Possible head or head gasket issue?

[artr01]

I forgot to mention truck started smoking a little kind of like a white colored smoke with a little black in it also. I have 3 of these trucks now and this one is weak. Thanks again

[royster]

Hey Artr01.

The engine has obviously been opened before, by the looks of the gasket residue. I don't think that's an original-factory-gasket.

My advice is to take it to a machine shop...you can usually locate one through your local NAPA...and have them test it for cracks. Then ask them to re-surface it, if you don't want to do it yourself. Finally, replace the valve seals and you will have less smoking, if not eliminating it altogether.

If you have the head rebuilt, the block won't withstand the increased pressue and will likely start blowing rings and other uncomfortable personal parts. At 155,000 you have plenty of good motoring ahead, if you take the steps to really vamp this engine up...and it shouldn't take much.

While you've got the engine this far down, be sure to clear the EGR passages through the manifold and head. Since I have a 4G64, you might benefit from cruising through my thread "Roy's Garage" http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ll=1#post26192

[royster]

In this photo, it appears to show a breach between #3 and #4 cylinders.
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[artr01]

Hey royster thanks for looking and the advice. There is not any machine shops I trust locally but I may try the Napa store in Columbia S.C. they have a machine shop there. I may be taking a trip there in the morning about 45 miles so not to bad. So you are pretty sure the gasket was blown. I know something was wrong. Would the gasket being blown cause it to be weak also? Like I said I have 3 of these trucks and this one is considerably weaker that is why I was wondering if I need to do the whole engine but if I could get by with the gaskets and head shaved that seems pretty easy. I will have to wait and see what the machine shop says I reckon to decide whether to do the whole engine or not. I am kind of excited to get started. I just had knee surgery a week ago and my wife was not real happy with me doing all this. I think I have another couple of weeks before they let me back to work so I have a little free time now. Thanks again

[royster]

You're quite welcome.

From the photos, I'd say the head gasket was breached..."blown" conjures up mental images of metal shrapnel, or my first wife. "Breached" indicates a slow leakage...again, hey! just like my first wife...that certainly affects everything else.

But do let a couple other members chime in: I could be missing something.

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