Top end tear down

[lzam6285]

Don't under stand the flat rate reading thing but oh well.
It's ok. At least now ill know what's in there.
Dose anyone know if the early 04's have the STC fitting and was there any problems with the stand pipes on the early ones. MFG 8/03

 

[lzam6285]

Yes I have the log style oil rail. Do to know if the early builds had the STC fitting on them?

 

[webb06]

It has an STC fitting but you can't use the updated part on it. The 03 and early 04 trucks are out of luck on that "fix"

 

[Vizsla]

Ive been working on powerstrokes for the last 4 years or so, and have never heard of an oil rail cup, care to elaborate? Do you mean injector cups? If so, theres no sense in replacing them if theyre not bad. Id also rebuild/ install a new oil cooler while youre in there. And if your head gaskets arent blown, why replace them?

They dont just "go bad" stud it one at a time and leave your good, sened head gaskets. And seriously, dont replace injector cups if youre not getting fuel in your coolant

If youre not puking coolant, or burning it, leave them. The map sensor line can cause low boost

He is upgrading injectors=more power=increased cylinder pressure=bye-bye TTY head bolts, and unfortunately yes, they just go bad when adding power. Nothing negative about studding it, please don't suggest doing studs one at a time, terrible idea, and almost guarantees failure, little more effort to do a proper head gasket job, for alot of piece of mind. Have to be diligent while doing head gaskets, check block, have a reputable machine shop check heads for cracks, deck heads, and appropriate valve work. Also while rare(even though this clearly is not the case here) check cylinders for cracks, it happens. No jab at you, I realize you have been doing this for four years, I unfortunately started in 03, and back to one at a time, just call as many reputable shops as you like and ask if they will do it, don't just take my nonsense advice as correct.

Flat rate reading strikes again.

LOL!

Yes I have the log style oil rail. Do to know if the early builds had the STC fitting on them?

04.5 and up. You have log style rails(03-04), so no stc worries. You got lots of good advice from this thread.

 

[lzam6285]

Thanks Vizsla. You got if I just want the peice of mind of just knowing everything is good. As for the heads they at getting a three angle valve job,valve guides checked, glass beaded, check springs, ect.
I do appreciate all the great info from every one. I'm sure ill be back to pick everyone's brains. Thanks

 

[ghohouston]

Did your oil rails have the steel braided lines or stand pipes and dummy plugs? Not sure if they changed right at the 6/03 mark or not. But for sure the early 03's didnt have stand pipes or dummy plugs

Edit: already been addressed, my bad

 

[ghohouston]

He is upgrading injectors=more power=increased cylinder pressure=bye-bye TTY head bolts, and unfortunately yes, they just go bad when adding power. Nothing negative about studding it, please don't suggest doing studs one at a time, terrible idea, and almost guarantees failure, little more effort to do a proper head gasket job, for alot of piece of mind. Have to be diligent while doing head gaskets, check block, have a reputable machine shop check heads for cracks, deck heads, and appropriate valve work. Also while rare(even though this clearly is not the case here) check cylinders for cracks, it happens. No jab at you, I realize you have been doing this for four years, I unfortunately started in 03, and back to one at a time, just call as many reputable shops as you like and ask if they will do it, don't just take my nonsense advice as correct.



LOL!



04.5 and up. You have log style rails(03-04), so no stc worries. You got lots of good advice from this thread.

Yes I understand the tty bolts will stretch, which is why I suggested he stud one at a time. And I stated he should stud one at a time is so he doesnt loose his good, sealed, seasoned head gaskets. To each his own on the one at a time matter, but im certain more than a few reputable, knowledgable guys on here have done it on their 6.0's and 6.4's, and have been running error free ever since.

 

[Vizsla]

Yes I understand the tty bolts will stretch, which is why I suggested he stud one at a time. And I stated he should stud one at a time is so he doesnt loose his good, sealed, seasoned head gaskets. To each his own on the one at a time matter, but im certain more than a few reputable, knowledgable guys on here have done it on their 6.0's and 6.4's, and have been running error free ever since.

Sure..., maybe a couple have, but like I said, call as many reputable shops as you want. Not one will do the one stud at a time. Wanna know why? Cause it doesn't work. You can repeat that line of crap over and over, just reflects poorly on your knowledge. Seasoned gasket lmfao, they are good or bad, nothing in between.

 

[ghohouston]

Well hell no a shop isnt going to do studs one at a time. But if its a guy in his garage doing his own work, it wont hurt to do the one at a time method, if it works, it works, if it doesnt, then he is only out a few hours on his own time. That doesnt reflect poorly on my knowlesge one bit. And the **** theyre "good or bad". You can pop a freshly installed head gasket, if it hasnt had enough heat cycles on it to properly "seat" or "seal" where as with a seasoned one, theyre not gonna pop with the one at a time method. Go ask any of the big names on here, and they will tell you the same. And I went and did some research last night, and there were infact quite a few very well known guys on here that studded one at a time with great luck

 

[Derkperk]

Seasoned gasket lmfao, they are good or bad, nothing in between.

Especially when the heads aren't flat.

 

[Big Angry Hillbilly]

For the minimal amount of extra work to do it properly it is just not worth the risk in my opinion.

