No Cabin Heat on Warm-Up, Coolant Issues, Bad Head Gasket?

rancherman · **Posted:** Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:44 pm

fool4wheelin wrote:

Looks like I have a couple short block options, but I am going to take a look at fixing what I have first. I understand the trade-offs on replacing parts while things are apart, but I can't justify throwing a lot of coin at this thing given the general age and condition of the vehicle. Couple of questions:

- Is it possible to pull the oil pan and replace the #4 liner with the block still in the vehicle?
- What are the chances my other liners are in the same condition?
- If I pull the block and remove all the liners for inspection, can I re-use the good ones or would I need to get all new liners?

If 'good'.. yes, you can re use them. You'll need new O-rings to seal it back up. They come with the shims too for setting the proper height of the liner in the block. You have to be ultra sanitary on re assembly, absolutely no dirt or scale on the ledge the liner sits on, and the lip of the liner itself.

Chances of others being cracked? Only way to tell is to inspect them all.
Be very careful when knocking out the liners, with the crank in place; It's going to be pretty snug in there, and be aware that the oil jets will easily bend, break if you are working around them. I only took mine out after the piston and liner were out, but I had 2 sets of eyes watching!

The liners will be 'snug' fit for about 1.5 inches, and might even take a pretty good whack or 2 to get the O-rings broke loose.. then should be a smoother pull from there. I made a way- overkill plate to pull against; I had the crank out, so I'd recommend you making a little block out of hard wood (2X4 Inches) (make sure the grain of the wood is such that it just won't split when it's struck) wood is good, it wont bung up the crank if you 'miss'... Put another piece of hard wood against the "plate", and drive it out with a 2 pound hammer. I used my threaded rod and top blocks to pull from the top.

Whenever I see the 'end' cylinder cracked as yours, I suspect 2 things right off the bat;
1/Cooling issues, either poor circulation, or poor warm up/cool down procedures/running too long with blown head gasket..
2/Ether.
Ether tends to really funk up the end cylinders; you have a manifold full of it, and the ether laden air tends to pool up and the end cylinder is forced to 'take it all'... Usually, stretched head bolts comes first (aka, the ol' lifted head syndrome) I'd suspect cooling first.

fool4wheelin · **Posted:** Wed Jul 25, 2018 6:47 pm

rancherman wrote:

Whenever I see the 'end' cylinder cracked as yours, I suspect 2 things right off the bat;
1/Cooling issues, either poor circulation, or poor warm up/cool down procedures/running too long with blown head gasket..
2/Ether.

I don't think I ever had a blown head gasket, just a cracked head, but that was on the intake port of #1 cyl. I've never used any Ether, can't say what happened first 100k but its doubtful.

I did have one instance last winter where it was -25°F outside and I couldn't get it started at the end of the day. I did a bunch of key on/crank cylces until I finally threw in the towel and had someone tow me into the shop to let it warm up. It did eventually start, but my #3 GP (the one behind the intake inlet) died in the process. Seems like my exhaust in coolant issues started after this, so maybe I got too much fuel in cyl #4 or something trying to start it?

rancherman · **Posted:** Wed Jul 25, 2018 7:20 pm

fool4wheelin wrote:

rancherman wrote:

Whenever I see the 'end' cylinder cracked as yours, I suspect 2 things right off the bat;
1/Cooling issues, either poor circulation, or poor warm up/cool down procedures/running too long with blown head gasket..
2/Ether.

I don't think I ever had a blown head gasket, just a cracked head, but that was on the intake port of #1 cyl. I've never used any Ether, can't say what happened first 100k but its doubtful.

I did have one instance last winter where it was -25°F outside and I couldn't get it started at the end of the day. I did a bunch of key on/crank cylces until I finally threw in the towel and had someone tow me into the shop to let it warm up. It did eventually start, but my #3 GP (the one behind the intake inlet) died in the process. Seems like my exhaust in coolant issues started after this, so maybe I got too much fuel in cyl #4 or something trying to start it?

you can pull your hair out trying to pinpoint the exact cause/start of liner cracks!! No doubt it started as a tiny fissure, and has progressed up to the current length/depth/direction. I've never seen a vertical crack, tied in with a horizontal one! Unusual! I've seen them split ALL the way 'round!
Too much fuel? probably not. Most will stay in aerosol, and gets ejected out during the exhaust stroke if it isn't burned. (most) lol. Now, if you had a slobbering injector: that's another story!!

I wasn't trying to imply any wrong doing by you, or your starting/operating methods.. It could've been doomed long before you actually bought it, it just took this long for the imperfection to deepen enough to allow pressure to pass! Looking at the corrosion of a water port on your deck surface tells me you are going to find some pretty corroded liner(s)
Here is my worst one; before cleaning

After wire brushing; Notice the spot along the rim, this is called 'fretting'. Caused by poor heat transfer.

I'll bet on that fateful day you had it towed, was a day that needed all FOUR cylinders to HIT with authority, otherwise it wouldn't start because of the cold. The crack may have 'blown' through just recently, and that cylinder was lacking in compression... just enough to trip you up..
I just remembered something; I think it was you that I asked if you happened to roll the engine over any when the head was off? The reason I asked, is sometimes, liners will try to move with the pistons. 'sometimes', they'll move just enough to allow crud to fall back down on the mating seat.(there is a lot of 'crap' ' and if so, may become 'cocked'. when the new head it torqued back down, it puts tremendous side pressure on the liner... boink. cracked. We could go on and on with potential causes!! That's kind of water over the dam now..

GordnadoCRD · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:24 am

Has this rig ever had an in-line thermostat of any kind?

Using these will cause improper coolant flow, particularly in the head, which will cause localized hot spots.

These hot-spots can, theoretically, cause head, gasket, and/or liner failure. There is at least one member that suffered a cracked head, for which an inline thermostat is the suspected cause.

fool4wheelin · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:20 am

GordnadoCRD wrote:

Has this rig ever had an in-line thermostat of any kind?

No, when I bought it 6 years ago it was in stock condition and I have not done any mods to the thermostat. When I bought I had the coolant flushed (by the local dealer) and installed new water pump/thermostat when doing the timing belt.

fool4wheelin · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:28 am

rancherman wrote:

I'll bet on that fateful day you had it towed, was a day that needed all FOUR cylinders to HIT with authority, otherwise it wouldn't start because of the cold.

I only had to "tow" it about 100 ft inside the shop where I work, so not too bad. Definitely miss the old 7V GP's, need to be careful trying to start it now on really cold days after the sun goes down.

fool4wheelin · **Posted:** Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:29 pm

Been a long time coming, but finally got my rig back together! I flat towed it over to a friend's shop to pull the engine, but he managed to swap the liner with the engine in the vehicle. He somehow propped the engine up enough to get the oil pan off, then it was a pretty straightforward to change out the liner from there. At any rate it seems to be running fine now, will keep a close eye on it these next few weeks. Will post pics of the cracked liner when I get a chance.

vwroad87 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:50 pm

Makes me happy with another CRD is back in action! Congrats and that is some friend you have!

No Cabin Heat on Warm-Up, Coolant Issues, Bad Head Gasket?

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