My L29 Laundry List

[John B]

Doesn't generally result in leaking.

Interesting. Mine was leaking but probably from something else. Now it's not, so it was a win/win.

Power Stop Z36 brake pads

Let me know if those help. I'll be changing mine in the spring.

 

[someotherguy]

The PS pump will be here on Thursday, so Saturday morning I'll be tearing into that. Going to try and do a set of Power Stop Z36 brake pads at the same time. Pads were over 50% in May and they're at 25% or less now. I'm guessing the P/O had some real cheapos installed before they sold it. The amount of brake dust they let off is unreal.

Excessive dust doesn't necessarily mean cheap pads. Very aggressive high performance semi-metallic pads will dust your wheels black in a hurry.

If you absolutely don't want dust, go ceramic. You give up some performance in the initial bite vs. semi-metallic, but they still stop well.

Considering it's a big truck though I'd stick with more bite vs. less dust. On my 300 SRT8 I went ceramic; hate cleaning the wheels all the time, and leaving brake dust on them just ends up ruining the finish in the long run.

RIchard

 

[Tom P]

Excessive dust doesn't necessarily mean cheap pads. Very aggressive high performance semi-metallic pads will dust your wheels black in a hurry.

If you absolutely don't want dust, go ceramic. You give up some performance in the initial bite vs. semi-metallic, but they still stop well.

Considering it's a big truck though I'd stick with more bite vs. less dust. On my 300 SRT8 I went ceramic; hate cleaning the wheels all the time, and leaving brake dust on them just ends up ruining the finish in the long run.

RIchard

Well, 25% pad wear in 6 months, no bite, and a lot of dust usually means cheapo pads in my experience. Definitely want more bite than anything else. Was going to go with a semi metalic, but these power stop pads are supposed to brake better than semi metalics with less dust.

 

[Tom P]

Now that I'm getting my power steering pump and brakes done this weekend, I'm moving along and starting my list for the top end re-seal I need to do. When my truck is cold, it seeps coolant from the intake manifold, both in the front and rear. Once its hot, everything swells up and it stops leaking. I lose more coolant in a couple days drive to work and back (about 2 miles each way) than I did during our summer camping road trips.

I have a list of things I need to address:
Intake manifold gaskets
Water pump (preventative)
Fan clutch (preventative, but I'm guessing its not working properly anymore)
Thermostat (currently have a 180* and that was a mistake)
Lower Rad Hose
Bypass Hose
FPR vacuum hose (replaced it once but I think it leaks at high vacuum levels)
Clean the sludge out of the intake manifold

Things I'm considering:
New Distributor (the screw ear on mine is cracked)
Timing Set and gaskets
Exhaust manifold gaskets
collector gaskets
Oil cooler lines
Oil filter adapter re-seal

I should probably do everything at once since it will all be done in the same general area. The only reason I'm not jumping on the timing set is the fact that from what I've read you have to drop the oil pan, and if you want to do that then you are for sure dropping the front axle. This will be a massive undertaking and I'll have limited time to do it in the space I have to do it in, probably from a Friday after 5 until Saturday night. Our boss frowns upon his shop being used on Sundays. The top end stuff doesn't bother me except for getting the distributor right, but I'll be able to get it tore down in an hour or two.

Am I overlooking anything? Going over my notes of what has been done already, finishing up this list should get me back on top. The engine should be good for no less than 25k which i'll never put on it. After that, its an A/C leak and some rear frame and suspension work.

 

[someotherguy]

I'd save the time/effort/money on the distributor. You need a scan tool that can read the cam retard angle to set it properly and it's still a hassle. If it's working properly, leave it in there. You can secure the cap firmly with a zip tie looped around it, very easy to do on these thanks to the side-exit terminal design. Yeah it's a hack but it's effective and think about how rarely you need to go in there anyway.

The distributors do wear out though, in two common ways - first there was a bad batch of distributor gears, improperly hardened (process called "melonized") that would wear out prematurely. Second, they tend to wear in the top bushing/bearing/whatever area, letting the shaft flop around; in extreme cases I've even seen them knock the upright ridges off the rotor by smacking the terminals inside the cap. You can test for this by attempting to move the rotor side to side. If it doesn't move, try turning it clockwise/counterclockwise see if it pops up a little, then try for the side to side motion again. It really shouldn't move a noticeable amount.

Richard

 

[Tom P]

Correct me if I'm wrong though, wont I have to pull the distributor to replace the lower intake manifold gaskets?

