Diggity's new project, fixing a 2004 GMC Sierra HD Duramax

[Diggity]

Ok, so I bought a 2004 GMC Sierra HD Duramax with a 6.6L LB7 diesel engine.  It has a V-chip for that extra boost of power when I want it hehe!.  About a year ago I was giving my truck some hell and running her pretty hard when the governor kicked in, then all of the sudden I lost power, check engine light came on....my fault.  I shut it down and let it cool off, and it was fine after that, then suddenly one day my Low coolant indicator came on.  Being a shade tree mechanic, I put more fluid in it and looked for any obvious leaks, squeezed the hoses to check for any hardness and did not find anything.  One day I noticed after I parked that coolant was leaking out of the overflow tube on to the ground.  I took the truck to a dealer and they initially told me I blew a head gasket and it would cost $10,000 to fix (screw that!).  I got a second opinion and was told that diesels run hotter in Hawaii and I could spend $2500 for a modification to my airflow to increase the cooling or just be aware of the heating issue and baby it until I go back to the mainland.  Well, I just flushed the cooling system and still have the coolant loss occurring and still no water in the oil, no coolant on the ground, no leaks.  I did some research and saw a blog where a guy realized it is his engine oil cooler leaking coolant into the intake system and burning it off.  That is my first step as it is a $75 product, if that fixes the problem AWESOME.  If not then it is a head gasket replacement, costing  $$$ and taking 20 hours of my time.  I will post the progress of my work for those of you that are engine nuts and appreciate any feedback, comments, or recommendations as I progress.  Below is a link to e-bay on what the engine oil cooler looks like and I will find the blog that got me started in this direction once I find it!  Look forward to hearing from you all, and hope you enjoy...pictures to follow shortly....

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2013 by JDDiggler

[convertor]

Hi Diggie, 

  i will come to Hawaii to help you fix it it wont brake my hart lol. i found a site that might help http://www.jasperengines.com/pdf/66lduramaxoilleaktb.pdf. it give you steps to check it out hope this helps 

 

convertor

[Diggity]

Thanks for the offer convertor, I am sure no one else wants to come to Hawaii to fix my truck! Lol. I am currently without power but figured out how to access the forums from my phone! I will try to post some pics and will look at the site you provided. Thanks again! Pray it is not a head gasket!

[EmtHipple]

I assume you have no fluid mixing? The oil coolers on those things are a bit of a problem sometimes and can mimic a blown head gasket. 

 

Also go here   http://www.dieselplace.com/  and search your problem they have some fixes for the overheating problem that might interest you.

Aside from my life as a life saving superman, bulls eyeing sharp shooter and all around good guy, I have worked on diesels my whole life.  I don't know a whole lot about the duramax( only worked on a few) as my training came from working for Ford, JD, and Perkins motors, I will be glad to help out however I can.

 

Now if you'll just send me two tickets to Hawaii,  my wife and I will find a sitter and be there by New Years 

Edited December 22, 2013 by EmtHipple

[Octane]

He have had bad luck with dirtymaxes at my shop and my dads shop.

 

Check your oil make sure no antifreeze is in the oil.

 

Id check the oil cooler. Or intake gasket usually fly apart when upped boost.

 

I work at Carolina Cat truck engine. Ill ask one of the small truck specialist.

[Diggity]

Thanks guys, no fluid in the oil from the naked eye and my diesel mechanic said he did not find any as well (he is new...).  I finally got the forums to load on my computer, so I will try and take some pictures to give you an idea what it looks like.  No grey smoke out the tail pipe either.  Lately it has been holding temperature under 210, only goes up when driving up the mountain passes or going slow in heavy traffic.

