn't have no coolant in the oil. When she blew the head gasket and over heated, the lower radiator hose blew even though it did have a tear in it that I repaired with radiator tape but didn't hold to increase pressure. Also the coolant was entering the cylinder and was being burned. Im glad none got in the oil. When I took the heads off, the motor didn't have hardly any coolant left in it.

 

[Diecorpse]

I got my heads back home today, after inspecting them I noticed the melted metal covers both valves and the injector. I also found another broken sleeve as I was pulling the old head gasket off. The ring at the top of the sleeve was broke and didn't notice it until it came up a little as I pulled the gasket off. Looks llike I will have to replace another one. Cleaned my gears on the oil pump. They looked good and shows no signs of wear. I will start cleaning my heads and my oil pan here in a bit. I will take some before and after photos for all to see.

 

[Diecorpse]

Well I got my heads cleaned for the most part. I took a photo of the one where the piston melted to it. I used my angle grinder with a course wire wheel. It took all the metal off after about forty min. I also used the grinder on the oil pan to clean the old gasket off. I sprayed my pan out with carb cleaner since I didn't have break clean. Then I wiped it dry using about 7 rags. I wiped my heads down using an orange citrus cleaner. Worked pretty good gettin all the grime off. They're not super clean but they look much better. I have my gaskets on the way, and going to get the rest of my parts soon. I'm hoping to have my motor reassembled and running in two weeks. Next Monday I got to go and clean the rest of my motor and hopefully everything will be good to go. Also I made a boo boo, When I was taking off my head gasket, I hit my oil dipstick and bent the tube. When I bent it back, it broke at the block. So. . . any ideas how I get the rest of it to turn out of the block? With the crank in the way, it kinda hard to use a screw driver and hammer to tap it to get it to turn out. Thanks.

 

[Diecorpse]

I forgot to mention, the first pic is before I did anything. It was dark when I took the other pics so you might have to zoom in on it. I think it came out well. The valves have small indentations now where the melted metal once was but they are nice and smooth now.