What’s up everyone. I know there are tons of posts here about people doing their head gaskets but I figured I’d start my own. Obviously I have the lml Duramax and it’s already been fully deleted with the exergy sportsman cp3 conversion. I will be tackling this job on my own at home with the merchant head gasket kit and xotic performance head studs. I had a question about installing the head studs since I’m doing the job in cab and highly doubt I would have the room to install the studs then set the heads on. Would it be ok to set my heads down then start installing the studs and do I use the assembly lube on all threads top and bottom ? May be a dumb question but I am absolutely new to diesels. Iv built many engines n actually building a k20a type R engine for track racing but diesels are a different breed but I’m excited to learn and hoping to get all the help and advice I can get from this forum.
Doing head gaskets in cab
TexasDmax361
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Ah ok so the radiator condenser Trans cooler all that other shit comes off with the cab ?
Yes.
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My 17 year old son and I did the head gasket on his daily driven straight I6 ‘99 Jeep XJ. Did a few other things while we had it apart but what a pain in the ass. We didn’t have any left over parts and it runs good but I told him that may be our one and only lol.
Good luck TexasDmax, yours will be a lot more work than what I dealt with.
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Good luck TexasDmax, yours will be a lot more work than what I dealt with.
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Thanks bud it’ll be a lot more work then I’m use to thats for sure. Hondas are a walk in the park compared to what Iv been seeing with this duramax 😂 but I just paid 9k last year on the cp3 conversion when my cp4 blew up so it’s time to bust some knucks n learn this lml cuz I’ll never pay that kinda labor cost again!
So I posted my merchant auto kit on my snap n a buddy of mine called to say I don’t have time to help but what I can do is get you the full print out from all data. Sure is good to have great friends sucks he’s unable to help physically but the print out he’s getting me is prolly the best help anyone I know could have offered
Tbh I haven’t started yet I plan on starting here in about 2 weeks. It’s very hard for me to shut my truck down for any amount of time. In a couple weeks I’ll have a buddy letting me use his flat bed while my trucks down. I don’t plan on rushing it. I’ll be using whatever down time I have to get it done
Gotta admire a guy that tears into a job like this for the first time. So you have a lift? Or are you just planning on removing the necessary front end parts? I know the guys that have a lift have made an art of lifting the cab and front clip and they're really quick at it. But I didn't have a lift so just took off the necessary parts. It's really not a big deal to remove the hood, grille, cooling stack, radiator support and right side fender but I was pulling the engine to install a piston. If I were doing head gaskets, I'd probably just go ahead and remove all that stuff anyway, tired of laying on my ribs anymore. You can walk right up to everything and have good access. I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for you.
I do not have a lift at all I will be doing it in the garage and just removing everything and anything I need to I’ve seen plenty of videos and heard from quite a few people that the job can be done in cab now it is not ideal but from what I’ve heard it can be done
I really don’t wanna remove entire radiator support n what not cuz i don’t plan on remove the ac system. So I may just tough it out or use a buddies top side creeper
I completely understand if you don't want to crack open the A/C system. I've done my own A/C work for so long it doesn't even cross my mind that someone else might not be interested in going that route.
Another thing to think about while you're already down for service, if you've never cleaned the cooling stack, it would be a good time to check it out. It's unbelievable how much crap gets caught in there.
Another thing to think about while you're already down for service, if you've never cleaned the cooling stack, it would be a good time to check it out. It's unbelievable how much crap gets caught in there.
That’s a good idea thanks for the advice bud might as well do some clean up maintenance while I’m in there and everything’s apart
Ya I don’t have the ability to recover the Freon or vac the system once I put everything back together. The least I have to take apart without actually cutting corners the better it is for me.
Yup egr system is completely gone. Truck is already cp3 converted n deleted
I honestly haven’t even started guys I been so fuckin swamped with work I can’t afford to shut my truck down at the moment. Been so busy the truck I’m gonna be using while my truck is down is being put to work as well at the moment. Iv had to hire on a driver to help me keep up with the amount of jobs coming in. I’ll start soon but right now I just can’t stop the flow of income. I did get my head studs and everything I need tho
So I finally started this job and got the heads off. Working on cleaning everything cleaning up the block n sent the heads off. I think I may have ran into a bit of a fuckin problem though and this job just got a lot more difficult than expected.
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