Well blew another head gasket :(

[MarcusOReallyus]

Fancy t-stats are an invitation to trouble.

 

[Drock]

Thanks guy's, so here's where I'm at with this. I installed the heads in April and have put about 20,000 miles on sense. Saturday night I pulled off the highway to fill up and it belched coolant out. The temp spiked quickly to 230 degrees when I shut the truck off, but settled down as soon as I started moving again. Next morning I refilled the Rad with the coolant from the recovery tank. After this the truck takes forever to warm up and only reaches 190 degrees and starts to overfill the recovery tank. I also thought it was a stuck thermostat, so I replaced it and purged the system using a purge funnel, still no joy. So today I bought a new radiator cap *(this is where it gets interesting)*. (With the truck cold) If I squeeze the upper radiator hose, coolant with squirt into the recovery tank? Is this normal? A while back I did have an issue with this China made aluminum radiator and the cap not fitting tight to the top of the flange. So I'm wondering if the same thing is happening now, but with the lower part of the flange?

 

[Chaski]

I went outside and gave the top hose a squeeze on the 6.2. With the overflow hose removed I got an audible click from the radiator cap, a drip or five out of the nipple at the neck then nothing.

I have one one of those fancy Stant caps with the lever on it and a cheap import aluminum radiator.

 

[sneekyeye]

I've got a new radiator and a stant cap with the lever. When i squeeze my upper hose, I get no fluid into the recovery tank, and a tight hose. You may just need a proper radiator cap.
The boiling point of a fifty fifty coolant mix is around 220f or so. So if you don't have any pressure raising the boiling point of your coolant mix, your coolant may have been boiling if it did indeed reach 230. Fix your radiator cap problem so it will hold pressure on your system and I bet you won't have any more trouble. Unless of course something got damaged from high temps.

 

[Drock]

Well drove the truck this morning, still not getting up to temperature as it should. Just checked it tonight, recovery tank was slap full and had bin pushing coolant out. Upper radiator hose was hard as a rock, and when I removed the radiator cap it released a burst of air. I have one more thing I can think of to try as mentioned earlier, and that's check to see if the water pump is moving coolant. Tomorrow I'll pull the upper radiator hose and see if what I get. ... I'm open to any idea's.

 

[rustystud]

First off, "porkysplace" is correct. You never use any sealer on Fel-Pro head gaskets. That being said I would get your engine up to temperature or as close as possible and then pressure test it. With it hot any cracks will be opened up and you will find the problem pretty fast.

 

[rustystud]

Well drove the truck this morning, still not getting up to temperature as it should. Just checked it tonight, recovery tank was slap full and had bin pushing coolant out. Upper radiator hose was hard as a rock, and when I removed the radiator cap it released a burst of air. I have one more thing I can think of to try as mentioned earlier, and that's check to see if the water pump is moving coolant. Tomorrow I'll pull the upper radiator hose and see if what I get. ... I'm open to any idea's.

It sounds like your cap is working since it had pressure behind it. That just leaves a crack somewhere. Either the heads or block. You might luck out and find the water pump is bad.

 

[dependable]

Maybe time to invest in coolant system tester. I just got a Stant 270 12207 used on ebay for $45 (new they are around $150). Stock adapter w set fits CUCVs. There are a couple other good brands, for sale all the time used, or you can get shiny new imported one for similar price(not what I'd recommend). Anyway, it is a handy tool when you have questions like yours, pump it up to 10 or so PSI, see if it drains down over night, look for leaks, also tests radiator cap.

If you have to do the gaskets again, there are at least couple different grades of Felpro, one type is the regular, another has multi layer stainless, there is also one .10 thicker in case you had the head planed. The multi layer ones are supposed to be more forgiving for surface anomalies, etc.

If you have small crack, recommend Blue Devil block and radiator sealer, half a bottle stopped a block crack for me. They also make a head gasket sealer which I have yet to try, but it has good reviews, and might buy some time.

 

[Terracoma]

Well drove the truck this morning, still not getting up to temperature as it should. Just checked it tonight, recovery tank was slap full and had bin pushing coolant out. Upper radiator hose was hard as a rock, and when I removed the radiator cap it released a burst of air.

Why is your upper radiator hose rock hard, but you're not up to operating temperature? This seems to indicate that your thermostat is stuck open. Additionally, your radiator cap might not be venting @16PSI (or whatever the stock rad cap is spec'd for) and could be holding too much pressure, which is what's emptying the radiator and flooding the recovery tank.

I agree with some of the other guys: I'd rule out the cheap/inexpensive items first.

 

[Drock]

Well, let the truck warm up, best I could get it to was 195 Degrees just enough to open the thermostat. Water pump seems to be moving coolant at a rate of pouring a glass of lemonade. I did notice some blow by coming from the oil fill cap, but only at idle. Once you give it any throttle it goes away. I checked to see if it was steam, buy putting a clean paper towel over the open tube. But all I got was a small amount of oil spray. I figure it could just be the unseasonably cold weather, or just a clogged CDR valve? At this point I'm out of idea's short of pulling the heads? But I'm open to suggestions......

 

[Barrman]

If the blowby goes away as soon as you give it some throttle. That means your CDR is working properly. As I understand their function that is.

 

[Drock]

Okay so I got the heads off today,no sign of any failure? The gaskets looked good, and there is no cracks on the heads, block, or cylinder walls. There was one stud that was looser then all the rest, but still no sign of failure at that cylinder. I still need to clean all the gasket material which is A LOT! Do to the copper spray gasket sealer I used. I think I'm going to just clean it up real good and put it all back together, but dry this time.

 

[Chaski]

At least your mind is at rest. Maybe something will turn up during your cleaning.

 

[Tinstar]

I would install a new set of head gaskets.
You have already gone this far and a new set is cheap insurance.
There might be some flaw/damage to the current set that you can’t see.

 

[frank8003]

Don't reuse gaskets

 

[dependable]

Felpro head gaskets have sealing bead, and are supposed to be installed dry. Besides new gasket, you should use new head bolts, as these are 'torque to
yield',

 

[frank8003]

throw away once used ARP head bolts/studs?

 

[dependable]

Referring to std types, almost noted, unless you have the studs, but did not bother/or review all the tread.

 

[porkysplace]

Felpro head gaskets have sealing bead, and are supposed to be installed dry. Besides new gasket, you should use new head bolts, as these are 'torque to
yield',

The Felpro instruction are posted in post #6 . Reusing head gaskets will just make you better at when you redo it cause they didn't seal .

 

[Drock]

HA! I don't know where you guy's got the idea that I would re-use head gaskets? But thanks LOL! However I called ARP, and the studs are re-usable. I'll need some of their tread sealer & torque lube.