Hello,

Im currently pulling apart my 3.0 due to coolant loss and nasty oil cap. Im looking for some stuff to look out for/do while im at it. Basically, tips for a competent mechanic but one who mainly does fabrication work and axle/tcase builds. Ive looked through the forums a bit and have the FSM handy. But still, Its my first headgasket job.

For one, is there anything else other than a blown headgasket that could cause milky oil cap and heavy fuel smell in the heads after running, plus heavy coolant loss like maybe 1gal for 30mins of running? Its not on the ground so its obviously being burnt. Theres definitely blowback pressure coming through the head too.

I do have a question about my coolant, its not milky or sludgy but a rusty nasty color (see pics). How normal is that for a Hg failure? My dipstick also looks clean with no coolant/oil mixture, nor has my engine over heated. Therefore i assume and hope my block is okay, and depending on my heads condition i may or may not get them machined. I have no good machine shop in town that isnt booked for a while or giving ˟˟˟˟ off prices, so if hat has to be done i may get some from yota1. I hear good things about them.

What are other recommended service items that are silly not to get done while the heads are off? Any must do/do nots that arent really mentioned in the FSM?

Thanks in advance!

 

If you haven't unbolted the heads or removed the timing belt you can still do a leakdown test. You can borrow the tester from the loaner tool program the chain parts stores offer. i fully understand the numbers will be horrible in the failed cylinder(s), but not all fail, and the numbers you get in those will be helpful. And the cylinders with horrible numbers will show you what to focus on. It's well worth the time. I can't tell you how many times a tech pulled the heads and wished they had that info.

Besides that, the most common items done in conjunction is the cam/crank seals, water pump, idler pulley, and timing belt.
The other item commonly done is the knock sensor and wire, just because it's such a nightmare to access., and can commonly set codes after work like this. While I'll always rec oem parts for just about any repair, I realize cost is an issue. But I think for the sensor and wire oem is best.

That cooling system looks nasty. What coolant do you use and how often do you change?

 

Just so you know, I've personally experienced, and read about several other incidents, of replacing the knock sensor(s). It seems like if the knock sensor isn't OEM, the computer (ECU) will set the code, even if the new sensor is in perfect condition, and there's no good reason for it to do so. Replacing the sensors with OEM sensors will clear the trouble right up. The sensors are the same price, roughly. Same with the pigtails for the sensors. Definately go OEM with those 4 items, or the ECU will set the code for them. Just so you know.

Other things, like seals, gaskets, even the thermostat, don't have this problem. The plugs do, however. The radiator does not. The water pump, timing belt, and other parts generally included in the timing belt kits do much better with OEM parts. Several companies make timing belt kits using OEM parts. Finally, most "active" components, sensors and so forth do much better if they are OEM. Others, like belts, seals and so forth don't seem to matter.
It seems like Bosch and so forth, the European parts, don't seem to do very well in our trucks. Japanese parts do.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

In reply to both of you, i did get all of it pulled by about 4am this morning (i work graveyard lol). Pretty easy tear down, will follow up with pictures and some questions. I did not do a leakdown test, but i had done a compression test 6 months prior to noticeably loosing coolant. They were all about 150 dry, 160-175 wet. Didnt add an even amount of oil to each cylinder I think also.

The block itself looks okay, driver side has all cross markings still and no vertical etching. Passanger side all still have visible cross pattern, but the lower side of each cylinder has minor vertical etching. I assume, due to me flipping the truck a year or so ago and landing hard on the passenger side😂. Took a second to kill the motor but thats some wear for sure, its since had many oil changes and 30-40k miles on it. Pics below of the passenger side. Which to my surprise, was the side that had burnt brown plugs and also cleaner looking cylinders.






I do know also, a clean wall and piston show signs of coolant burning. All 6 were pretty clean, and i was able to wipe the carbon buildup of very easy. Also, in the FSM it refers to the driver side as left hand, and passenger side as right hand. My pistons have an R on the driver side and L on the passenger. Is this a sign it was previously rebuilt or is that normal?

 

Ill be measuring flatness or warpage on the heads tomorrow or so. Reguardless, my head needs valve work and the cam caps/cams show minor scoring. Maybe normal? (See pics). The head itself, other than some yellowy buildup around the top of the valve cover had normal looking oil. Dirty for how new it was, but not heavy coolant mixing.

As you can see, the coolant passages are all rusty brown color, as was alot of the coolant. The gaskets were not metal, and basically disintegrated upon removal and looked to be rusting through the only metal seal part it had. Explains the higher oil pressure and burning coolant very well id say lol.

