3 Head gaskets in 6 months... this is bull! The first one blew in January, Cummins NE Replaced it, fired up the truck, and it instantly popped (they never decked the head like I told them too), they replaced it under warranty, after decking the head and replacing the oil cooler it lasted 2 weeks. I took it back, they replaced it again, but said they couldn't see anywhere it had blown, I told them the coolant system was way over pressurized, so it had to be blown, they replaced it with a .020 Over Marine Gasket. Its held since late February/Early March, and sure enough, I noticed a little oil in the coolant before I left for my Walleye trip 2 weeks ago, hoped it was just a little residue from the last time they cleaned the system, and never thought much of it. Well I got back (I didn't take this truck up fishing), drove the 97 around a little, and popped the cap again. Sure enough, more oil... Not a ton, but enough to know the gasket is shot... again... .

Well I'm not dealing with Cummins NE again, not after the last fiasco where they had my truck for literally a month before it was done. D&W Diesel is getting the work this time around. And Joe Gambino (big sled pullers around here) is hopefully gonna be the guy to O-Ring my head. Now I've heard very conflicting stories about studs, whether I need them or not. I guess more than a few guys have run insane pressures with stock bolts, and others don't trust them. I only run maybe 40lbs of boost at max pressure, probably more like 35lbs (don't know, my boost gauge only reads to 30lbs...)

Just gotta vent. What would you fella's do in my shoes? I'm on a tight budget at this point, a lot of other little things around the house need to be taken care of, and while business is booming, so are all my overhead costs...

 

WTF! Wonder if they reused the old head bolts and or didn't torque them down properly.

 

sounds like a good case of not re-torquing the bolts after a couple warm up/cool down cycles....I'm also going to get studs and o-ring the head before I have these troubles, one less thing to worry about..

 

Well I doubt they re-torqued the bolts more than once. They never called me back in to check them. I even called to ask if I should bring it back in and they said there was no reason for it. I bought new bolts, so they better have used them.

I'm getting a set of studs. $400 shipped, can't beat that when a new set of bolts alone are $150... O-Rings should cost me about $160 at Klispie's Machine Shop in Hamburg, NY. They do all the head jobs for the Gambino Brothers pulling trucks, so they should do great work. I just have to wonder what kind of turn-around time this project is gonna have.

On a worse note. I rolled my ankle pretty bad last night, might be broken, if not its the worst sprain I've ever had. Hit the Short Stop in our softball game, we both got tangled up pretty bad, moron shouldn't have been on the baseline, when I rounded second I didn't have a chance to stop, I just bowled him over... I couldn't even press the clutch far enough in the truck to start it.

Ah well, as long as I'm broke its a good time for the truck to be broke too .

 

good call on the studs. just had mine fixed for a popped gasket. I didn't even want to think about the gasket again so I had the head planed, rebuilt/valve job and studs done by Brown's Diesel here in the central valley. it was done in a couple days.

 

Did you have to mill the rocker bridges to get the studs to fit? I think thats what the directions say (haven't done any in a 12V yet). The head is gonna get O-Ringed while its there, if I had spare cash I'd throw in a set of HD valve springs, even though I doubt I'll ever run past 3200RPM. I still have to do the washer mod for the GSK, just between makin feed and loggin its been a busy summer. Still needs new tires here shortly, a new front U-joint, alignment, and new front springs and shocks sooner or later... .

 

make sure they check the block for front-rear runout also. We have seen several where there is .025" runout front to rear. No way thats gonna hold. Smart move doing the studs. Going through the heat cycle/retorque process methodically is critical. May want to check your drive pressure also

 

Well I think I might put a wastegate back in it. If I had the money for a new turbo I'd buy one, but things are tight now, so it'll have to wait. I hate women, I swear it would be cheaper to rent one every now and then...

 

ahh, no wastegate will kill them for sure. Consider an external gate on the manifold

 

Not for a stock turbo, pushing 35-40lbs of boost... I'll just hook up the stock actuator. If I had some 435's, 191's, and an HX50 I'd think about an external, but its too much work otherwise for no actual gain. I could always open up the stock wastegate, but I don't flow enough to justify it.