head gasket or motor

[MARZ]

need some help or advice i bought my truck 5000 miles ago truck has 115,000 on it now and it had a slight external head gasket leak in the back of cylinder3 fouled out two plugs and a gallon of coolant, then last night the whole street was a cloud of smoke so i need to know what others did replace the motor and hope to get a good one or try new head gaskets is there a chance of cracked heads because i drove it with a bad head gasket thanks for the help

 

[michowski]

Is there any coolant in the oil? If not then I would just get the parts to fix it. If you look on ebay you can get 2 brand new heads completly redone with new valves and hardware for like 200-300 shipped. Then the cost of new bolts and gaskets. Its a relatively simple job to swap out the heads, it is just time consuming. If theres coolant in the oil then scrap it.

 

[Big Jim M]

Is there any coolant in the oil? If not then I would just get the parts to fix it. If you look on ebay you can get 2 brand new heads completly redone with new valves and hardware for like 200-300 shipped. Then the cost of new bolts and gaskets. Its a relatively simple job to swap out the heads, it is just time consuming. If theres coolant in the oil then scrap it.

If the leak is all external you may have a head bolt that has backed out or broke the head off.. Check them first to see if they are all tight in the leak area. I have stopped several Ford leaks by tightnening the head bolts.
If there is coolant inside the engine and not in the oil most likely the problem is a blown head gasket.. Just replace the gasket.
Big Jim

 

[MARZ]

ya dont see any in the oil yet tearing it apart tomorow when i get a manual, so should i take the heads to a machine shop to check them out does every one get them milled thanks i need my truck how long does this job take

 

[michowski]

Well if your mechanically inclined and have all the gaskets/parts/tools on hand you can get it done in a day. Toughest part is probly going to be the exhaust bolts.

 

[Big Jim M]

ya dont see any in the oil yet tearing it apart tomorow when i get a manual, so should i take the heads to a machine shop to check them out does every one get them milled thanks i need my truck how long does this job take

What I'd do is to do a real good compression check. Then finding one or two cylinders down lower than the rest, I'd pull her apart. If no cylinders are down I'd be thinking about simply checking the head bolts for tightnes.

If the cylinders were down on the same head I'd NOT take the other head off.
I'd look at the valves in question...looking for a burnt spot. Finding a burnnt valve I'd replace ONLY THAT VALVE.. With a new one. I'd use some of that diamond grit and LAP the new valve into place.
Then I'd replace all the head, intakes and stuff and start her up.

I NEVER do a valve job on any head. All valve jobs do is to grind away good parts and put more WEAR on those parts. Just the words -VALVE JOB- sounds like you got something worthwhile.. But what you get is the one burnt valve replaced and then more of the life of all the other valves ground away.

I always reinstall all parts back ZACKLY where they were when I took them out. Push rods and things go back just like they were...not even upside down..

One valve and a head gasket kit would be all the money I'd spend.
Big JIm