[buckingbrutus]

Hey, I'm in the process of freshening up my PSD, and looking to replace pretty much every gasket other than head gasket, a previous owner took a bunch of stuff off and used RTV to seal everything back up. so I want to replace most all seals, but not sure if I should mess with head gasket. the motor's got 195k on it, would I be stupid not to replace head gasket? anything else?

I'm planning on doing the DIY injector rebuild, add a chip (leaning toward wildman's), downpipe with probably 4" exhaust, intercooler, and a good intake

 

[Aljay]

These engines have Very few "GASKETS" as we know them . They are built with alot of bad @ZZ sealer I call it grey death. It is refered to as whacker or t-442, other names out there. Engine uses alot of "O"ring style seals and the grey stuff.

 

[radarman]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey, I'm in the process of freshening up my PSD, and looking to replace pretty much every gasket other than head gasket, a previous owner took a bunch of stuff off and used RTV to seal everything back up. so I want to replace most all seals, but not sure if I should mess with head gasket. the motor's got 195k on it, would I be stupid not to replace head gasket? anything else?

I'm planning on doing the DIY injector rebuild, add a chip (leaning toward wildman's), downpipe with probably 4" exhaust, intercooler, and a good intake

[/ QUOTE ]

I would not worry about the head gaskets.. yours have plenty of life in them unless you have done something evil to the engine in the past. If you are worried about it, get some head studs and install them. Lots of people say get the H11 studs, but if you are just looking at firming up things and do not plan on some b codes in the future or something like that, just get some ARP studs and torque them to 110-120 instead of the recomended 89 (lol)..

 

[buckingbrutus]

no, i wasn't worried about the head gaskets, just didn't know if they have a typical life span.

and you say the engines were built with the gray stuff? I guess that's good to know, I'm finding it on dam near every gasket/seal. I thought the previous owner did that and I was wondering why they went so far into it. And now that you mention it, I don't recall seeing many gaskets.

So what would be the best way to put it all back together, just get some high temp RTV? or should I find a replacement for the gray stuff?

 

[BlindViper]

You get the gray stuff from Ford and International. Comes in tubes like rtv and a big tube like caulk gun.

 

[K.N.94PSD]

Charley,

Why are you replacing all the gaskets? Like what was said before, ONLY use the correct gray RTV sealant from Ford or International. International really did their homework when they specified this particular German sealant. Also, be sure to correctly torque all the parts you're reassembling as you want the correct clamp-load on the RTV.

Hope it helps,
K.N.

 

[buckingbrutus]

K.N.,
well I didn't really know that they were reusable. Also, there was a bit of oil leakage so I just assumed it was bad gaskets, I guess just 195k miles will break down the sealant.

I'm gonna head to the IH dealer today and pick up some sealant.

 

[buckingbrutus]

picked up the sealant the other day, and when i pulled some of the o ring gaskets, a few ripped, yall think this will be a problem with the gray sealant? or do i need to track down some new rubber?

 

[K.N.94PSD]

Charley,

You'll need to track down the correct o-rings. Get the o-rings either at Ford or International, they are a specific durometer and material (some are Viton), so don't use standard auto parts store replacements. If you try to repair or substitute the o-rings with RTV you're very likely going to have problems. O-rings seal some critical components on the engine and if certain ones fail, you'll be lucky to be walking, after your truck burns to the ground. Remember the Challenger Space Shuttle?
Also, when I asked why you were replacing all these gaskets, it was because the factory sealant has relatively few failures, with some seepage being normal. FYI: the reusable gaskets are marked "Reusable Gasket." When you get ready to apply new RTV, make sure both surfaces are very clean. I prefer to use brake cleaner (not carb cleaner, it leaves a residue) which will help to assure perfectly clean surfaces.

Hope it helps,
K.N.