2001 Duramax LB7 Knocking

[rpaoness]

Part of the reason I concluded that I should go after the glow plugs was that I also realized that the intake heater is fed from the same bus bar (that's corroded off and gone) on the drivers side glow plugs. That means that likely for the last 10 years or so I've likely not had any intake or glow plug heaters. Truck always started 100% fine down to at least the mid-20's, I usually used the block heater below that, mainly to preserve the batteries and provide better oil circulation.

[rpaoness]

Engine internals look pretty clean for 215k mi. There are weird heat marks where the rocker arms contact the valve stems - not sure what that's about, but appears consistent on all of the rockers on the drivers side.

[rpaoness]

Apparently I'm not the only one wondering about the hot spot indications on the rockers:

https://www.duramaxforum.com/threads/ro ... on.162385/

[rpaoness]

Managed to get one more drivers side glow plug out. Was kind of a fight behind the steering shaft. 4 or 5 attempts of weld build up and welding a nut on to turn it out and it finally moved and came out. One more on the drivers side to go.

[rpaoness]

Finished the drivers side last night. About 8 attempts at welding nuts on each of the two stuck glow plugs and I was able to successfully remove both. Broke one lower valve cover bolt and stripped another. Welded nuts onto each of them and was able to successfully remove.

One injector sleeve came out with the injector - I now need to decide if I'm going to pull all of them and reseal, or just the one that came out. I guess I'll see how many pull out with the passenger side before I decide.

Got the passenger side almost torn down last night - still need to pull the lower valve cover, injectors, and glow plugs, but everything else is out of the way.

[rpaoness]

It did look like all of the passenger side glow plugs may have still been wired in and therefore still functional. Which might explain the acceptable cold start performance.

[rpaoness]

I guess if I can pull the cups without damaging them I should pull them and reseal them.

https://youtu.be/GmSzWApOML0


$65 for the puller that guy used...
https://www.harborfreight.com/slide-ham ... 62601.html

[rpaoness]

Ordered this one with the right pipe. Hoping it doesn't do any cup damage as I don't want to buy a set of cups if I don't have to.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RPMTZ2Q?sm ... gToDp&th=1

[rpaoness]

The local fuel injection shop (Metro Fuel Injection in Deep River) gets $205 ea for reman injectors using all Bosch components - I think that's the best deal going.

For a line set, I'm trying to figure out what to go with.

- Local shop wants $82 ea (x8 = about $654!)
- RockAuto has "SKP" lines for about $20 ea, so $160 total
- RockAuto has Dorman lines for about $52 ea, so $416
- RockAuto has a Standard Motor Products set for $446
- dmaxstore.com has a "ferritic" stainless steel set for $349.99
- dieselogic.com has a set for $250


Valve cover bolt set:
https://dmaxstore.com/products/lb7-inje ... n-hardware


Metro Fuel Injection has Injector replacement gasket sets for $40.58 ea, which is about the cheapest I've seen, but I don't know what comes in it and would still likely need some additional valve cover and potentially cup o-rings, etc.

RockAuto has genuine glow plugs for $15.40 ea, or $123 for the set.

These guys have a kit with the gaskets, glow plugs, and valve cover fasteners that I need for $370
https://lincolndieselspecialties.com/i- ... l-kit.html

Way too many options and this is going to suck spec'ing out which combo to buy.

[rpaoness]

Stainless set of injector lines from eBay...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/404003948051?i ... SwSOlctiAh