 

Diggity

[Antichrist]

Diesel

 

I really don't want to fly to a volcano, but hell, I'd help work on it for free. I've never had the pleasure of working on a Diesel yet. I almost had a chance to do some work at my last job on a Caterpillar 7.2 in a Chevy C6500, but they only wanted to pay me $9 an hour to do the work, so I had to refuse (LOL@ $9)

I seriously don't see how it would cost anywhere near $10,000 to replace a head gasket when you can buy a remanufactured long block for $4000-$5000, and installation would only set you back another $1000 or so with a decent mechanic.

 

I'm sure with a little research you'll be able to fix anything providing you have the tools and a little basic mechanical knowledge.

[Octane]

Is the resevoir boiling when overheating?

 

Nobody in my area will do a valve job on duramax heads. Becuase u gotta tig weld the hairline cracks if head gaskets blew.

 

 

 

Houston machine. In texas. $ 4995.00 with exchangeis complete longblock.

[Octane]

I hate to panic u or anything the reason i say look into head gaskets is becuase, if u did overheat it to bad just remember dirtymaxes are alluminum heads and alluminum block- making extremely easy to overheat quickly and crack under pressure.

[EmtHipple]

Put a Perkins/ Cat in it if you are gong the replace route, Remember all Kiity's under 250 hp are really just rebadged Perkins engines since around 2000, unless they started to make their own since I left the Perkins MSD( master service dealer) in 06

. I was the shop lead mechanic and was sent for advanced training on the new emissions controls and we were told about the cat engines. You will find no better engine in its class for fuel economy/ power ratio and durability ( things are built like tanks) 

Edited December 22, 2013 by EmtHipple

[Diggity]

Nice Hippy, I am gonna see if I can fix it first as the website you provided had a lot of similar cases.  Everyone says head gaskets right off, but I found one guy that said all it was is the Engine oil cooler, so I am gonna take convertors pdf and try it first. 

 

Octane, no it is just losing coolant and it maintains temp around 190 and only spikes to 210 when it has a little harder work than a flat road to drive.  I am going to the parts store tomorrow to see if I can get the O ring seals and the gasket sealer to fix the engine oil cooler/oil filter mount.  Let's see if that cheaper route works, if not then we will begin the look at head gaskets.  One other thing, my overflow cap had a crack in it, allowing pressure to escape, so I replaced that for a mere $21.  Since that replacement the temp has been holding.  No fluid in oil, no fluid on the ground, just had the radiator flushed and it held pressure.  That is why I am leaning towards the oil cooler, it is a small amount that gets lost over time.

 

Sorry I did not post any pictures today, I took the wife for a motorcycle ride around the island looking at Christmas lights, it was a beautiful night for a ride so I had to give in!  More to follow later tomorrow, maybe a couple pics.  

 

Ok here are the pictures.  First one is the whole truck, second is the Mastercylinder and booster that I have to replace as they are leaking, the third is the engine oil cooler mount.  It was hard to take the engine oil cooler one as it is underneath the truck where the oil filter screws in.  I have been lazy over the holidays and did not work on it yet...even though convertor says it does not take that long lol.  More pics to follow.

 

 

Edited January 4, 2014 by JDDiggler

[Diggity]

Forgot to update this, man I am old and slow... So I fixed the master cylinder after watching a Youtube of another guy doing his.  It was sooo much easier on the video that was less than 30 minutes.  Two hours later and a little help from a shop mechanic..tada!  Fixed.  

 

As for the coolant loss, found a guy here that specializes in diesel trucks.  He mainly works on Fords but took a stab at my GMC.  His diagnoses was a head gasket. He put ARP studs in and the new head gasket for just over $5,000 (donations for server will be a little less for a while).  But it runs like a dream, plus he made sure my TDI chip was connected properly and now I take Cameros off the line  plus my fuel mileage has almost doubled (when I am not using the chip, lol!).  

 

I am looking at my next upgrade to the truck.  I was told I could add another turbo on the low end for about $2,500.  Anybody got a suggestion?  I want a fast truck, but I also want it to be able to just haul my 16 foot trailer.  Appreciate your comments. 

 

Diggity