Well, on my way to the auto hobby shop to Replace the heads on the truck.. Figured i would start a thread with a bunch of pictures..

Trying to do a how-to as best i can.

Ill put up pics every day after i get back.

 

Get to it, don't forget the instructions I sent you either!

 

Well, got everything torn down today.. got the old heads off..Holy crap i had no idea i had to tear down THIS much lol.. everything looked good then i got to the heads.... lol. WOW, the pistons are lookin pretty bad.. The pics pretty much speak for themselves.. The crazy thing is the head gaskets werent that bad, actually no tears.. The heads were cracked though.. ALL the water jackets had coolant..

So.. what is the best way to clean the top of the pistons? The cylinder walls are not scared, the rings are good as well..

(gotta upload pics might take a few min)

 

Post some pics of the head gaskets too. Where they are darker is where they were leaking regardless of whether they were actually torn or not.

 

didnt get any pics of the headgaskets, sorry..

here are the pics:





































































Random Taco..
































let me know what you guys think! and how i should go about cleaning the pistons..

 

your doin good as for cleanin just wipe em down with a rag

 

thanks! yeah my hands are ALL beat up lol.. so i shouldnt be worried about them? jsut wip them down and call it good?

 

ya dont really worry about the pistons wipe em down get the crud out and make sure there not froze up other than that your all good

i mean you could also take a grape style ream and do the sleeves but your not gonna be able to get it all without pulling all your running gear

 

awsome! they arnt froze, the truck still runs.. God i cant wait to get her all buttond up and start er up!

 

Notice the darker spots on the heads/ head gaskets. That's most likely where you were having a very small leak. Same place as mine. Do the cylinder walls still have a nice cross hatch in them?

 

not sure what you mean by cross hatch? the cylinder walls are smooth.. no scaring

 

well got some updates.. Wife's camera died, so i dont have any new pics.. But i got everything back on up to the valve covers.. Tomorrow i should be able to finish stuff up in a couple hours..

Went to get oil and figured i would treat the old girl to some of the best.. Royal purple 5W30. Fram Tough Gaurd oil filter and for the coolant, got one bottle of Royal Ice coolant addative..

Also got new Motorcraft platinum plugs.. Cannot wait to get her all together and start her up!

 

Oh, and i went to put one of the heads on, And heard a rattle.. So i messed with it a little and a half-dollar size piece of casting fell out of the heads!!! I was VERY pissed to say the least.. Obviously alabama cylinder head doesnt have quality control or mine just slipped through the cracks..

 

wait since u got the heads off, roll the engine via crank and rachet, see if there is ne movement in the pistons, calling for bad rings, also, look in detail to the liners, check for crosshatching, its small identical grooves in the cylinder, if those are worn out, time for a new long blck, but might as well check it since uve gotten this far, port and polish the intake also....

 

new heads are already on.. dont have a way to port and polish the intake.. Pistons are fine, truck was running before i took it apart..

 

The truck will run even if the rings are bad. It'll burn oil also.

 

you gave her the best but yet you put in a Fram filter......i wouldn't put that trash on my go kart

 

If I were you, I would put Motorcraft oil and a motorcraft filter in it. It's what came on the truck and it's not going to hurt it. Then again, I like OEM parts....

Whatever you decide to use (stick with whatever you use from now on), buy two of the same filters and 10 quarts of oil. Put the new filter on and the new oil in it. Run it at IDLE for 15-20 minutes. DO NOT REV IT. Let it circulate throughout the engine then drain the oil and remove the filter and then refill it with the rest of the oil you bought and the other filter. Then change it again at 3k miles with the same oil and filter.

 

? time for a new long block? because you could def just go out and get it punched ten over and re hatch it with a reem and new pistions that are 10 over

 

woooooohhh.. i cannot afford to spend another 50 bucks on oil just to drain it in 15 min lol... Do I have to do this? I know the guys at the shop told me to crank it over without any spark to get the oil up in the heads and everything, but didnt say anything about doing that with new oil, then draining it then putting new oil in it again..

Fram is all they carry at AAFES over here.. So thats what i have to get.. I get the best FRAM filter they carry, which i know is still pretty bad..

Truck wasnt burning oil before.. The only place the truck was loosing oil ( and just enough to show) was the valve covers. Which that wasnt even enough to show up on the dipstick..

 

I would highly advise that you do. This way if you dropped something like dirt or a few pieces of a gasket or something like that down into the oil pan you'll be able to get that gunk out. Whatever oil you fire up the truck with after rebuilding it, is what you need to use every oil change.

 

well good news and bad news....

Got the truck all buttoned up, fired her up and shes leaking... Cant tell if its from the heads or lower intake manifold, but she is def. leaking.. And on the way home i heard a really loud clunking coming from the rear end.. So she leaks and she has a new clunking noise in the rear.. GREAT!

 

You didn't do what Tom suggested did you...

 

How many miles are on your 4.0? I really hope I don't have to do this to mine.

 

which part? I put in the Synthetic 5W30 in the engine, let it run for about 20 min. drained it.. PUt in 5W30 synthitic in it.. does the brand really matter that much?