My Dodge Truck Project (Cummins Inside)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nov 4, 2012
5,997
12,668
113
I've been working on some cooling system items over the weekend. On Friday I dumped a bottle of Prestone Radiator flush in the truck and drove it around for about 2 hours spread over Friday and Saturday.

Yesterday I picked up 4 gallons of coolant and 4 gallons of distilled water. I wanted to use a long life coolant that was intended for diesels (even though this engine doesn't have wet liners) that would be available at any parts store. I came up with Zerex G05. It is readily available in both concentrate and pre-mix at O'Reilly, Autozone, NAPA, and Advance.
20211121_154012.jpg

I also ordered a water pump; it showed up around 7PM yesterday.
20211121_134217.jpg

I began doing drain and fills last night, filling with tap water, running for 10 minutes or so, then draining and repeating until the water started coming out mostly clear. I know some people say to only used distilled water, but with a 6 gallon coolant capacity, I'd need to clear out a couple Walmarts to get that much distilled water.

Original color-
20211119_154612.jpg

First drain-
20211120_163011.jpg

Second drain-
20211120_191247.jpg

Third drain-
20211121_110757.jpg

Final drain-
20211121_143314.jpg

Once I felt I had flushed enough of the old coolant out, I swapped out the water pump. This was the easiest water pump I've ever replaced. 2 easily accessible bolts and a rubber o-ring to seal it. The old pump was a Concentric. Concentric was the OE supplier, so it's possible that was the original pump. It's difficult to confirm, but I suspect it was leaking.
20211121_134224.jpg
20211121_140843.jpg

At the last minute I decided to change the radiator hoses as they looked a bit swollen. I got two Gates hoses from O'Reilly. The block side clamp on the lower hose was an absolute b*tch but the rest was easy.

The system capacity is supposed to be about 6 gallons. If you include the expansion tank, I got a little more than 5 gallons in it. I'll monitor the level closely for a while to see if it burps any more air out. I still need to change the thermostat and radiator cap, but I will be ordering OE for those. I've had nothing but trouble from aftermarket thermostats and radiator caps.

The small head gasket leak doesn't seem to have gotten any better or worse in changing the coolant. I did some more reading around and found that there is a product called Zerex Super Seal that is approved by Cummins for use in ISX engines to seal coolant leaks. They mostly use it for EGR cooler leaks but I can't see why it wouldn't work for this as well. I'm not ready to dump it in yet but it's an option if it comes to that point. For now I'm gonna try to live with it as-is and monitor the level closely.
THA_37_zerex.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Nov 4, 2012
5,997
12,668
113
Coldest cold start yet the morning but its the last work day of a short week so I wanted to drive it this morning.
Screenshot_20211124-052108_Weather.jpg


25°, it was not plugged in. Took a few tries and had a nasty idle for minute but it did start fine.
20211124_045826.jpg

Also, since changing the coolant, this is the highest my temp needle has gone. Thermostat doesn't like the new coolant maybe? I still get heat from the vents so it's not cold inside but it's not as hot as it was.
20211124_052358.jpg
 
Oct 14, 2008
8,806
7,746
113
Melville,Saskatchewan
A Winter front may be a good investment. It makes a big difference.
 
Oct 14, 2008
8,806
7,746
113
Melville,Saskatchewan
Nov 4, 2012
5,997
12,668
113
This afternoon started out with "the valve cover gaskets are leaking, maybe I can tighten them down and see if that fixes it" and spiraled out of control from there.

I tried to snug the bolts up but they were already pretty tight. So I figured I should replace the gaskets. But in order to get all the valve covers off that EGR tube has to come off and I'll be damned if I was gonna bolt it back on when I was done. I unbolted it and to my surprise, found that someone already put a block off plate in the EGR, so it wasn't doing anything anyways.
20211124_172831.jpg

20211124_172937.jpg

I purchased a non-EGR intake manifold and exhaust manifold a few weeks ago. The intake manifold is easy to replace, the exhaust manifold is an hours long affair assuming no bolts break. So I decided to make an EGR blockoff plate for the exhaust manifold that is already on there. I had this old forklift mast that I grabbed when they put new ones on at my old job.
20211124_173127.jpg

It's made out of nice, thick 1/2" steel. I knew I'd use it someday. I used the gasket as a template and made this-
20211124_173227.jpg
20211124_173216.jpg

I haven't been able to find the gasket for it in any parts manual or book or online, so I'm gonna reuse the one I have rather than fck around with the morons at autozone trying to find a close one. Tomorrow I'll paint the blockoff plate along with the intake and get them maybe get them installed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
Nov 4, 2012
5,997
12,668
113
Got up this morning and froze my *ss off getting the old intake horn removed and installing the new one. Of course the old gasket stuck to the engine side and my fingers were numb scraping it off.
20211126_123058.jpg

The main reason for replacing the whole thing rather instead of just using a blockoff plate (besides looking nicer) is that the EGR intake has a bottleneck cast in it and is a lot more restrictive than the standard one.
20211126_123111.jpg

I had to use a few washers to make the exhaust manifold block off fit, the studs weren't threaded the whole way down, but I'm happy with it. For the solenoid, I just unplugged and removed it and capped the vacuum line at the tee.
20211126_123105.jpg

Took it for a ride and filled it up with diesel and put some winterizer/antigel/cetane booster in the tank. I have the valve cover gaskets on my desk but I'm too cold to want to play with them right now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Nov 4, 2012
5,997
12,668
113
Pulled the truck halfway into the garage and used the torpedo heater to stay sorta warm while I did the valve cover gaskets. Old ones were super brittle and hard. I didn't realize how bad they were leaking until I had the covers off.
20211127_140005.jpg

And yeah, even at 6'2" I needed a step to get to that last valve cover.
20211127_140013.jpg

Engine looked pretty clean inside. I didn't adjust the valves, probably should've but I'll do it some other time.
20211127_153022.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Status
Not open for further replies.

GBodyForum is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply, and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Please support GBodyForum Sponsors

Classic Truck Consoles Dixie Restoration Depot UMI Performance

Contact [email protected] for info on becoming a sponsor