Head Gasket

[pdavey]

So I am 99.9% sure I have a small leak in my head gasket near cylinder 8. Thinking of doing the work myself and just get the kit with the new valves, gaskets, etc and btw why not upgrade the exhaust headers while at it.

Any tips or tricks folks have would be appreciated as this is the first time I will have done this type of engine work.

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[Pit Slave]

I have a head gasket leak near the rear passenger side on the block for, I want to say, 60k miles or more now. I just keep the coolant and oil topped off when I get the chance. Still do sustained 4~5k RPM's on the block as well as WOT's on the limiter. So unless it's really leaving a puddle on the ground, for me I wouldn't worry about it.

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[pdavey]

Guess folks were just waiting me to tear it down, so here are a few pics.

Biggest learning from the day: loosen the engine mount on the passenger side and just jack the engine up so you can get to the exhaust manifold bolts. Just impossible to do it any other way.

Heads are off to Napa tomorrow to clean and make sure they are good.

Need to order some more parts now. First a beer, shower and sleep.






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[RustyPW]

Could you tell where you had the leak at? Good time to go with an ARP stud kit, and some black wrinkle valve covers.

[pdavey]

Yeah. Definitely in the back part of the engine. Had a cracked manifold stud that I think was causing the issue.

Will be good to get all the seals replaced as well.

I got the JBA Shorty exhaust headers so that will be good.



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[flattire]

How do you clean out the cylinders before reassembly?

[pdavey]

A lot of time and a good solvent that cleans up carbon. I have a Mopar solvent I am going to start with. Going to do it one by one and turn the crankshaft to get the pistons up and down and check the cylinders.

From my check yesterday the cylinders looked pretty good.

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[Will]

oh, I couldn't resist to work the heads and change the cam at this point....

[pdavey]

There we go with the Winch Mob spending my money again.

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[TwinStick]

From a practical point, it beats doing the labor twice. Your already there.

[Mr.Smith]

Doooo iiit...do it...doo it!

[FirerescuePW]

I was thinking forged pistons in preparation for the supercharger
.

But seriously, will NAPA be doing anything with the valve seats, new springs and valves, etc? This seems to be a weak spot, and since you have it apart, blah blah blah.


But seriously, the supercharger doesn't sound like a bad idea...

[pdavey]

Just having NAPA clean and check it out right now. Want to make sure it is straight and not warped. It didn't appear to have any broken springs and valves weren't terrible.

Think I would go with the 6.4 before a supercharger Mike, however you all did get me thinking about a new cam.

If one were to go that direction what do you think I should do? I was checking these two out.

http://www.shophemi.com/c-1248-cam-and- ... tions.aspx

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[nts007]

I suggest replacing that one injector on that cylinder. It may or may not be a future problem. But the diesel guys tend to have injector problems after fixing a small head gasket leak.

[Colibri]

Arrington makes good stuff, there are a decent number of options out there now though. I'm personally going with a head and cam package from inertia motor sports in the near future.

http://www.shop.inertiamotorsports.com/main.sc

[TrueCowboy426]

Looking good, and don't fear the cam lol, I don't ever regret mine. Cam swaps are easy even after you get the motor back together (I've got it down to well under 4 hrs pretty easily). I'm no expert on cam specs, but those 2 cams look like they would be more for peak power and not the low end torque that we need, and what you would actually use. I would give Comp a call and get them to grind a cam to specs you want (I personally like my KRC 210X, very good low end torque, or a Comp 260 etc). Couple years ago it would only cost approx $400 to grind one vs 750+ for Arrinton's stuff.

Couple things I would definatly do before you reassemble is put in new lifters, and upgrade your valve springs to 6.1L spings. Even though your stockers are okay, the 6.1 springs are cheap insurance for a lot more miles of driving, and if you do decide to cam in the future, the springs are way easier to change now with the heads off than on.

Unless you have already wiped off #8 piston, it does look like you had a coolant leak there with the piston being that clean.

Good job so far. Makes me want to rebuild one of my spare hemi's now.

[pdavey]

Ok so my assessment of the cam market is there are too many options. Probably need to call a few places and discuss.

In reading Coders thread on the valve seat now I am slightly worried about something like that.

Is it worth just redoing my heads? Sounds like I need to upgrade my springs if I move to a different cam anyways.

Appreciate the help here.

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[Colibri]

Truecowboy is absolutely right about the 6.1 springs and new lifters and I'll add to that you will want new pushrods as well which will be to prevent deflection from the higher spring pressure and more aggressive cam lobe/lift height. Getting your heads gone over is a very good idea, you don't want to drop a valve seat after all this. It's cheap insurance. Absolutely talk to whoever you're sourcing the cam etc through and put together a package that meets your goals. I want high end because I tear ass around but the average wagon owner will want low end grunt and fat midrange torque. Inertia motor sports actually talked me out of a few thousand dollars of extra crap I wanted to buy from them after discussing what my goals were, that's pretty rare these days lol. Talk to some people who do this stuff everyday. Good luck sir, I hope you get things running soon!

[coder]

Is it worth just redoing my heads?

How many miles do you have on your engine? If they are relatively low and everything else is running good, I would say yes, redo the heads since that's where most of the Hemi's trouble areas seem to be. If you are much over 150k miles you might be better off pulling the engine and doing a full rebuild.

[pdavey]

At 197,000. Ultimately other than the small head gasket leak everything is running well.

Pistons and cylinders look good. No signs of wear on either.

Likely will redo the heads. Think I have been talked into a cam swap which means new springs, valves, pushrods etc.

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[cruz]

Think I have been talked into a cam swap which means new springs, valves, pushrods etc.

The strikes again...

[pdavey]

#FingWinchMob #LoveYouMeanIt

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[FirerescuePW]

Haha! #Rightbackatcha
You really should do the springs whether you do a cam or not. They are a weak point. I've read many threads, posts, etc about broken springs. Now is definitely the time to do it. It's not impossible with the heads on the block, but why make it harder on yourself.

[Pit Slave]

I'll be honest, if you are going through all the trouble of doing the top half, you may as well pull the block and have it freshened up at the least. Have it all looked over and if needed, put all new bearings put in. You will not be able to see the side of the piston to check if there are any issues with it while it is in the block. But if it were me, I would have pulled the block and rebuilt the engine the way I wanted with performance in mind.

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[pdavey]

Got the heads back from NAPA today. They said the one was warped right next to where the broken exhaust manifold was and more likely then not, that caused the problem over the winter from rapid expansion and contraction of the aluminum head.

They cleaned both heads and pressure tested them. Found nothing wrong with the springs, valves and no cracks.

They resurfaced the heads and they are now straight.

Definitely going to order the cam. Talked with Arrington today and they recommend the Comp 260 and am also waiting to hear from Moe's.

Arrington said Cam, Lifters and a tune for about $1000. Moe's seems to have the cam for cheaper so need to see if they can do the tune as well.

Pit Slave, half tempted on pulling the block but there have been no signs of other damage. Pistons look good, the walls have no issues. My oil was not impacted with the slight head leak so I am in a bit of a debate whether to go through the extra effort.

If I pull the cam and it is in bad shape or the lifters, I will definitely pull the block. Otherwise I think I am tempted to reassemble later next week.

Appreciate all the comments and support here. It has been a great learning experience.

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