My 4.7 had the infamous broken manifold bolt. I did a lot of research and decided to try to do it myself. Ripped the heat shields off and my jaw dropped. There were no heads left! Only thing that was left was a rusty cone shaped remnant of what used to be a head. Now to my problem. I have 7 bolts busted off in the head. Shop says that i should expect around $600 +/- depending. They pointed out some erosion around both back cylinders. Has anyone had this and got it to seal up? My only other option is to pull the heads and either have them milled or replace. I don't want to pull them because with 170k miles on it and the heads off there's no reason i shouldn't just go the extra mile and do a full rebuild. Seeing as how its just going to be the crank pistons and block left. Any good advice if i can't get it to seal?


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Anyone ever have this? The mechanic said he has some kind of sealer goop that's supposed to take up the space between the head and manifold. Has anyone ever heard of this either? I'm imagining some kind of high temp permatex gasket maker


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Clarify...you're referring to exhaust manifold bolts or intake manifold bolts?

 

Exhaust manifold. Sorry


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BTW - Replacing the heads is still a lot easier than rebuilding. Cheaper too. First off, the engine can stay in the truck. Second, no machine work such as boring, is needed and you won't need to buy new bearings, rings, over sized pistons, and gaskets.

By replacing the heads, you can spend $600 on a set of new after market iron heads. Cost effective, and simple to do.

 

So i shouldn't replace crank bearings on such a high mileage engine when they are only a few bolts and hours away?


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Not hours. Days. Machine shops don't typically turn work around in hours unless they're ringing pistons or checking valve springs. Maybe pressing a sprocket onto a crank. For a block check, bore, cam bearings, freeze plugs, new pistons, R&R the rods...you're talking about a week or more on waiting for machine shop labor after shipping times for parts...and an extra $1K on top of just heads.

Besides, 170K is not a lot of miles if your oil pressure is still good and you have decent compression in the cylinders. No knock? You're good. Good oil pressure? You're good.

I still vote for heads, timing chain, and maybe address any accessories with squeaky bearings.

 

Well with the exhaust ticking really loud i haven't really been able to listen to the motor very well. I knew the machine shop would take a while i just meant the work of getting the rest of the block out of the truck. It really cost over 1k to rebuild a 4.7?


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If you're really that skeptical, call a machine shop and get a labor and parts quote for their side of things:

Hot Tank
Mag the Block
Overbore
Check Deck
Cam Bearings
Freeze Plugs
Turn or New Crank
R&R Rods
Tax and any Markup. (Ask about this, possibly hidden costs.)

Then, look up some prices:

Crank
Over Sized Pistons
Bearings
Rings
Gaskets

Then add that to the top end work:

New Heads
Gaskets
Timing Chain / Gears
Fluids
Possibly Plugs / Wires / Rotor

There will also be little things that add up like bolts or fasteners, penetrating oils, rags, and unexpected costs. I'm assuming you'll do the assembly yourself, otherwise, get a labor quote from the machine shop about that too.

Rebuilding an engine will almost NEVER cost less than $1K unless you don't need to factor in new or turned crank, pistons, and rod work. Trust me, it adds up, and while pulling the engine and your labor isn't costly, the labor involved with things you cannot do will add up fast to upwards of $700 before you factor in the costs of the new parts needed when you rebuild an engine.

I'm a big fan of rebuilding, but not when you don't need to. If your oil pressure is good, no knocking, and no smoke while driving...it's easier and cheaper not to. However, if money and the extra time really don't matter then go for it.

 

Wow. Well i guess i should just find another engine to work on little by little and run this one till it craps out. I'm just super iffy about this motor because the miles weren't put on by me and idk what his maintenance schedules were like, how hard he ran it etc. cross my fingers.


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