Hello!

I have a 96 6.5L TD in a Chev 3500. I have had overheating issues and have had combustion in my coolant reservoir. There is no coolant in the oil. Am I looking at a bad head gasket, or is it possible the block itself is cracked? I am in the process of pulling the heads, but am new at this. Any advice would be appreciated!

Mike Shafto

 

Could be cracked heads,cracked block or blown head gaskets-you are looking in the right area.

 

That repair is gonna be pricey..................

 

i am having the same problem right now. i had the coolant explode and pour all down the right hand side of my 05 f350. had like 8 or 9 people look at it and i cant touch the job for less than 5500. did a pressure test and all and it seems to be blow head gaskets. best thing i can recommend is if they have to pull the front of truck apart bullet proof the whole thing spend the extra 1500-2000 for it. alluminum headers and onxy gaskets. egr either delete or bulk [] bulletproof egr. clean turbo check barrings make sure that u didnt hurt the barrings when coolant exploded. get a $5 cap for the coolant chamber cause u blew the psi tester in the coolant cap. head studs. oil cooler make sure u get better one. last few things that i told the guy working on mine to do was to get new oil and fuel filters incase when i did break my gaskets that to much was running throught he filters weather it had some coolant in it or fuel mixed it and ruined the filters.

 

Aftermarket cylinder heads are quite reasonable from Clearwater cylinder head.Cometic gaskets and ARP studs will round the job out nicely.

If it is a cracked block,shop around for another used running engine or parts truck with a runner.

Look at it this way,$2000 to$5000 for a repair is much better than $12000 down and several years of financing.

 

deffinately better than buying a new engine

 

Hello!
I appreciate the comments. I was quoted 2000 for just the gaskets, but I didnt want to pay the teardown fee to find out I had a cracked cylinder wall. From everything I have read the early run 96 6.5L had a bad habit of cracking at the #8 cylinder. I am doing the work myself to save costs. If the block is sound I am thinking about new heads and upgrading the cooling system to the 97 dual thermostat w/130 gpm water pump compared to my 87. I also found a kit that mounts the duramax fan and clutch to the 97 waterpump for more air movement. If the block is bad I want to find a crate 6.5 to drop in. I am a rookie after all!