Gotta have a cracked head

Mikel89us said:

That kind of crack can also be fixed, you grind out the crack all the way past the end, then re weld it, and have it machined for the valve seats again. Much cheaper than a head replacement.

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Took it to a automotive machine shop in town...guy told me that it's "pinnable" and that some guys get the head really hot and re-weld it, but says it won't hold up...said best bet is to just replace.

I will say this with the OBD II diagnostic module and torque on my phone, I have a HUD display of water temp, RPM, and speed where I don't have a tachometer on my truck. Before the head was replaced I noticed the temp coming from the OBD II was 240-260~ now it barely even gets to 180 (I put a 180 thermostat in it in prep for hot hot hot summers down here in the gulf coast of Texas.

My RPM at 65mph is 2600~ is that a normal RPM for a 4 banger?

Even got the inspection done...guy hooked it up to an OBD II deal and voila...pass and out the door in like 5 minutes

Truck was purring along nicely on my way in to work with nary a problem...happy to be back in business

Gonna change the oil, rear diff fluid, and flush the power steering fluid (its very old/black and doing that whining/growling noise until it warms up) already have changed the transmission fluid, and got new tires on the truck (they are smaller but still look ok for the truck)

oh, tried to get an alignment...have to change the stock camber deal for one that can be adjusted...the guys at NTB are kinda pissing me off
first time I tried to get it done they said the ball joints were bad...turns out the stupid wheel bearing nut was just a little loose, knocked the pin out and tightened it about 1/4 turn and voila [on both sides]...solid as a rock, this time...guy took like 2 hours to come out and tell me he couldn't do it because the camber couldn't be adjusted...jeez)

IF you have 'twin I-beam' suspension, the old one w/o 'A arms', the camber can be adjusted by using a kit that has an eccentric bore. The kit allows negative or positive change to the camber.
If your tires are tilted in at the top, that is a common thing. If the tilt is too much, you can administer some 'spring shims' that rotate in between the coils to make the camber a little less negative. AFTER DOING THAT HAVE THE TOE-IN checked or you will eat your tires. This is a much less costly and labor intensive solution than adding a 'camber kit'.
Many times you can get the camber within specs by using the twist-in shims. They will limit spring compression / stroke a little (1/2"??) but that is not significant in most cases.
tom

Got links for those shims?

Honestly after I got the new tires all around...the thing rides so much smoother and doesn't pull nearly as bad as the old oversized tires

The twist-in shims I got were from Advance Auto parts. They were in a package of 4, blister pack. The outer side had room for a 1/2" drive square to twist them into place.
I was very !!! leery of the torque needed to put them in place, even with the wheel hanging down to allow for largest spring 'gap' between coils.
I think they were hecho in China. They look like a VERY coarse drill bit in that there is a curved path on two sides that will seat flat against the spring coils once in place.
I put them as far up the spring as I could. Camber improved a whole lot, but I forgot that the toe-in would change and ate a pair of pretty new tires in very short time.
tom

WarHawk-AVG said:

the guys at NTB are kinda pissing me off
first time I tried to get it done they said the ball joints were bad...turns out the stupid wheel bearing nut was just a little loose, knocked the pin out and tightened it about 1/4 turn and voila [on both sides]...solid as a rock, this time...guy took like 2 hours to come out and tell me he couldn't do it because the camber couldn't be adjusted...jeez)

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Don't ya just love those kinda shops???

I took my Ranger to a Good Year garage once in Markham for drive clean...first time they said my gas tank was leaking and they couldn't test it...so had the tank replaced for $400...took it back there and the guy said he can't test my truck because the clutch is slipping...I said I just drove the truck here and have been driving it all week with no slip in the clutch whatsoever and if you can't drive a standard (wanted to say to stay the F*&K out of my truck)...then find someone who can...someone else did the test...it failed...but they gave me the unconditional pass and away I went...never went back there again...

These guys also told me my rear brakes were leaking...but I saw where the guy had actually sprayed oil from an oil can on the drum...

Really old post...necromancy

I replaced the head myself

Bought a head from O'Rilleys...changed it out myself. (took me 5 freeking tries) but got it put together and running GREAT! sure enough crack plain as day between the valves on cylinder 1

Since the change have over 200K miles on it..using torque app on my phone and a cheap chinese OBDII bluetooth for a "heads up" cluster on my dash...even have a tach now!

However getting a new odd power dropoff...Driving normally on flat level ground...runs great...can go 65 70mph all day long, just when I go us hills and I I floor it, throttle position on torque says 90%+ but engine will not rev with power past 3K rpm (I know it's not a restricted exhaust because I have probably less than 40K miles on a new CAT (old cat literally came apart and the guts were falling out!)...sucks going over the Fred Hartman bridge because if it drops down out of OD, RPM's go up and power drops to crap (have to turn on hazards to keep from getting run over)...Just started happening too...just after the flood and I know my truck wasn't flooded out...It was sitting in the water up to the bottom of the door jam, but didn't get any deeper.
Tested it today...took off from the light, first gear ok acceleration, 2nd gear floored it...RPM's pegged at 3000~ and engine started sputtering...but upshift again RPM's dropped and power came back and accelerated up.

Truthfully I was afraid it was a transmission problem...maybe a slipping gear or the old blow out seal on the pressure plate of the valve body..but it shifts fine..just looses power

Oh and found out that that the liquid glass is sodium silicate glass, mixed in with sand and pumped with CO2 hardens and can be used for molding metal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPnSb3yzytE


First thing I'm gonna do is change the fuel filter (on payday)...after the flood here in H-Town NO telling what kind of crap gas they were selling...checked transmission fluid (a bit high..but still red and doesn't smell burned)
Once I get the fuel filter changed hopefully that will cure my problem...Hoping it's something simple and cheap! The truck has been running AWESOME...and best part...it's paid for and make a 70mile round trip daily commute without a hitch.