What is a good way to clean and remove as much nastyness before installing a new gasket? I plan to do multiple full coolant flushes upon reassembly.

100% getting a new oem knock sensor and wire... the block was soaked with oily coolant. Its crazy i wasnt loosing any oil lol.


Valve cover build up

Normalish oil, slight green tint maybe.



This scoring may be normal?


Very nasty coolant passages. My water pump was actually done about 2 years ago with a new radiator so i may put that off for a bit as it shows little sign of wear. I will be pulling it for cleaning and a new gasket though. My timing idler pulley with the coolant passage i will replace also.

 

I will follow up with more pics, and updates. i work 6p-6a next 4 days as factory mainteance mechanic, and doubt ill have an update until Saturday evening on my day off. No rush, so from where its currently at let me know what you engine gurus have to say or something i should go check. Injectors are about a year and half old, timing belt 3 years/40k approx miles. Tensioner and spring still feel decent. Will be ordering cam seals, and will do crank seal as well. Just cant find my harmonic puller atm...😂

Driver side rear most cam cap, had 1-10mm bolt head and 1-12mm head. All others were 10mm lol... also found the 10mm head was not tightened down. Also seems like one head bolt was looser and some tighter. So id imagine the 12mm isnt normal, but the tightness of bolts id say head warpage most likely yeah?

All 3 spark plugs on driver side were very clean looking, passenger side 3-5 cylinder were burnt brown on the ceramic and black threads all around. Also the cleanest looking of all 6 cylinders.

Btw, Milwaukee 1/2" gen 2 fuel takes the crank bolt out like butter👌🏼.

 

After i flipped it for anyone curious

Recent

Freshly after the axle swap and bumper build

 

I'm sure it's been apart before. During the V06 headgasket campaign no boring for o/s pistons was done. The short block assembly got replaced at that point. So maybe those pistons are from subsequent work. I'm afraid clean up with the block still bolted in is going to be tedious. lotsa of rags and brake cleaner. BC evaporates quickly, so maybe try the initial cleaning(s) with something like gas(cheaper than BC) and a bristle brush like you'd use in a solvent tank.

Here's where a leak down test would give useful info. Much more than a compression test.

 

One of the problems I had after a few headgasket replacements were with the bolts in the front most cam cap on the passenger side and rear most cam cap on the driver side stripping out the threads in the head because the bolts only engage a very limited number of threads in the heads. My solution although probably not very elegant was to stud and pin them. Helicoil is another option but difficult to do on the driver side with engine in vehicle.

 

 

Thanks for the reply's! Busy week and havent done to much other than cleaning parts and waiting on parts i waited to late to order. And yes, its a bit a pain cleaning it all with the block in there haha. Thankfully with the IFS removed i have slightly more room. Thanks for the tips on the cam caps to, ill have to be extra careful puting mine back in. I havent looked, but i imagine that 12mm head is probably because someone has the same issue and tapped it out bigger. I did get around to draining my oil and removing the filter, and it looked dirty but not milked up or anything. Slightly gassy smell but that's it.

A question i have that maybe someone will see, is about the oil cooler. I see alot of people delete it, id rather not. But in the future if mine is bad, it kinda looks like i could just stick an oil filter there? Haha would a dual filter setup benefit anything?

 

yes, after cleaning the top of the block under thr air intake, what do i see? DORMAN CHINA!!


Also, anyone know where this goes? Its never been connected i dont think. Maybe from my AC thats long gone?

 

I'd replace the radiator fan with a high flow model and possibly the heater control valve, i think the issue with the 3vze burning head gaskets is at least partly related to excess heat in/around the engine block, these should help keep excess heat away from the new HG and make it potentially last longer.

 

yes, and i also picked up some used lce headers. And to update, I was going to take my heads to a shop, however the guy i bought the used headers from told me he has a decent running 250k 3.0 i can just have for super cheap. He pulled it for a diesel swap. I can have that block out and in my truck in less time than i could stick heads back on😂 I then plan to properly clean my block with it out and probably do my oil pump and stuff over the next few weeks. Curious to see how long this 250k will last!

Well, Below are pictures of the disassembly i left out from last week and some questions. I will continue this thread with the swap and the head gasket job. Hopefully a couple more people chime in as well.

 

...just curious...why does the front bumper have a "Diesel" sticker?....

 

because i made the front bumper from a rear bumper off an old chevy. Left the sticker just cause i think its funny to have people ask. If you look close, i also have a lexus emblem on my hood. Its a poor mans LX hahaha