Oh CRAP!!!! 1989 3.0L Overhaul fail.

[Jay Ayala]

What the heck??? It failed even before I started the engine. I went to put all the coolant in after having added the engine oil and started to hear a tapping noise once I topped off the radiator. "tap" "tap" "tap" "tap"... What the heck is that noise. I peek under the Raider to see that I had coolant dripping into a puddle on my oil catch pan. I was kind of lucky I put it under there, I just needed a place out of the way and it wasn't bugging me so I left the oil catch pan down there or else there would have been a big mess.

In order to find out where this was coming from, I poured an additional 32 oz of fluid total into the radiator to see if I could locate it. I couldn't quite make out where it was coming from but I narrowed it down to somewhere above the water pump but below the intake plenum. I just spent some time disassembling the top end of the block to get a visual on where this could be leaking from. I think I have coolant leaking into my cylinders. I can see some coolant puddling up inside the intake manifold. ******!@#$%^&*()_+ I know I was very diligent about all gaskets, and all torque specifications. I'm so frustrated I'm almost ready to give up on this project!!! I'm going to see if I can narrow this down and I'll take more photos of what I find. In the mean time I'll see if anyone else has any ideas or comments.

In these pictures you can see coolant inside the intake Manifold and around the perimeter of the Intake Manifold and Cylinder Heads. UUUGGGHHH!!!

 

[SoCalMonty]

So sorry to hear this Jay! Where do you live?

Was the engine just tired before...no serious issues? Check the basics first. I've received head gaskets that had the water passages in the wrong places before...

Wishing you luck! Don't give up, you're super close now!

 

[Jay Ayala]

Hi SoCalMonty,
I live in Hillsboro, OR just west of Portland. Engine tired? No but the cylinder heads had overheated and cracked so I replaced the with remanufactured heads from Clearwater Cylinder Heads. I also took the opportunity to overhaul the block with bored cylinders 1mm over and new pistons and rings. Serious issues? Well kind of. But I've already replaced the heads that was the source of the problem. Basics? EVERYTHING was done to manufacturer specifications. Obviously something went wrong and I didn't detect it.

I can't believe how frustrating this is!!! I don't want to give up on this rig, I've owned it for 12 years but I can't invest the time I need to wrap this up for very much longer.


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[Mudrunner]

Did you put the head gaskets on the correct sides? Rebuilt a 3.0Evz yot and did that.

 

[Clem]

I have no incites, but don't give up on your rig. That is one cool SWB. You are so close. Maybe take a day off, cool off and think about it step by step.

HTH,

Clem

 

[Jay Ayala]

Did you put the head gaskets on the correct sides? Rebuilt a 3.0Evz yot and did that.

Yes the head gaskets are installed properly. No concern there. I torqued the heads to factory manual specifications. This is my 4th rebuild of the 3.0L engine on these rigs. I'll report back once I get more into this later this afternoon.


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[Jay Ayala]

I have no incites, but don't give up on your rig. That is one cool SWB. You are so close. Maybe take a day off, cool off and think about it step by step.

HTH,

Clem

Clem, thanks for the encouragement. As I said, I don't want to give up on it, but I travel for a living and time to invest in my Raider is coming to a rapid end. I have this and next weekend. Then my travel starts and who knows when I can get back to this. Dang!!!


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[SoCalMonty]

Any 4x4wire Monty guys in OR that could swing by and give you beers of encouragement??? I wish you were in CA, I'd help if I could!

 

[Jay Ayala]

I found the leak source. Evidently, the intake Manifold was not torqued down as I thought. It was so loose. I don't understand how I could have missed that. I cleared out all the coolant from the intake valves in the cylinder heads. I'll put all of this back together in the next couple of hours or so.

Feast your eyes.

 

[SoCalMonty]

Nice to hear it was something simple...it usually is! Looking forward to the first run video!

 

[Jay Ayala]

Okay, I fixed my coolant leak. Yes you guys were right. It was the intake manifold. Evidently I never torqued it down. I can't believe I missed it. However, I wanted extra assurance that I wasn't going to have this failure again. I decided to put a little Permatex Right Stuff Gasket Maker on both sides of the new intake Manifold gaskets to fill in any little imperfections that may exist between the mating surfaces and the gaskets.

After applying the Right Stuff liberally and torquing down the Intake Manifold, I re-installed all the parts to the Raider. Except the Hood and the Skid plates. You never know what else you might run into until you get the vehicle running well. I also filled the coolant in the radiator and was anticipating more dripping but I found the source of the problem and fixed it after all. Whew!!! No leaks. After having seen the amount of fluid in the intake valves, I was afraid I had a lot of coolant slip into the oil pan. I was able to drain out a little oil using my fabulous new oil drain valve from Sure Drain. No coolant was found in the oil thankfully. Tomorrow I will start the Raider and try to get the timing set properly. Does anyone have any tips for me?

 

[Jay Ayala]

Nice to hear it was something simple...it usually is! Looking forward to the first run video!

Well tomorrow is another day. I still have so much to do. An tomorrow I'll have another battle ahead of me. I still have to get this started and set the timing properly. Hmm... Then I have to get it to pass DEQ emission tests so I can get the registration current. Oh man. I'm so close I can taste it. This is so agonizing!

 

[Jay Ayala]

Yes mothaf****!!

SUCCESS!!!

I'm happy to report that after a few tips from the 4x4wire and the expedition portal posting forum I was able to finally get this engine overhaul completed. I fired up the engine a few minutes ago after following fasteddy's advice of priming the engine and it fired right up. I ran the engine for about 2 minutes before I turned it off. I was kind of forced to because all the coolant made its way into the exhaust and it kind of "fogged" me out of my garage. Tomorrow, I will let it come to full operating temperature, set the timing and put 2-10 miles on the rig. Then I will change the oil because it may be contaminated with a little coolant.

Once that is all done, I'll start the engine break in procedure with some daily driving and baby'ing the engine for the first oil change at 500 miles.

 

[stolz]

Can we get some more pics, rad rig

 

[Jay Ayala]

If all goes well, soon I'll be back in the Tillamook Mountains with the group.