Since my last post back in February, the truck went through a bit of growing pains. The head gasket, which I later discovered to be aftermarket rather than Elring OEM, corroded away its compression seal in late spring, causing the cooling system to pressurize and exploding the expansion tank. I have a hunch that the earlier leak sprung between the block and timing cover was the first indication of this bigger problem. I ordered the proper gasket and had it replaced by early June, and the truck has been solid since then except for one other odd hiccup...
I was hearing a pfffting noise whenever I was above 2000 RPM and under even the slightest acceleration. After several attempts at fixing what several experts thought to be an exhaust leak at the header pipe, I was able to do a brake-stand of sorts at the exhaust shop and it was discovered that the problem was a leaking injector.
The lower brass washer/seal had disintegrated. Luckily we caught it before much damage was done as the hot gasses escaping through the injector could easily erode the aluminum injector seat. A 9/16th drill bit was sacrificed by grinding down its tip flat and inserting it into the injector port and using it to hand-polish the injector seat before installing 4 new copper washers. What I learned was that these washers need to be replaced every time the injectors are removed, and they're cheap anyway.
Last week the truck turned over 100,000 miles, which is about 20,000 miles on the diesel now. My wife drives it as a daily driver and loves it.
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