v10 engine issues

[hwscowboy]

hey all
I have a 1999 ram 2500 4x4 with the v10 and its been starting to have some issues lately,It has about 270000kms on it.So it has always used a bit of coolant but I cannot for the life of me figure out where it is going.No signs of external leaks,nothing on the grouns under the truck ever but about every 2 weeks the coolant reservoir is empty and needs to be filled,Now yesterday I went for a drive into the city and we've been in the middle of a month long cold snap in my parts.So drive the 30 miles into the city,no issues,heat is ok,its never been great in this truck.Temp,oil pressure,etc all normal.Stop at the first light and all of a sudden the air coming out the vents goes cold cold,temp gauge starts to climb,Start driving,temp gauge goes up to just over half then suddenly back down to normal,I pulled into the nearest gas station and parked and shut it off.Went inside bought a gallon jug of premix antifreeze.reservoir was empty.Filled it about halfway.Let the truck sit for about ten minutes,opened the rad cap,wasn't hot at all.Radiator was down about an inch and a half so topped it up.Drove the rest of the way to my destination.no issues,parked for a few hours.Came back out popped hood,reservoir was empty again,rad full.Checked the oil.all good no signs of contamination.Filled the reservoir up again and drove home,took it easy but 60 mph drive for about an hour,gauges normal,temp down a bit from normal but driving in minus 20 temps.Made it home ok,this morning checked again reservoir empty again,oil seems fine,no signs of leak or drips on ground.A little baffled at this point.

 

[hwscowboy]

well got hit with the double whammy today.Finally got the truck into a warm shop to have a look,Sure enough radiator is leaky from d.s tank.Then decided to drop the oil and yep oil is milky so antifreeze I assume in oil as well.So now looking at a new rad and head gaskets.I have read some reports of bad head designs on the v10's although most people seemed to have problems early and mine has 275,000kms on it with no issues until now.Am I better to buy replacement heads? Are some castings better than others? Is there such thing as a performance head for the v10? Figure if i'm going to have it apart might as well do the water pump and thermostat and probably a set of headers.Any suggestions ? all help appreciated.

 

[dapepper9]

No performance heads available. I would have a machine shop look them over then go from there

 

[hwscowboy]

heres a queston for you.Since I will be pulling both heads is it easier to pull the entire motor and do it on a stand or leave it in the truck? What mods would you do while its apart? I am thinking I will do the thermostat and a new water pump.Might as well ditch the stock exhaust manifolds and put on a set of headers.Throttle body spacer? aftermarket air intake ? ditch the factory fan for an electric one ? Any input appreciated.

 

[dapepper9]

That depends on how far you disassemble the truck to get it out. Myself, i would pull the hood, bumper, rad support and everything up front or at least swing it all over to the side. Then the engine should be able to come straight out through the front without much lifting. I would mount it on a good SOLID stand before pulling heads myself just because those things are going to be heavy and i wouldn't want to lift them over the fender while leaning over like that. The 318/360 magnum heads are 50-60lbs/ea with 4 cylinders, now add the length of another cylinder. They're awkward to lift without smashing your hands so it's much easier out of the engine bay. My opinion anyways.

Upgrades depends on your intended use of the truck. However, a couple pretty easy things that will help about any usage are some of the things you've mentioned. Larger throttle body (fastman), electric fan conversion, headers. For headers, all that is available is shorties which aren't that great. However, you can improve them by cutting off the ball collector they use and going to either a basic 3 bolt flange or using a slip fit connection with a good heavy duty band clamp setup.
Skip a throttle body spacer, at best they don't add anything. They're often much more prone to hurting performance slightly. Only good for a nitrous jet location.
Lastly i would get an FRP tune for it. Ryan has pulled a TON out of those. His test bed truck had 4.10s and big 35x12.5 mud tires and he still gained 100wheel torque on 93 octane fuel. If all you have available is 87 or 91 like myself, the gains are still impressive. Only a 20-30whp gain on the 93 BUT these engines have a real bad airflow problem at rpm. They choke out pretty quickly BUT it's one of the things that contributes to their massive low end torque output.
There are camshafts that are available but i would avoid that without more airflow via either boost or a different intake manifold but both would be completely custom setups

 

[hwscowboy]

I mostly use the truck as my everyday driver,but do pull a 7000 lb trailer a couple times a month.The truck is lifted 6 inches and runs 20 inch rubber so to pull the motor I think removing the hood and front tires and setting it down on a couple railway ties might be in order,Fastman says they no longer make a throttle body for this motor,any other sources? I really enjoy the truck,spent about 10,000 getting it fixed up and customized so if I have to sink another 3g into it to run it for 5 more years i.m ok with that.

 

[dapepper9]

You could contact hipotek, they dont list them but their machinest/owner Richard is good. It shouldn't be any different than doing the 318/360 throttle bodies.