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Slippy
Dodge Dakota
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8/01/2005
05:50:37
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 Subject: Heads
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Was wondering if any one here had a head gasket failure. Got a 95, 3.9. Its running like crap and noticed alot of white smoke out the tailpipe. Temp gauge doenst seem to move. The resivoir was almost empty the other day. Also wondering how hard this is. Got my Chiltons manual. Going to have to read over it. Thanks.
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N56629
Dodge Dakota
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8/01/2005
06:50:37
|  RE: Heads
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It's a lot of work and a bit time consuming but if you have good mechanical aptitude and understand the manual you shouldn't have any problem. I know no one was standing over my shoulder and there were no service manuals when I did my first one.
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slippy
Dodge Dakota
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8/01/2005
09:16:16
| RE: Heads
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My philosophy is its all just nuts and bolts. So figuring it out shouldnt be difficult. Ill just follow the manual and hopefully wont run into to many snags. I have a decent mechanical aptitude. I enjoy the challenge of fixing cars.
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mike142
Dodge Dakota
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8/01/2005
13:11:38
| RE: Heads
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Slippy; I've rebuilt many engines in my life and
I'd like to share some tips with you. YES indeed you do need a manual for the engine in question.
After you have the heads on a work bench be sure
you do a through cleaning especially on the gasket
surfaces. On aluminum heads take extra care as aluminum is quite soft. Cleaning with a med grit
"Roloc" bristle brush (little nylon fingers) in a die grinder works best. Also very important is to clean and chase with a bottoming tap ALL the head bolt holes in the block. This will insure even bolt torque upon reassembly. Even if you're tempted
to reuse the old head bolts DON'T. There not that
much money and are cheap insurance against a come back for a leak later on. Follow the manual on bolt tightening TO THE LETTER. Take your time and
it will all come out fine. Also you will find in
the head set(the name of the gasket kit you will need)a sets of valve seals. Most premium set contain them.(I like Felpro myself). If you can't
do it,take them to a shop with a valve spring compressor to have it done. Have fun.
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Slippy
Dodge Dakota
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8/01/2005
16:49:31
| RE: Heads
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Where is a good place to purchase the felpro gasket set.
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gen1dak
Dodge Dakota
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8/01/2005
21:15:17
| RE: Heads
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Check the head with a straight edge, or have it checked by a machine shop for warpage. If you're checking it yourself, just remember we're talking about thousandths of an inch, so it's usually pretty hard to see just by looking.
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Slippy
Dodge Dakota
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8/03/2005
18:00:42
| RE: Heads
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Thanks for the info. Ill update when the project is done
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schmidtmike
Dodge Dakota
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8/06/2005
15:20:56
| RE: Heads
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get it resurfaced and avoid the problem of doing it again down the road. Odds are it's warped if it's been overheating.
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