Cracked cylinder head or bad head gasket what's my best option?

[JJMaine]

Awesome thanks! I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see how fast they could get it done. If aim doing head gaskets I should probably have it done asap and not keep driving it like that.

If new engines were available I'd still go that route but if not I think it does make sense to save money and fix mine.

 

[JJMaine]

Do you guys think any damage has been done to the engine from me driving it so long with slight head gasket leaks? I never overheated the truck so I suspect it happened to the previous owner and he passed it on to me to deal with. Never had any milky oil and no misfire on start up until recently but I had always noticed white smoke from the exhaust when I started the truck from day one. It never smelled like burning coolant and I didn't have any noticable coolant loss until this past winter which I thought was seeping past the cheap hose clamps on the rad hoses.

I'm just worried about sinking money into it since it has seemingly been an issue for quite awhile.

 

[Shran]

I think you're fine, milkshake oil is the real killer of any engine. Burning a little will not hurt anything. Just a cursory glance at your pictures makes me think your engine is very healthy.

My buddy who has been a Ford tech since the 80's told me that small cracks on 4.0 OHV heads are very common, especially on the first few years and it usually presents itself as a minor misfire on startup that goes away. It's from just a little bit of coolant leaking into the cylinders and cooking off but it contaminates the spark plugs for a little bit. Doesn't hurt anything and is more just annoying than anything - my Explorer has always done that and I have put about 50k on it in 10 years doing cross country trips... it loses just a tiny bit of coolant over long periods and I've just kept running it, I trust it to drive it anywhere. BUT... I have a brand new spare set of heads on the shelf for when the time comes!

 

[JJMaine]

Awesome thanks again, that's reassuring.

 

[SenorNoob]

... it usually presents itself as a minor misfire on startup that goes away. It's from just a little bit of coolant leaking into the cylinders and cooking off but it contaminates the spark plugs for a little bit. Doesn't hurt anything and is more just annoying than anything ...

My 1st 4.0 was like that when I put it in. It had 174,000 then and I drove it till 480,000. I had more trouble with keeping the valve covers from leaking...

 

[JJMaine]

480k!?! On one engine? I guess I can see why fixing mine makes sense now. I used a coupon code for Auto Zone and got the tester and fluid for $30 shipped. Getting quite a collection of these OEM tools. Seem decent quality and come in nice cases.

Dropping my truck off in the morning and I'm glad I called Ford. I guess my truck has a driver airbag recall that hasn't been done yet. She asked if I wanted that while I'm there. Why not, it's better than having an airbag deploy going down the road.

My next used vehicle I'll bring my head gasket tester and check for recalls haha

 

[Shran]

If you can keep the body alive, these trucks are really capable of lasting a long time. That's not a one off deal, I know of a few other really high mileage trucks.

Main thing on yours is changing the timing chain tensioners every 50k or so, if it starts ticking on cold startup you are looking at problems.

 

[JJMaine]

I have been contemplating replacing my tensioners as I have read about it before. Nows a good time to have it done. I'll see if they'll do that while they're at it thanks for reminding me.

 

[SenorNoob]

Yep, and it still ran and idled fine. Just very weak. Multiple cylinders at 90 PSI compression. I should have torn it down to see why.

 

[JJMaine]

Ford charged me $600 for a diagnoses and told quoted me $6000 and that's IF it doesn't need cylinder heads or head work. He said it's a 12 hour job at $175 an hour which is $2k for labor how is it $4k in parts?!?! I have to figure something else out that's crazy

 

[JJMaine]

I'm thinking I'm going to have to take my chances with an independent shop. I wouldn't mind paying that much if that was the going rate. I wouldn't be happy about it but I'd probably do it. At that price it would be cheaper to have them put a new engine in it.

 

[JJMaine]

I've got half a mind to tell them to put a reman engine in it and keep my engine (screw the core charge), buy an engine stand and do the head gaskets in my little shop and keep that as a known good spare for when the reman shits the bed.

I enjoy a good project and don't mind paying a few bucks to fix something and in turn learn along the way. Only I'm used to doing that with motorcycles and dirt bikes where it's measured in hundreds of dollars not thousands.

 

[Angie]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it ... it hasn't left you at the side of the road, and you know it needs coolant every couple weeks .... it drives good, and gets you there and back .... $6000 buys a hell of a lot of coolant ..... and less head aches.

cheers

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

^^^
Agreed!

 

[Jazzer]

You could also look up your local tool salespeople (Snap-On or Matco) and see if they know of a professional shop.