Performance 3406E head gasket solution ??

I wish ringing the head was the end all be all with CAT head gasket issues but it sure wasn't for me. 25k later and two separate 3-4 weeks worth of downtime and mine is STILL pushing coolant. It was done by a reputable shop too.

Rutts machine shop in Elizabethtown PA rings heads with a good lead time. Make sure you use the same brand gasket they use to make the cuts so everything lines up when it all get bolted down.

 

Is this a performance setup?

 

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That may be a relative term but it dynoed 917/2486 to the flywheel at about 45psi boost after the overhaul. Compared to a 550 CAT it's "performance" but running next to a puller it's a slug.

 

Ok, I’ve never o-ringed a head yet so no experience there.

I do know that when I torque a Cat head down, I do the steps that Cat put down.

(This is the 1987 Pete with the 425hp 3406b. )

Then I wait a day.

The next day, all the bolts stayed at 330 ft/lbs except 5 of them on the exhaust side by #4 and #5 cylinder.

I re-torque all of them and leave for a day again.

Next day, 2 of them were loose.

Re-torqued again and wait.

Finally all of them stayed at 330 ft/lbs.

No head gasket failures yet and the injection pump was adjusted for power.

I did the same for the BXS ACERT engine as well. The head bolts needed re-torquing only once, then stayed at 330 ft/lbs. The bolts were loose in the same spot around the #4 and 5 cylinder.

Now this is a recently rebuilt engine with 18:1 compression pistons with the VVA turned off. So there is high cylinder pressures. Engine is custom tuned and pushes a lot of boost pressures.

Somewhere around 55 to 60 psi of boost according to the dash gauge.

 

What is your liner protrusion set at?

 

The shop did a similar procedure for this 5EK too. I'm starting to think something else is going on. When I disconnect the compressor outlet and drain the air tanks the bubbles nearly disappear. I'm wondering if it might be the compressor. It's a new Alliance compressor but perhaps the head's bad on it. It's definitely exhaust gas causing the bubbles. I verified that with the fluid test that turned green.

 

They're telling me 4-4.5 all around. Checked both times head was off.

 

My 2ws should be 800 hp ish. Has 55s / marine cam / ringed aftermarket head .. I do not mistreat it, but am not "nice and easy" with it up hills

I'm going on 200k miles with the protrusion set at .006 all the way around. I was told 5 to 7 on anything... and the higher the better, to a point, on a performance build

Also how far do you lug it down when climbing? Cylinder pressures and heat build up are pretty incredible at lower rpm

 

Usually downshifting around 1400 when loaded. My power band with a 1.42 A/R is roughly 1450-2000rpm according to the dyno sheet. I'll be moving to a 1.58 in a few weeks though.

I'm changing out the compressor soon too. It's definitely pushing something into the system. Lots of bubbles while connected but they are reduced significantly once the discharge line is disconnected. Also, once the tanks are 100 percent drained there's only like one bubble every second coming through.

The compressor head does get coolant from the engine via the water jacket connections on the block. So even though the air outlet is disconnected, there's still a sharing of coolant happening. The shop that did the work is reputable so I'm trying hard not to point fingers at this point.