Is truck's head gasket bad?

[mazd02]

Hi,
I put my truck up for sale and one of the guys that came look at it told me that the head gasket is bad. He checked the oil (only once and just after the engine was on for a couple of minutes) and showed me some bubbles in it. Not sure if he was BSing me or not. The truck sounds fine, no smoke, misfiring or loss of power. If he was not BSing me, is it a simple gasket replacement or do I need to rebuild the head?
Thanks
'02 Mazda B2300

 

[adsm08]

I would not condemn a head gasket over a few bubbles in the oil. The oil will cavitation as the engine runs, and the bubbles don't usually disappear until the oil gets hot enough the thin out.

If the oil isn't getting mixed with coolant and you aren't loosing coolant, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Explorin94]

How many miles? Have you ever had to add excess amounts of anitfreeze? Is the oil milky? He says the headgasket is bad because there are bubbles in the oil....tell him to kick rocks!

 

[Insanejughead]

Adsm & Explorin'94, would a compression test help tell if a gasket is bad?

Btw, I think that the potential buyer telling you that it's bad is just trying to low ball you, mazd02.

 

[adsm08]

A compression test can point to a bad head gasket, but a bad result won't necessarily mean a bad head gasket.

But you can't get bubbles in the oil from a bad head gasket. To blow a bubble you have to introduce air below the surface of the liquid. The head gasket is a foot above it. The crank weights moving through the oil cavitates it and causes little "bubbles" to appear on the dipstick.

 

[mazd02]

I gave the him the boot before he tried to low ball me.
It is due for an oil change, gonna change it this weeked. I'll check the oil then.
It does have a valve tick, is it difficult to to adjust the valves? I've done it on my bug.

 

[adsm08]

It is very difficult and expensive to adjust the valves on a 2.3L duratech. There are pieces that Ford calls "dumb buckets", little caps that sit on top of the valve and spring, that the cam pushes on. They are of a selective thickness, and once they wear to the point of needing replaced you have to use a feeler gauge to measure the gap, take the cam out (it's an interference engine, yay) take all the buckets off, mic them, and then get new ones that are appropriately thicker, and they aren't cheap.

 

[mazd02]

It is very difficult and expensive to adjust the valves on a 2.3L duratech. There are pieces that Ford calls "dumb buckets", little caps that sit on top of the valve and spring, that the cam pushes on. They are of a selective thickness, and once they wear to the point of needing replaced you have to use a feeler gauge to measure the gap, take the cam out (it's an interference engine, yay) take all the buckets off, mic them, and then get new ones that are appropriately thicker, and they aren't cheap.

Where do I get the buckets at? Do I have to go to a dealer?
Thanks

 

[Insanejughead]

It is very difficult and expensive to adjust the valves on a 2.3L duratech. There are pieces that Ford calls "dumb buckets", little caps that sit on top of the valve and spring, that the cam pushes on. They are of a selective thickness, and once they wear to the point of needing replaced you have to use a feeler gauge to measure the gap, take the cam out (it's an interference engine, yay) take all the buckets off, mic them, and then get new ones that are appropriately thicker, and they aren't cheap.

Really?... Damn, that's ridiculous.