New Here intro and advice needed

[Art Lessing]

Hi, I am usually in The Samba but my daily 1995 Mazda B2300 is slowly dying. It has 265,000000000 miles on it and has now developed a terminal illness. Steam out the tail pipe, farts out the radiator. We all know what that means...cracked heads/blown gasket etc... What to do? I have heard bad things about most remanufactured engine companies. How long will an engine block last after 265+ miles? I do most of my own work but have never replaced a head assembly. The rest of the truck is in excellent shape. need advice.... Thanks in advance--DAn

 

[fastpakr]

Buy a used engine from the local junkyard with a 90 day guarantee. Toss that in and keep driving. Aside from carefully labelling things as you disconnect them, removing an engine isn't all that hard. Just a lot of labor.

 

[adsm08]

Don't mess with a whole engine on a 2.3. That is hands down one of the easiest heads to pull, just grab a manual and a head set and do it. Very simple job, just time consuming, and requiring a bit more precision than your average oil change.

 

[Art Lessing]

interesting...what I am worried about is the block and what condition the rings and pistons are in....after 265 plus...I guess I could pull off a head swap. But I hate to go through all of that trouble to find a screwed up block....

 

[Curious Hound]

interesting...what I am worried about is the block and what condition the rings and pistons are in....after 265 plus...I guess I could pull off a head swap. But I hate to go through all of that trouble to find a screwed up block....

I think I would be willing to take that risk. Pull the heads and look at the Pistons and cylinders. You will be able to see if there is major wear. Heck. You could just throw new head gaskets on, do a compression test and see what happens. If it doesn't work, you're only out the price of the gaskets and you have already inspected the cylinders, Pistons and head. So you have a better idea of what condition everything is in. That would be worth a Saturday in the garage to me.

 

[adsm08]

I'm with Eric. 265K is nothing for a 2.3. That engine is barely broken in.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I agree with these guys, but, if you got coolant in the oil, i think i would swap motors. Coolant can severly lower the lifespan of main/rod bearings.

 

[Art Lessing]

thanks guys...well I have decided to dive into this head first...So to those who have done it....how much further past timing belt is this job? I have replaced my timing belt with no issues. Also, what is the preffered head gasket brand?

 

[Guanfy]

Fel-pro and mahle(victor rines?) are both reputable brands to buy gaskets from. I just finished redoing the heads on my b3000 and I used a mahle gasket kit for everything.

 

[Bill]

interesting...what I am worried about is the block and what condition the rings and pistons are in....after 265 plus...I guess I could pull off a head swap. But I hate to go through all of that trouble to find a screwed up block....

If you don't have a lot of wear in the cylinders you can always hone the cylinders and replace rings and bearings.