Cylinder head swap

[67158]

Hello I am new to the site. I have read the 2.9 head swap page and was wondering if someone could tell how much time this will take. My truck sounds as if it has solid lifters in it at the moment and I believe the heads may be cracked. It is a 1990 and does have A/C.

Thanks
Jeff

 

[2ranger87]

How "long" it takes is dependent on your level of skill. With a good set of tools and least amount of distractions, you should be able to complete the swap in a weekend. Of course, that depends on other factors such as broken y-pipe/exh manifold bolts and so forth.........

 

[67158]

All apart in 4 1/2 hrs. Where do these heads usually crack. Is the crack visible to the naked eye. Would you clean each lifter or just replace. Bores looked fine and there was no smoke prior to the milkshake.

Thanks for the help.

Jeff

 

[2ranger87]

All apart in 4 1/2 hrs. Where do these heads usually crack. Is the crack visible to the naked eye. Would you clean each lifter or just replace. Bores looked fine and there was no smoke prior to the milkshake.

Thanks for the help.

Jeff

If you had the infamous milkshake syndrome, I wouldn't bother looking for the crack. I would just send both heads to a machine shop and have them magnafluxed since head gasket failures are very rare. If they check out fine,(not likely), then search elsewhere for the problem.

 

[hidesertrat]

Make sure the shop looks at the top of the heads, by the springs, not just at the bottom by the valve seats. Mine were cracked on top and we missed it the first time around! Had to pull them again and clean the engine out after having water in the oil again.