Pitting on cylinder deck

[sprice]

I was replacing a head on my 6.5L Turbo Diesel when I noticed there was pitting on the cylinder deck between the number 7 cylinder and the water jacket. This is right where the head gasket burned up. Can someone give me advice on this matter? Do I need to pull the block and have it Decked???

[Robyn]

If the pitting is right under where the fire ring sits you are really faced with no other good choice but to deck the block and replace the gaskets with the .010" thicker ones.

If you do this do both sides.
Unfortunately to do this job the engine is going to have to come apart all the way down to a bare block.

I know this is not what you wanted to hear.

If the pitting is not really bad you can put it back together and if you use the Felpro gasket that has the metal reinforcing all around that area it well may hold for quite some time.

Your call

good luck

Robyn

[sprice]

The pitting is more toward the coolant passage and not by the cylinder. The engine has 196K on it, do you think I should pull it anyway and rebuild the bottom end? I have had the injector pump recalibrated and bought new injectors so I'm hoping to drive it for a while.
Thanks for your reply...

[Robyn]

Your call.
If the oil pressure was good and there is very little ridge showing in the cylinders this is good.

If there was minimal blowby from the oil filler with the engine running then you may just be fine with replacing the head gaskets.

If there is any doubt about it I would yank it out and freshen things up.

At least rings, bearings, timing chain and some gaskets and seals along with soft plugs.

Soft plugs are a bitch to replace in the truck so if you yank it out do them.

Be sure to use a new set of head bolts.
When you reinstall the pushrods be sure to place them so the copper colored ball is toward the rocker arms.
Replace the plastic rocker guide buttons too, cheap peace of mind. Lose one and the engine can go away if the rocker pops off the valve and causes a spring to tweek and dump the valve keepers.

If the area under the fire ring is good a fresh set of Felpro gaskets with the full metal reinforcing on the end cylinders should do fine then.

While you have the heads off I would look them over well for cracks too.
Small little cracks between the valves is normal. cracks in the Precup ports are normal as long as they dont get too long and or extend under the fire ring of the gasket.

Any cracks that start at a valve and extend out onto the head deck area (Quench area) should be considered bad news and the head should be used for a door stop.

If the crack issue is not a point, pull some valves and see what they look like and if the seats have sunk into the head.
If this is ok a new set of valve seals would be a good thing and your off the the races.

Hope this helps

Robyn