javajoe1981
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2017
- Posts
- 9
- Reaction score
- 1
- Ram Year
- 2005
- Engine
- 4.7L
I'm a bit stumped here as I am not a mechanic, I apparently just know enough to get me in trouble but usually get it figured out. I will try to be as brief as possible but hope I can give as many details that someone can have some great advice here.
The radiator on my 2005 RAM 1500 decided to spring a leak in the middle of SF traffic and ended up overheating quite a bit before I could finally get it safely pulled over. (Thank God for AAA towing it for free back to Sacramento!) I ended up swapping out the radiator and thermostat thinking that would be the end of it... unfortunately this was not the case as it still overheated after driving it a block from the house. I first thought maybe coolant was flowing properly so I left the cap off and tried to warm it up to burp the coolant system, when coolant shot out of the radiator like Old Faithful, making me believe there was a compression leak in one of cylinders, this was the only sign I had of a possible blown head gasket. No obvious signs of oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. I really didn't want to take it in and spend $2k to have it fixed when I knew I could probably do it far cheaper myself. I have never rebuilt an engine but did have some basic understanding and with a few guides here and there (one from this site which was a ton of help and the reason I decided to join this forum) I decided to take it on.
Everything came apart really well, no major issue except a siezed up torx bolt holding the right side timing chain tensioner so a few extra parts I now need to order. Today I got the heads pulled off and was able to do the visual inspection expecting to find the blown out gasket... not quite as obvious as I thought it would have been, the gasket seems to be mostly intact. I'm not sure if maybe the compression was getting through the layers of the gasket but didn't completely blow a hole through all layers??? I tested the thermostat and it opened up fine, so that box is checked.
Could the heads be warped but the gasket still be okay and intact? I would think if they warped I would be seeing the fluids mixing but that doesn't seem to be the case. I will be taking the heads to a shop regardless to have them examined and machined flat if needed.
On a side note - while I have this thing torn apart, is there anything I should seriously consider replacing or upgrading?
The radiator on my 2005 RAM 1500 decided to spring a leak in the middle of SF traffic and ended up overheating quite a bit before I could finally get it safely pulled over. (Thank God for AAA towing it for free back to Sacramento!) I ended up swapping out the radiator and thermostat thinking that would be the end of it... unfortunately this was not the case as it still overheated after driving it a block from the house. I first thought maybe coolant was flowing properly so I left the cap off and tried to warm it up to burp the coolant system, when coolant shot out of the radiator like Old Faithful, making me believe there was a compression leak in one of cylinders, this was the only sign I had of a possible blown head gasket. No obvious signs of oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. I really didn't want to take it in and spend $2k to have it fixed when I knew I could probably do it far cheaper myself. I have never rebuilt an engine but did have some basic understanding and with a few guides here and there (one from this site which was a ton of help and the reason I decided to join this forum) I decided to take it on.
Everything came apart really well, no major issue except a siezed up torx bolt holding the right side timing chain tensioner so a few extra parts I now need to order. Today I got the heads pulled off and was able to do the visual inspection expecting to find the blown out gasket... not quite as obvious as I thought it would have been, the gasket seems to be mostly intact. I'm not sure if maybe the compression was getting through the layers of the gasket but didn't completely blow a hole through all layers??? I tested the thermostat and it opened up fine, so that box is checked.
Could the heads be warped but the gasket still be okay and intact? I would think if they warped I would be seeing the fluids mixing but that doesn't seem to be the case. I will be taking the heads to a shop regardless to have them examined and machined flat if needed.
On a side note - while I have this thing torn apart, is there anything I should seriously consider replacing or upgrading?