Ah...might be too early for hi-test. Green tea? Some nice luke warm wenatchee tap water should hit the spot.

Then again, we are rather spoiled over here in the NW with microbrews. A good amber ale or porter from Alaskan, Deschutes, Newcastle (other side of the pond, but a good one), Hmmm....somebody stop me.

 

It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

 

This may be a stupid question, but if they are in there that well why do you need to remove them unless this is a totally fail safe project? I have been following your issues on your all of troubles so I perhaps I just answered my question. But DAMN, good luck.

Mike

 

The tap is cold and I have a water treatment system... it won't disappoint.

 

Hmm while you're at it why dont you two get it done sunday, then drive over here to Ellensburg monday R&R my water pump (fountain) and throw this melling LPOP in that has been sitting on my bench since last years west side tech day. Oh and on top of that, I just received a spare 7.3 that we can play operation on if you guys want!

As for beer we have plenty of that available, tv and toones in the garage, a chip burner and Minotaur. Could be a blast...of course I'm sure you two have more fun things to do like work...

 

Unfortunately, all we're going to accomplish is delivering brass cups from the Powerstroke womb. I'm pretty sure I can handle getting everything installed, once that's done... but I won't be driving Stinky until at least Wednesday. I need 24 hours of drying (sit until Mon night), I have to vacuum test the coolant system, then I run out of time and I only have a couple of hours a day during the week to work on the truck.

I'm free to help over there the weekend of Feb 24, but I have an obligation next weekend (following Valentine's day).

I'm taking the wife (in Stinky) to someplace fun next weekend. I've spent almost all my free time since October dealing with Stinky's issues and we desperately need a trouble-free weekend on the road. I have the whole alphabet soup of disorders:

PMS: Perpetual Mod Syndrome - the trigger for all other disorders.
ADD: Absolute Dunce Disorder - can't manage anything with threads on it.
PTSD: Powerstroke Trouble Stress Disorder - no need to explain this one.
CRS: Can't Remember (Squat) - another self explanitory one, but with a substitute word.
The symptoms from all these disorders are carried in the air to our spouses and both partners contract the Hawaiian disesease - TotaLakaNuki.
TLN has the most impact on the male of the species and the side effect is...
SRH: (Seed) Retention Headache - the street name for this is Blueball.

 

Oh my God Tugly. Only you could take a diesel repair thread and turn it into a Dr Phil show
I love waking up and laughing my posterior off.

 

When you are done (having beer), it would be great if you could write up your vaccum test for the coolant system. I have read about pressure testing the coolant system and I saw BWST's H.F. pressure test kit post, but I haven't heard of vaccum testing it, so the concept is intriguing. (And of course we are all waiting for the white smoke post after cup r&r.)

However, the main point of this post is to cheer you on. Good luck today!

 

All the mysteries in my universe are officially solved - I'm an absolute nudnick at wrenching on big iron. I can set the wastegate on a turbo without removing it or dropping stuff, troubleshoot a hairline crack on a cup, and find an obscure faulty mod by the PO... but I spiral into Powerstroke Purgatory the instant I grab a socket wrench. I'm going to paint a sign on the inside of Stinky's hood: It will read "Hotel California".

BWST rescued me from my cup cast-out conundrum... it turns out I wasn't using the Goldilocks wrench and I never got the torque just right on the cup tool. He popped those out while I cleaned and inspected holes. We did a little AE scanning on his truck and everything looks good... except for a slightly elevated EBP reading and a gray CPS signature on the CCT. He loaned me his fancy-schmancy coolant pressure test kit and I can get it back to him the next time I jump the hump (Cascade Range). He needs a few reps for killing his Sunday on my behalf.

Back to Stinky, here's the brasstard:



I needed a little cleaning under the cups.



I used a Dremmel tool with the flexible extender and a 3/4" wire brush attachment, then dabbed a little brake cleaner on the bristles.



I blew the first insertion, so I need to replace the new cup I pulled and damaged. The next one went great, with positive verification of a good seal top and bottom.


My gun-cleaning kit got a workout. After everything was in, I cleaned all the excess goop with a .22 head and swab moistened with brake cleaner... it fits real nice in the nozzle hole.

 

now i wish i would have thought to put that wire brush on my drill... I had one sitting right there in the toolbox while I was doing the work too... Looks great Rich, glad all is going smooth. Reps on the way for your help.

 

Glad to see everything got sorted. Now hopefully stinky will be up and running again soon.

 

........................

 

What a great experience! Tugly - damn clean bores and seal views. I'm betting you won't see any leaks upon pressure testing if the loctite looks like that. As long as it bonds to the bore, and it should.

Got to see the buckzooka in person (minus the bills!). And Stinky, of course. He's a great truck and coming along nicely.

 

I hope Stinky has turned the corner now. Its about time ya start enjoying the fruits of your labor!!!

Good work Jeff! Way to represent the brotherhood. Reps sent.

 

I really appreciate all the well-wishing. It keeps my chin up while I keep plodding along.

TIP: When applying the sealant to the cups, I put it on the leading edge of each surface. This is for a few reasons....

• Inserting the cup will automatically drag it back across the whole mating area between the cup and the head walls.
• The bottom of the cup will squeeze the sealant toward the nozzle hole - giving me a visual confrimation the cup is down flat and the sealant is spread.
• I now have a good bead on the leading and trailing edges of both seals.

My work schedule only permitted me to get two or three cup in per day because I was being so thorough on each cup. I'm obsessed with doing this just once. Each cup is visually confirmed like the pictures and video in my previous posts. They're all in and I pressure test tonight.

As soon as I insert a cup, I do a thorough cleaning to remove any residual sealant that can foul an injector o-ring seal. I had one instance on #7 where goop built up in the fuel channel - bad juju. I cleaned it out with a bent Q-tip moist with brake cleaner. I say "moist" because dripping cleaner can wick into the fresh seal I just made - more bad juju. I was dreading #5 because it has very little room to work and my caution made that one of the smoothest installs. Moral of the story here: Take your time because doing it twice costs money and substancially more time.

Inserting the cup without spreading goop everywhere is a real trick. It's best to prepare by mastering the game of "Operation" with your own kids... or borrow neighbor kids if you have to.