Things to address since the motors out.

WILD_PHIL

WILD_PHIL

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Had head gasket failure on my 92 W250. I took the engine out Saturday night and started the tear down. I was disappointed that I couldn't find significant failure, so I could be 100% sure the gasket failed. The head gasket didn't have any apparent blow outs and the block looks great to the naked eye, rotating assembly looked good. After putting a square on the block side of the head I could tell it was far from flat. Found a guy in Houston selling an NIB aftermarket cast head for a good price.

So since I've got the engine out of the truck is there anything else I should do? I plan on resealing the entire engine, cleaning and painting it and tabbing the KDP. Just looking for suggestions. It's going back together with all stock parts. No crazy build since I don't plan on keeping the truck. Found a decent deal on a megacab I plan on buying. I'm just looking to address any issues I can for the next owner since the engine is out of the truck.

If more info is needed for advice let me know. Thanks.

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Does the block appear to be flat?

I'm to be in the same boat with my D350 pretty soon when I swap the cab. Doing the same as you, paint it and reseal. I have a 5spd so a good aftermarket single disk clutch will be in order. Maybe a water pump for good measure if you haven't changed it already.
 
Why not just have the head machined instead of replacing it?
A warped Cummins head is not exactly a rare thing, especially after a lot of miles.
 
Yes and many of the replacement heads on the market are not exactly true. The last one I bought to replace a cracked head was "nib" but I had to have it machined flat because it was right at the spec.

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I just went through an extensive rebuild of the engine in my 90. Here's the thread if you wanna poke around some. Thanks to Photobucket, the pictures no longer show up.

Disassembly for rebuild has started. - Competition Diesel.Com - Bringing The BEST Together

Even reman'd heads from Cummins won't be entirely flat. If it falls within their specs, it passes.

If you're gonna machine the head, I would have block surfaced/machined as well so that you have 2 flat surfaces to clamp the new gasket between. It typically doesn't take much to make it true. The block is a huge chunk of iron that can take some heat. So it may only need minimal amounts of material removed to make it true. The head is what will warp more. The new gasket should be oversized, of course. Either .010" or .020" over depending on how much is removed from the deck of the block. If either head gets surfaced/machined, be sure to have a valve job performed in order to return the valve recession to within spec.

Keep the cam tappets and push rods in their consecutive order. I don't know how critical that is for the push rods but it's especially so for the tappets.

For the KDP, just peen the case in a couple of spots around the bore. Red Loc-Tite on the timing gear case bolts with the red stuff.

Blue Loc-Tite should suffice for the 2 cam thrust bushing/plate bolts.

Consider the upgraded lube oil pump, 4939587 to replace the original. I'm sure it's tired enough after 25 years of service. Red Loc-Tite on the 4 bolts as well.

Replace the standard, steel expansion plugs with billet style plugs. As for the small expansion plugs in the main oil galley, tappet "valley", in the exhaust side of the head and rear cam plug... Consider the application of epoxy along their perimeters as added assurance.
 
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jimbo486 said:
If you're gonna machine the head, I would have block surfaced/machined as well so that you have 2 flat surfaces to clamp the new gasket between. It typically doesn't take much to make it true. The block is a huge chunk of iron that can take some heat. So it may only need minimal amounts of material removed to make it true. The head is what will warp more. The new gasket should be oversized, of course. Either .010" or .020" over depending on how much is removed from the deck of the block. If either head gets surfaced/machined, be sure to have a valve job performed in order to return the valve recession to within spec.
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couple things to note.
1. valve recession - having a little taken off the head to "unshroud" the valves is not a bad thing.

2. having a little taken off the block will raise compression a bit, which is always welcome for the mighty VE

3. if you do both the head/block and your clearances are good with a stock head gasket, don't go thicker. refer to #2

just my .02
 
Thanks guys. The new local head I was going to buy sold today. Anyone know where I can get a good head for cheap?

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WILD_PHIL said:
Thanks guys. The new local head I was going to buy sold today. Anyone know where I can get a good head for cheap?

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just get your head machined flat again. no need for another head
 
Well I went to the machine shop and got to talking about the head. Forgot to mention a lot of exhaust manifold bolt holes are stripped out on the head. It was in pretty bad condition. I think I'm just going to drop another motor in it. I'll be able to drive it till I can get this engine worked out.

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I can get a complete 215 P pumped virgin engine for 2k. That should go right in the truck as a direct replacement right? Wondering if there's anything else I'm going to need to do to get this engine to work.

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j.fondler said:
couple things to note.
1. valve recession - having a little taken off the head to "unshroud" the valves is not a bad thing. True. With a stock cam, the amount of lift isn't much to raise any concerns. Just following my Cummins Shop Manual.

2. having a little taken off the block will raise compression a bit, which is always welcome for the mighty VE.

3. if you do both the head/block and your clearances are good with a stock head gasket, don't go thicker. refer to #2 FWIW, Cummins Shop Manual suggests a .010" over gasket for blocks that have been machined .006".

just my .02
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...
 
WILD_PHIL said:
I can get a complete 215 P pumped virgin engine for 2k. That should go right in the truck as a direct replacement right? Wondering if there's anything else I'm going to need to do to get this engine to work.

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The engine will bolt right in. Use the motor mount brackets from the 92 engine, if they aren't similar. Only other things that come to mind are wiring for the shutdown solenoid and the throttle and TV cable (if it's an auto) linkage on the p-pump. I don't know if the fuel heater and IAT sensors use the same connectors or not.
 
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Thanks for the imput. I would actually like to keep the P pump so I'm going to take the VE pump and put it on the engine I'm buying and just installing it.

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That swap will be easy since you'll have the complete motors side by side!
 
WILD_PHIL said:
Well I went to the machine shop and got to talking about the head. Forgot to mention a lot of exhaust manifold bolt holes are stripped out on the head. It was in pretty bad condition. I think I'm just going to drop another motor in it. I'll be able to drive it till I can get this engine worked out.

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Sounds like you have a plan set in place already. But any decent machine shop can remove broken studs. If they tell you no, I wouldn't trust them with much of anything.
 
jimbo486 said:
That swap will be easy since you'll have the complete motors side by side!
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Thanks. So I drove 2 hours to pick the engine up and the guy didn't want to pull it on the spot. Engine was as tight as any other Cummins I'd seen. Definitely had the 215 P pump in it. I told him I'd try to come get it today. Looks like I'm going to have to wait until next weekend since I've got to work.
j.fondler said:
Dare to step outside your cummins shop manual. It's not the Bible.
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Thanks.
smokinVE said:
So you looking for a 4500?
What you doing with the VE pump?
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Well my initial plan was to put a complete 2nd gen drive line in it. In the last 6 months I've realized a ECLB W250 isn't the most practical truck for me. I plan to just redo the engine and sell the truck. I already had it listed locally. I'm glad this happened to me. I would have felt like chit if this head lifted a few weeks after selling it.
Red Sleeper said:
Sounds like you have a plan set in place already. But any decent machine shop can remove broken studs. If they tell you no, I wouldn't trust them with much of anything.
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The machine shop told me 500 bucks to rebuild it. My concern is how much more it's going to cost to fix the other issues with the head. To much over 500 and I'm doing myself a dis-service since I can pick up a whole motor for 1000 to 2000 bucks. It's $55 for the to clean and inspect the head to see if it's salvageable. This head has been pulled a few times before I'm sure.

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