Improving reliability Job 1 6.4

ford141 · Feb 6, 2014

I have a 2008 Job 1 truck that I purchase 1.5yr ago. I was in a minor wreck with it a week ago and it is currently off the road as I gather parts to fix it. Since it is off the road, and I'm tearing it apart anyway, I'm thinking it's a good time to do some upgrades for reliability.

Current mods: Old style Mini Maxx (bought in early 2013), S&B intake, turbo-back 4" exhaust. Everything else is bone stock, and the truck has 107k on it.

The wreck took out the radiator, grille, bumper, and headlight. I have to buy a radiator for it anyway, so I've been told that I should go with a Mishimoto since they are better than stock. I'm also planning on doing a full EGR and cooler delete along with the cold side kit from No Limit.

Is there anything else to consider while I have it apart? I tow ~10k with it about once per month, other than that it gets driven on weekends. I don't plan on any crazy power mods. Turbos will remain stock unless they fail on me, then I may upgrade to a larger atmosphere, but other than that I'm ok with the power it makes now. I just want it to last for a long time.

Is it worth doing head studs on it now while I have other things apart? Any other "must do" mods that I should consider?

I'm sure these questions get asked all of the time, but I'm a novice when it comes to my 6.4 knowledge.

ncollins64 · Feb 6, 2014

I kept putting stuff off and I ended up with cracked heads and blown head gaskets. I have a job 1 also and had the same upgrades as you. If money allows I'd check into studs, springs, and pushrods and check your heads out also.

Clifford_6.4 · Feb 6, 2014

Exhaust manifold and up pipes

Sent from a little green goblin under a bridge.

ford141 · Feb 6, 2014

So what caused the cracked heads? Is that preventable? I can see the studs preventing blown heads gaskets.

ncollins64 · Feb 6, 2014

Honestly I don't know what causes the heads to crack. I'm guessing heat and stress and pressure. Maybe someone can chime in on this

bigrpowr · Feb 6, 2014

Good choice getting rid of the egr , and what you're replacing it with

i have discounted egr deletes when purchased with the cold side kit.

suprdzlduty · Feb 6, 2014

Better check the hpfp while you're there, to see if it's passing any metal. Fuel bowl delete, and look into a better lpfp with better filtration. Since it's deleted I would start putting some 2 cycle oil in the fuel so it lubricates the hpfp better.

njjeep · Feb 6, 2014

How do you check the hpfp to see if it's passing metal?

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JrStroker · Feb 6, 2014

njjeep said:
How do you check the hpfp to see if it's passing metal?

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Also curious in this.

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3brorce · Feb 6, 2014

Just like passing a kidney stone haha lol.

Dzchey21 · Feb 6, 2014

it will catch in the fuel filters eventually, by that time its far too late LOL

B585Ford · Feb 6, 2014

Clifford_6.4 said:
Exhaust manifold and up pipes

Sent from a little green goblin under a bridge.

:whs:

B585Ford · Feb 6, 2014

ncollins64 said:
I kept putting stuff off and I ended up with cracked heads and blown head gaskets. I have a job 1 also and had the same upgrades as you. If money allows I'd check into studs, springs, and pushrods and check your heads out also.

OP, if you end up pulling the heads, I would go ahead and do rockers and lifters.

Morgan@Midwest Diesel & Auto · Feb 6, 2014

If you need help with anything or any parts I carry what you mentioned above. Visit www.midwestdieselauto.com or give us a shout at the shop.

Lots of options for what you wanna do.

ford141 · Feb 7, 2014

At this point I wasn't planning to pull the heads since I have no evidence of bad head gaskets and no plans to beat the truck any harder in the future. My thought was to add head studs one at a time now to prevent from having to do head gaskets in the future. Is that a logical assumption? I have about $1000 right now of extra cash I can put into it. Delete and CSK will eat up around half of that, head studs would kill the rest. I might be able to squeeze out some extra coin if there are other necessity items.

My radiator has a large hole in the side from the wreck so it is getting replaced regardless. That cost is not included in the $1000 of extra cash I have.

F.X.5 · Feb 7, 2014

I wouldn't do them one at a time. I haven't heard anything good come from doing them like that. The torque sequence is very important from what I understand. That sequence cannot be done if they are installed and torqued one at a time.

One major reliability part I would suggest is a coolant filtration system. These trucks have a very finicky coolant system and it needs to be taken care of. My truck had one on it as soon as I could afford to. The kit I bought from diesel site was top notch. Very happy with it.

B585Ford · Feb 7, 2014

ford141 said:
At this point I wasn't planning to pull the heads since I have no evidence of bad head gaskets and no plans to beat the truck any harder in the future. My thought was to add head studs one at a time now to prevent from having to do head gaskets in the future. Is that a logical assumption? I have about $1000 right now of extra cash I can put into it. Delete and CSK will eat up around half of that, head studs would kill the rest. I might be able to squeeze out some extra coin if there are other necessity items.

My radiator has a large hole in the side from the wreck so it is getting replaced regardless. That cost is not included in the $1000 of extra cash I have.

Head studs one at a time seems to be a crap shoot. I have seen guys have a lot of success, but I have seen others who still popped a HG. Ford's tolerances were a little sloppy IMO so I would lean towards waiting on the studs until you have to do it or you can afford to do it right....mill the heads, magnaflux. I would try to save up money so that if/when you have to pull the cab, you can do it right....do an exh manny upgraded up pipes, studs, etc.

3brorce · Feb 7, 2014

Yeah this isnt a cummins.

AirFishAutomotive · Feb 7, 2014

I dont think for something that isn't get beat on you need push rods and springs if you have the funds great but I wouldn't put that at the top of my list. Egr delete & studs and enjoy it.

ford141 · Feb 12, 2014

Upon closer inspection of the truck last night, I noticed white residue around the degas bottle. I have no idea if it was loosing water (hadn't checked it for a month or two) because the rad broke when I wrecked it. I already have all of the coolers off to fix the damage. Plus I had an adjustment from the insurance company which gave me an extra $1000 to work with. I'm thinking that right now would be a great opportunity to do gaskets and studs and check out the heads. The truck has 107K on it. I want to keep it for a long time.

I dont have access to a lift. I can't even get it to a lift right now anyway unless I tow it. I read a few writeups on guys who have done head gaskets with the cab on by just jacking up the front of the cab. That's what I'm leaning towards now. I'm halfway there, I think I'm pushing my luck on a higher mileage Job 1 truck that's tuned. Might as well bite the bullet.

Should I stick with OEM head gaskets? I'm looking at a few diesel sites for complete top end gasket sets and studs.