Well, after owning 9 P-38s I have finally struck one with a bad head gasket. The latest Borrego.
Just started pufffing out the side. Ironically, in the shop just as I finished repairing and re gassing air con so I was listening out for odd noises.
I was hoping it was manifold but that would be too easy!
So, it's heads off and do what is needed......At least I finally have a well lit shop with a solid floor now.
The question at this point is which gasket set is recommended? There is a bewildering selection out there with prices all over the place!
I already know, from years of reading about this, that I will be wanting ARP studs rather than stretch bolts.
Also, whilst the heads are off, and all the top end bits are off, what else is a must do?
Engine has 122k miles on it........
Oh, yea, I am assuming I would be wise to do both sides, not just the one that is leaking??
Any guidance here will be much appreciated!
Cheers,
Tom
Elring head gaskets, the rest aren't that important. It shouldn't need much else other than the ARB studs unless it has been totally neglected from new and still had the original oil in it.
Thanks!
What makes an Elring gasket better? Just curious....
I was thinking water pump, but it has only 60k miles on it , I think....
Running very well and strong prior to this. Everything is original and working! (on all 3 of my current stable!)
Seems to have been looked after pretty well.I believe I am caretaker #4.
No idea but they are recommended by just about everybody and seem to be better quality than others. With Elring gaskets and the ARB studs, you shouldn't ever need to do them again.
Never again.........I like the sound of that!
I will be ordering the gaskets today.
Now to do the tear down.
Good thing I have 2 spares to drive!
As for doing one side or both... the bank with the steering column is a pita, so if that side is not leaking then theres a reasonable argument to leave it alone
That said, i only did the leaking side first, and then six months later ended up having to do the other one anyway...so maybe both, since you have other cars
.
The only thing that makes the driver's side harder, it getting to the rear bottom exhaust manifold bolt. However, if you remove the inner wheelarch liner, you can go in from there. While you've got the inlet off, there's not much more to do to take the other head off and do both.
In the end, I pulled both heads. No issues getting to any of the bolts.
I did find that I needed to put a 3 ft pipe on my breaker bar to pop the head bolts loose......EXCEPT
the 2 rear head bolts on the RH side......Just adjacent to the spot where the gasket blew through!
Those come out too easily!
I can only conclude that the last person to do the gaskets, which I have reason to believe was the factory,
did not properly torque them!
No damage or erosion of the block or head in the blow through spot! Yea!!
Off to the machine shop this morning to see if i need skimming or not.
If I need the job done, is there a ratio to use when doing the heads as to how much should come off the intake manifold?
I understand it can make life easier when lining up gaskets on reassembly if the intake is addressed?
The bolt holes in the inlet manifold are oversized to allow for the heads being skimmed so no need to do anything with them. The gasket usually have oval holes too so it all pulls down evenly once you get the first couple of bolts in.