So um. I may have to pull a head. Hoping to get advice from you all. If you’re familiar with me you’ll know I’ve had issue after issue with exhaust. First EGR, The crossover that took ages to seal. Once that was fixed I still heard leaks and found one by cylinder 6, EGR had sprung a leak again and the downpipe flange gasket.
Got that all done and was so fed up after 2-3 weeks of being out under the hood til 3am 5 days out of the week I grabbed the biggest ratchet I could find and wrenched them [censored] down.
A few days later I snapped a stud after losing all common sense due to sleep deprivation, frustration and arguably hunger.
Spent close to 7 hours pulling it out with an extractor followed by a hammered on 1/4 in socket and an Allen wrench. Started out plugging exhaust ports but rags kept falling out so I said [censored] it. Have spent most of today using magnets, air and my fingers pulling out fine particles. Anything from dust sized which I couldn’t feel between my fingers, to dirt sized which felt no different than some particles I get in the bottom of my oil catch pan, and the largest bring a few human hairs thick - 1/8 inch long.
This on the number 2 cylinder which appears to be closed.
I found more in Cylinder 4 which is a good 4-6 inches away from #2 but the bad news is that most likely means it’s open partially if not fully. To make matters worse the brass tubing is on the compressor is snapped from getting hot and making contact with a solid object. (I’m obviously a bit heavy handed). So I’ve been using keyboard cleaner on the #2 cylinder, thankfully haven’t blasted #4 yet.
Soooooo...... big question is how likely is I’ll need to pull the head given the size of the particles? =\
A few days later I snapped a stud after losing all common sense due to sleep deprivation, frustration and arguably hunger.
Spent close to 7 hours pulling it out with an extractor followed by a hammered on 1/4 in socket and an Allen wrench. Started out plugging exhaust ports but rags kept falling out so I said [censored] it. Have spent most of today using magnets, air and my fingers pulling out fine particles. Anything from dust sized which I couldn’t feel between my fingers, to dirt sized which felt no different than some particles I get in the bottom of my oil catch pan, and the largest bring a few human hairs thick - 1/8 inch long.
This on the number 2 cylinder which appears to be closed.
I found more in Cylinder 4 which is a good 4-6 inches away from #2 but the bad news is that most likely means it’s open partially if not fully. To make matters worse the brass tubing is on the compressor is snapped from getting hot and making contact with a solid object. (I’m obviously a bit heavy handed). So I’ve been using keyboard cleaner on the #2 cylinder, thankfully haven’t blasted #4 yet.
Soooooo...... big question is how likely is I’ll need to pull the head given the size of the particles? =\
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Might be my lucky day. This is #4
Vacuum is good too. I would not pull the head. Just reassemble and light the kitty 
