7.3 head gasket break in period

[Cloverleaffarm]

long story short, i cracked a head recently and had it replaced. Didn't have enough money to do both heads and no need to touch the other one.
So the situation i'm in now is 1 head/gasket has 285K miles and the other one now has something close to 600 miles on it.


how long do i need to break it in before i start beating on it?
its almost planting season so i'll be hauling seed/fuel back and forth from the farm to the field, do i need to take it easy for awhile?

i'm also planning on hooking to a sled in about 4 weeks if weather permits. is that to risky?

 

[DEEZUZ]

whats there to risk?

did you use studs? or factory bolts?

 

[Cloverleaffarm]

blowing the new gasket. factory bolts

 

[DEEZUZ]

if it has over 600 miles on it already, its fine... I just let it heat up and cool down, then drive with a load on it for 15 or so miles, after that its fair game

 

[Cloverleaffarm]

i've put close to 600 miles on already, kept it under 35lbs so far because i wasn't sure how long it would take for it to "seat" properly.

 

[907DAVE]

Thousands of miles to season a set, some speculate its in the tens of thousands.

FWIW, I hit 60 psi the first night I had my motor back together with stock gaskets and studs. Ran it hard until it blew a rod about a year later(roughly 6k miles) and when I pulled the heads back off the gaskets were not bonded to the mating surfaces very well. Almost looked as if you could use them over again.

 

[Cloverleaffarm]

Thousands of miles to season a set, some speculate its in the tens of thousands.

FWIW, I hit 60 psi the first night I had my motor back together with stock gaskets and studs. Ran it hard until it blew a rod about a year later(roughly 6k miles) and when I pulled the heads back off the gaskets were not bonded to the mating surfaces very well. Almost looked as if you could use them over again.

thats making me not wanna hook to that sled now :doh:
maybe i'll hold off until more summer time when i can get more miles on it. this first pull would be about 125 miles from home, maybe i'll hook closer to home for the first time this season

 

[907DAVE]

Its a little of both. I had zero head gasket issues during that period with hundreds of 60 psi runs, but the gaskets pulled off like they were still new.

Here's a pic, not the greatest but you can see the gasket still looks fine besides the oil and antifreeze everywhere.

And yes, both mating surfaces were spotless before the install.

 

[TARM]

It is studs or head bolts?

What kind of power and peak tq are you making? IT comes does to CP the spike or the ti steady level. I bet Swamps has crazy detailed numbers after all this time with that high tech cell they have. I would ask them.

I would be very iffy if there are no studs. But I am not one with much experience in blowing head gaskets or engines for that matter so.........

Dave,

I thought you blew the first set of head gasket with the compounds the very first time out? Or was that some one else. Weren't they cometic's

 

[907DAVE]

Also note the timing was conservative.

 

[907DAVE]

That was with the Cometic's on engine #2.

 

[caladash]

Wouldn't a retorque in the appropriate sequence help in "setting" the gasket?

 

[Cloverleaffarm]

It is studs or head bolts?

What kind of power and peak tq are you making? IT comes does to CP the spike or the ti steady level. I bet Swamps has crazy detailed numbers after all this time with that high tech cell they have. I would ask them.

I would be very iffy if there are no studs. But I am not one with much experience in blowing head gaskets or engines for that matter so.........

I used new head bolts.

i'm currently running 160/100s, s366, original modded 17*hpop. so i'd say at the max i'm making 440/850-900 tq?

a buddy of mine will be doing some WOT runs/idle and regular driving runs with his AE so we can get some actual numbers to see what they are

 

[DEEZUZ]

retorque wont do anything, its a matter of the gasket.. well, melting to the surface I guess you can say...

I dont think it takes much longer than what you have on it.. I mean what more else can you do besides run it? heat cycles are most important... I think youll be fine

 

[Cloverleaffarm]

i'll just put more miles on it and start towing with it soon. in 2 months i'll get a company rig so i can park mine and eventually finish my other motor build

 

[caladash]

Interesting. Isn't it a common practice for a hot retorque after a few hundred miles on a cummins motor? The last few I assisted in building we did retorques. Almost all of them moved. Granted they all had fire rings and H-11s. This is another reason why I'm building a cheap engine stand to fire up my forged rod motor a few times and then retorque everything. Also check for leaks as well. This is just me though. Should help me sleep better at night!

 

[907DAVE]

Key word: Fire Rings. MLS or graphite may not change. Also remember he is using stock TTY bolts.

 

[Slate]

thats making me not wanna hook to that sled now :doh:
maybe i'll hold off until more summer time when i can get more miles on it. this first pull would be about 125 miles from home, maybe i'll hook closer to home for the first time this season

Just do the pull. I'll meet you at your farm and follow you with my truck and your gooseneck. I can always haul you back lol

 

[Cloverleaffarm]

Just do the pull. I'll meet you at your farm and follow you with my truck and your gooseneck. I can always haul you back lol

CJ,since i'll be home anyways i'll load the truck up onto the gooseneck and trailor it to my buddys shop thats there in Walton and just drive the truck over from there. i'm not afraid of getting it there or getting it home. its just what happens in between that time period.

 

[lincolnlocker]

CJ,since i'll be home anyways i'll load the truck up onto the gooseneck and trailor it to my buddys shop thats there in Walton and just drive the truck over from there. i'm not afraid of getting it there or getting it home. its just what happens in between that time period.

why not put the gooseneck on the truck with the fresh motor and put the other truck on the gooseneck and get it out on the road and set the cruise on a conservative/stock tune and work that bish! stop somewhere to let it cool and repeat for a couple hundred miles!

live life full throttle