 

[Christian Steffen]

Now that I'm getting my power steering pump and brakes done this weekend, I'm moving along and starting my list for the top end re-seal I need to do. When my truck is cold, it seeps coolant from the intake manifold, both in the front and rear. Once its hot, everything swells up and it stops leaking. I lose more coolant in a couple days drive to work and back (about 2 miles each way) than I did during our summer camping road trips.

I have a list of things I need to address:
Intake manifold gaskets
Water pump (preventative)
Fan clutch (preventative, but I'm guessing its not working properly anymore)
Thermostat (currently have a 180* and that was a mistake)
Lower Rad Hose
Bypass Hose
FPR vacuum hose (replaced it once but I think it leaks at high vacuum levels)
Clean the sludge out of the intake manifold

Things I'm considering:
New Distributor (the screw ear on mine is cracked)
Timing Set and gaskets
Exhaust manifold gaskets
collector gaskets
Oil cooler lines
Oil filter adapter re-seal

I should probably do everything at once since it will all be done in the same general area. The only reason I'm not jumping on the timing set is the fact that from what I've read you have to drop the oil pan, and if you want to do that then you are for sure dropping the front axle. This will be a massive undertaking and I'll have limited time to do it in the space I have to do it in, probably from a Friday after 5 until Saturday night. Our boss frowns upon his shop being used on Sundays. The top end stuff doesn't bother me except for getting the distributor right, but I'll be able to get it tore down in an hour or two.

Am I overlooking anything? Going over my notes of what has been done already, finishing up this list should get me back on top. The engine should be good for no less than 25k which i'll never put on it. After that, its an A/C leak and some rear frame and suspension work.

If you oil cooler lines aren't leaking, I wouldn't replace them. They can be replaced with everything in the truck if they start leaking later. Same with the oil filter adapter, I wouldn't mess with it unless there is a problem.

It is too bad the oil pan has to be dropped to get the timing cover off.

 

[someotherguy]

Yup, if you're gonna pull the lower intake, you're pulling the distributor. That'll give you an opportunity to judge its condition. A good replacement isn't cheap, so if the ONLY problem with it is the cracked mount tab, unless you're just itching to replace it, I'd keep using it.

Richard

 

[Tom P]

If you oil cooler lines aren't leaking, I wouldn't replace them. They can be replaced with everything in the truck if they start leaking later. Same with the oil filter adapter, I wouldn't mess with it unless there is a problem.

It is too bad the oil pan has to be dropped to get the timing cover off.

Ha everything leaks on this truck. Its difficult to tell if the oil cooler lines are leaking at the fittings (aka just need to be re-sealed) or they are leaking because they are damaged. I know for a fact the oil filter adapter is leaking. I thought I had it taken care of until I ran some seafoam through the crank case before the last oil change. That must have cleaned out the sludge plugging the holes and opened up the flood gates, so I went from a minor rear main drip to a deluge from every orifice.

Yup, if you're gonna pull the lower intake, you're pulling the distributor. That'll give you an opportunity to judge its condition. A good replacement isn't cheap, so if the ONLY problem with it is the cracked mount tab, unless you're just itching to replace it, I'd keep using it.

Richard

As far as I know, the only issue with the distributor is the cracked tab, but that doesn't mean It wont get worse in 6 months. Skip White Performance out of Tennessee makes a billet replacement that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and they've had excellent success with. They build a lot of HP engines there and everyone of their big blocks gets this distributor. Plus it comes with a 5 year warranty. All for around $60. I'd hate to go through all the trouble of tearing the engine down that far and then have the dizzy puke on me next spring before or during our first camping trip.

 

[Tom P]

Let me know if those help. I'll be changing mine in the spring.

They are very good pads. I haven't towed anything yet but the bite on them is phenomenal. Anything would have been better though, the pads I had were cracked and in awful shape. Took us a bit to get it done mostly because of the slide bushings were seized. But its all good.

We got the power steering pump swapped out as well. Having a pulley puller made a huge amount of difference. I took the upper fan shroud and fan and clutch to aid with room. Glad I did that. I ended up having to pull the cast iron mount for the A/C compressor and P/S pump to get it all out of there though. It was more work, but in the long run it made remounting the new pump a million times easier. I cut a half inch off of the two return hoses for fresh bite on the nipples and used new clamps. New Orings on the lines and I'm leak free. Its a thousand times quieter too. I'll be taking a sabbatical from projects for the rest of the holiday season to spend more time with the family, so the big top end job will get done after the new year. It'll give me some time to do more research and save a few more bucks.