 

[Lassie]

Well hell no a shop isnt going to do studs one at a time. But if its a guy in his garage doing his own work, it wont hurt to do the one at a time method, if it works, it works, if it doesnt, then he is only out a few hours on his own time. That doesnt reflect poorly on my knowlesge one bit. And the **** theyre "good or bad". You can pop a freshly installed head gasket, if it hasnt had enough heat cycles on it to properly "seat" or "seal" where as with a seasoned one, theyre not gonna pop with the one at a time method. Go ask any of the big names on here, and they will tell you the same. And I went and did some research last night, and there were infact quite a few very well known guys on here that studded one at a time with great luck

Your thinking is the reason I am scared to buy already studded trucks. You, son, need a mentor

 

[techtulsa]

I tried one stud at a time. My HG was good at the time, but as soon as I started it up, white smoke. It has been explained to me that the HG compresses 0.008" when installing studs. When I took out TTY bolts, they released. I would advise no one do this method. Good luck op. Chuck

 

[Vizsla]

Yes I understand the tty bolts will stretch, which is why I suggested he stud one at a time. And I stated he should stud one at a time is so he doesnt loose his good, sealed, seasoned head gaskets. To each his own on the one at a time matter, but im certain more than a few reputable, knowledgable guys on here have done it on their 6.0's and 6.4's, and have been running error free ever since.

Sorry, there is no such thing as sealed seasoned head gaskets, you either have a good deck and heads, or you don't. It is honestly that simple. If you add power studs are a must, as well as proper heads and deck, absolutely nothing to do with a seasoned gasket. Properly prepped heads and block work, no "seasoning needed".

Sure..., maybe a couple have, but like I said, call as many reputable shops as you want. Not one will do the one stud at a time. Wanna know why? Cause it doesn't work. You can repeat that line of crap over and over, just reflects poorly on your knowledge. Seasoned gasket lmfao, they are good or bad, nothing in between.

Sorry, may have come off as harsh, but you can say whatever you want, there is no reasonable comparison to a proper gasket job. It is what it is.

Well hell no a shop isnt going to do studs one at a time. But if its a guy in his garage doing his own work, it wont hurt to do the one at a time method, if it works, it works, if it doesnt, then he is only out a few hours on his own time. That doesnt reflect poorly on my knowlesge one bit. And the **** theyre "good or bad". You can pop a freshly installed head gasket, if it hasnt had enough heat cycles on it to properly "seat" or "seal" where as with a seasoned one, theyre not gonna pop with the one at a time method. Go ask any of the big names on here, and they will tell you the same. And I went and did some research last night, and there were infact quite a few very well known guys on here that studded one at a time with great luck

There is no seat and seal on a properly done gasket job, it is either done right or wrong, and if wrong, will not hold, done right, no seasoning, they will hold just fine. No heat cycling involved at all, do them right, they are fine.

Especially when the heads aren't flat.

Agree, gotta take them off to know, and only way to check for cracks.

For the minimal amount of extra work to do it properly it is just not worth the risk in my opinion.

This^^^^^

Your thinking is the reason I am scared to buy already studded trucks. You, son, need a mentor

He is young, but I would hope your advice carries some serious weight in regards to this topic.....

 

[ghohouston]

Let me rephrase my point. IF it were my personal truck, I would install the studs one at a time and take the chance, seeing as so many people have been successful in doing so. I completely understand why a shop would not do this, but this is a man working on his own truck. I agree with you guys, that if I was working on another persons truck, unless they flat out told me they wanted to do the one at a time method, I would, as I HAVE done in the past on every head gasket job ive done, send the heads out to be checked.

 

[Vizsla]

Let me rephrase my point. IF it were my personal truck, I would install the studs one at a time and take the chance, seeing as so many people have been successful in doing so. I completely understand why a shop would not do this, but this is a man working on his own truck. I agree with you guys, that if I was working on another persons truck, unless they flat out told me they wanted to do the one at a time method, I would, as I HAVE done in the past on every head gasket job ive done, send the heads out to be checked.

That's reasonable, but I still think you are embellishing the amount of successful one at a time jobs. You are looking at a 90%+ failure rate, just the way it works. You obviously are driven. IMO for a little extra work if you are in that far, pull the heads, every set I pulled were out of spec, and 60/50 in favor of being cracked. I encourage you to learn from your own experience, and definitely encourage you to take experience from the old dogs. Every time someone asked to do one at a time, I simply said, your gaskets are not reusable, no matter how you slice it, if you do one at a time, you are reusing gaskets that are not reusable.

 

[Derkperk]

if you do one at a time, you are reusing gaskets that are not reusable.

That wraps this whole discussion up in one sentence.

 

[Vizsla]

That wraps this whole discussion up in one sentence.

Yep!

 

[ghohouston]

Youre not re using it if it was never removed, youre keeping what was already on there. One at a time works every time on a 7.3, 5.9, or 6.7, and im sure duramax guys too, I see your point about the 6.0 heads not being flat, but now you are making a general statement that the one at a time method doesnt work and that it somehow harms the headgasket. Are you really going to argue with that, when thousands upon thousands of guys for years have been doing so, flawlessly?

 

[ghohouston]

Every time someone asked to do one at a time, I simply said, your gaskets are not reusable, no matter how you slice it, if you do one at a time, you are reusing gaskets that are not reusable.

Lmao, then you sir were "simply wrong." The whole point behind the one at a time method is to keep your current head gasket in tact without disrupting it.