Engine overhaul?

[Buggyman]

Hey folks,

I have a 98' 3.0 4x4 Ranger with 205,000 miles... I am thinking I might have a head gasket on the way out... I am getting allot of brown crud that keeps showing up in the radiator after flushing. I have not done a compression test or checked the plugs yet, but I am just brain storming on what all needs to be done if the head gasket is going out. I have done very little engine work; what is involved to do a head gasket job? Any special tools? Any good articles floating around out there? Also... What else should I check or replace while I have the motor in 234,002.6 pieces? Anything that needs to be done with the heads, valves, or anything else?

Thanks for any pointers!

 

[michowski]

Its easy to do but it will take a lot of time if this is the first time you've ever done it. I just worked on a truck last week that needed a new intake so il tell you what you have to remove.

air intake tube
upper/lower intake plenum
alternator
ac compressor
power steering pump
remove wires from everything, plenum, compressor, fuel injectors, ect
exhaust manifolds
valve covers

Im sure theres more but those are the big things. There arent any special tools. Its all standard metric sockets and wrenches. Definatly purchase new head gaskets along with new bolts for the heads. New valve cover gaskets, upper and lower intake gaskets, exhaust gaskets. Really take your time and clean the mating surface area's. Make sure the gaskets all sit on correctly and DEFINATLY TORQUE DOWN the bolts. Its not a real difficult job but it will definatly take some time to do. I would allow a solid weekend to do this. Also you might as well change the plugs, wires, and give the cooling system a flush since there was junk floating around in there.

 

[michowski]

O and I forgot to mention. Buy some rtv gasket maker and put that around all the water jackets on the block, lay the gasket down, and put it on the intake plenum and then put the lower intake plenum on. Torque the bolts. I would also do the same for the valve cover gaskets. It wont hurt anything to do this and its just a little more protection from a leak. NEVER use this on the head gaskets.

 

[Psychopete]

On the bright side, at least it's not front wheel drive.

I would first diagnose that this is in fact the problem. It could just be rust in the cooling system. Do you use tap water in it?

Some signs are a steam cleaned looking spark plug, air bubbles in the radiator while the engine is running, coolant loss, possibly elevated oil level and/or water in the oil (and/or oil in coolant), white smoke from exhaust, over heating, sweet smelling exhaust, etc.

I would recommend cleaning up the threads of where the old head bolts went with the correct sized tap. Then use a little oil on the new head bolts to prevent friction there from fudging your torque readings. You must use new head bolts, period.

Get a repair manual so you have all of the sequences and torque figures.

Absolutely mark where every single electrical connector goes.

If you have the heads off, have them magnafluxed for cracks, have the machine shop take a look at them, make sure they're good before you put them back on.

Look into removing and installing fuel lines to the fuel rail, that's what would get me.

I always just removed the rail from the top of the injectors, and left the fuel line attached and set it off to the side. This was on a 2.9L though. Installing injectors seemed easier than pissing with the fuel lines and risking one leaking.

Pete