Anyone worked on an SRT 10?

"Once_upon_a_pvt" (eagleruwe07)
03/04/2014 at 14:00 • Filed to: None

Turns out the truck has a slow head gasket leak, slowly looses coolant pressure from 15 psiat about a pound every minute or so, causing a dripping leak at the head/block junction, behind the water pump on the outside.

Has anyone changed one of these before? My buddy is trying to decide if its worth saving a trip to the mechanic.

DISCUSSION (26)

Nibbles > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:02

OUCH

How deep is that thing stuffed into the engine bay? Can the heads be pulled with the engine in situ?

roflcopter > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:03

Doing a head gasket in itself isn't hard... it's getting all the crap out of the way to get to it to get the head off. I've never looked in one of those engine bays but you at least will have to get some bracketry, timing belt, and valvecover off to get to thing, but never having dealt with a Mopar V10 before it's hard to say. haha

crowmolly > Nibbles
03/04/2014 at 14:03

This. How deep do you have to go? Upper engine and valve cover, or do you have to go balls deep and basically pull the engine?

puddler > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:11

pull that engine and bring it to my house. i've got a dodge 318 i can loan you ;).

sure it's the head gasket? not an intake or w/p gasket?

Once_upon_a_pvt > Nibbles
03/04/2014 at 14:14

Weirdly enough there's an ass ton of room on the engine bay. I guess the truck engine bay is ment to hold a bigger motor, so the viper one sits low and far back. So it looks like we could tear it am the way down with out much issue, its just a lot of shit in the way lol.

Once_upon_a_pvt > puddler
03/04/2014 at 14:18

I checked from the leak point to the water pump, and the fluid was only rearward of the first bolt holding the head on it seems. Nothing from the pump itself. Looking up from the bottom, the seam is below the exhaust and above the block.

And shit if we pull the motor I'm gonna gank that shit myself ;)

Once_upon_a_pvt > roflcopter
03/04/2014 at 14:20

Yea I still can't find a maintenance book on it, but we would have to tear down almost everything from valve covers down.

puddler > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:21

thats not going to be fun. might wanna have a mechanic do it if you don't have the tools to lash rockers and all that jazz.

roflcopter > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:23

Also, what's the clearance look like in the engine bay? Think you could even manage to get it out without pulling the motor?

dogisbadob > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:24

If he's ever worked on a Subaru, it should be a piece of cake :p

You can always try those stop leak bottles haha

Of course, if nobody here can help you, check out a forum dedicated to these trucks

Once_upon_a_pvt > puddler
03/04/2014 at 14:27

Yea never done all that much, we have the self service shop on post, all the tools you would ever need. But yea this big ass motor is a bit intimidating...

Once_upon_a_pvt > dogisbadob
03/04/2014 at 14:28

I've messed with a subie or two, but nothing on this scale lol

Once_upon_a_pvt > roflcopter
03/04/2014 at 14:30

If we unbolt everything the whole top end should pull right out. Should. Sept the damn ac condenser is big as shit, right in the way.

puddler > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:36

just because pushrod engines are simple in theory, there are quite a spots for things to go wrong. if the oil isn't milky there shouldn't be any damage done, just swap the gasket, then start putting it back together.

i tried searching for a video about swapping head gaskets on a pushrod engine, dunno if this will help, but

roflcopter > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:42

Do you mean AC compressor? The condenser should be with the radiator.

If it is the compressor that's giving you trouble, those can usually be unbolted and will just kind of hang in the engine bay with a little give so you can get things out around them.

Nibbles > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:43

Yeah, the accessories are definitely the worst part. It's pushrod, so you don't have to worry about the PITA timing. Just be sure to drain your fluids and keep track of pushrod locations so you can slot them back into their original location.

Matt Brown > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:43

I changed the head gaskets on my Viper. Pretty easy, just take the time to pull everything out of the way to get clear access. It might be harder on the SRT 10 though. Get a telescoping magnet, because you will lose some of the intake bolts and have to fish them out.

Once_upon_a_pvt > puddler
03/04/2014 at 14:46

Shit that's better than any other video I found lol thanks

Once_upon_a_pvt > roflcopter
03/04/2014 at 14:49

Yea I mean the condenser lol its next to the rad, which we can remove, but the condenser has hard lines.. Kind of a pain. Can work from straight above but the truck is so tall that's a pain as well...

Once_upon_a_pvt > Nibbles
03/04/2014 at 14:50

Yea that makes it a little less daunting lol

Once_upon_a_pvt > Matt Brown
03/04/2014 at 14:52

How long did it take? We pretty much have a weekend to pull it off lol

roflcopter > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:54

Ohhhh, to get accessories off?

I've never had to get one out to pull a head, or a motor for that matter.

Matt Brown > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 14:57

Probably 6-8 hours total. You'll need new intake gaskets too.

Once_upon_a_pvt > roflcopter
03/04/2014 at 15:42

Yea this definitely does not look fun

Once_upon_a_pvt > Matt Brown
03/04/2014 at 15:45

Cool I'll see what he wants to do. He can always drive his r33 whilst we tinker.

I'm so fucking jealous.

roflcopter > Once_upon_a_pvt
03/04/2014 at 18:57

There comes a point where it's worth the money to let someone else deal with it.