Cracks in Cyl head

[Brih]

I broke my timing belt awhile back. No compression so I took the head in to have it looked at. The guy told me that the exaust valves were flattened and that there are cracks in the head. He said it could be welded and new parts installed but it would be probly $450 to get all that done. Is it worth buying a new one? Does anyone know of anyone selling this part for cheep?

Thanks for all your help.
99 ford ranger 2.5L

 

[offroadranger]

These heads are pretty hard to find new or used as far as I can tell. I would look at the head after its been magnafluxed and see what the deal is before spending any money personally.

The exhaust valves will not flatten due to a broken timing belt. If they are damaged, something else is wrong.

 

[Dave R]

Any head from a '95-'01 Ranger engine will fit. I sure wouldn't spend $150, let alone $450 to fix one of these. I can get them from the junkyard for $45.

Brih, where are you located?

 

[Brih]

I'm located in Northern Washington State. Bellingham. I got the guy to give me an actual quote. He said $415 for all the labor if he has to replace all the guides and valves grind the head...send it to have it welded and whatever else he said he was going to do. Then parts and a head set would jack it up to $600. They have these heads at headsonly.com for $320 which includes shipping and return core shipping. The guy here was trying to tell me that most of the heads they probly get are warped and head damaged and I might get a head that has more wear than the one I have since it is still in fairly good shape. He said mine has small cracks but would have them welded to keep them from spreading.

Does magnafluxing look at the cracks more seriously? He called me back just a couple hours after I dropped it off. He just eyeballed it.

Another thing I forgot to mention. I have been having a 171 code for since I purchased this vehicle. Guy down the road said it is probly a O2O sensor. The thing is when I was tearing this thing down to the head I noticed a hose running from the bottom of the intake manafold to a square like box undernieth the spark plugs and injectors along side of the block. The hose wasn't connected at all to the box and was just hanging off to the side loose! Looking down the hole on the top of the box, it looks like it needs some major cleaning at the least. Do you know what this part is and could this be part of my overall problem? The inside of the upper and lower intake manifolds look like they have a dirty oil film on them as well.

Thanks again,
Brih

 

[offroadranger]

That hose/box your reffering to is your pcv valve. Its always gonna be oily cause it goes right into the crankcase. You might wanna clean the dirt out that accumulated though.

Magnafulxing uses a powerfull magnet with a powder that is drawn to the magnet, so this colored power gets pulled into the cracks and "highlights" the cracks. It will show you things you cant see with the naked eye.

Tough choice on having your head fixed or going with a headsonly head....maybe call headsonly and see if they offer a gaurantee......if they do, Id go that route personally.

 

[Ranger44]

To check for cracks, a head should be magnafluxed. I would buy a junkyard head, and buy new seals for it. Have the JY head checked. This is the path I took. All together with new cam bearings, valve seals, cam seal, lifters, the head checked, and the junkyard head, I spent about $180 and head about a completely new head. If you're looking into spending $400 dollars, you're better off with a new cast head.