'98 Dakota 5.2L 4x4. Yesterday morning on the way to work my oil pressure started bouncing between mid range and 0 and then it went to 0. I knew the level was ok as I had checked it a few days ago. I pulled over as quick as I could but had to go a a mile or two as there was nowhere safe to pull over. Engine temperature was normal and no engine noise except some chatter noise from the valves. Pulled the dipstick when the AAA tow truck driver arrived and the oil level was way over the max and slightly milky looking. So no doubt the head gasket allowed coolant into the oil.

It's been running good so I'm thinking of replacing the gaskets to get more time out of it, not ready to buy another truck right now. I did the plenum and timing chain about 45k ago, water pump and valve seals about 20k ago. Currently has 161k on it.

What's the best thing to do here? I don't want to sink a ton of money into this, I'd be ok with around $700 max, but would like to at least do the job right. I'm not in a rush to fix it as I have some loaner options so can take my time.

Parts:
Head gaskets
Cylinder bolts
New intake gaskets / bolts?
Anything else? I put exhaust gaskets on a while back when some of the bolts broke.

Tasks:
Thoroughly clean gasket material off.
Take heads in somewhere to have them inspected? What do I ask them to do? What do I need to watch out for if they offer me options?
Clean top of pistons with a polisher? I saw some guy on youtube did that. He was hand cranking the engine to raise each piston up, is that trouble?

Thanks for any help.

 

I would be REAL tempted to expand the budget a bit, and REPLACE the heads. They are notorious for cracking around the valve seats. Used to be able to get a pair for around 600 off of EBay, and those are NEW castings, with thicker decks.

You should be able to find a "head set", that will come with all the gaskets you need. I don't think they come with bolts though, so, those will be something you will have to source as well. Definitely replace the intake bolts, I don't know about the head bolts.... Cheap insurance to replace them though..... Don't forget various fluids as well. (oil, coolant)

 

Jegs has the EQ heads for $500 per side ready to bolt on - as HeyYou said, they are prone to cracking in the chambers - https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/514202/10002/-1

You can probably find a deal in various other places.

Otherwise, a standard head gasket R&R is your most economical option.

Hopefully it didn't tear up any of the bottom end bearings. Splash oiling is only worth so much when you're pushing coolant through the oil galleys instead of oil.

 

Thanks for the input. I did a web search and wow had no idea that cracking on the heads was such a big issue! That could explain some of the things I've noticed over the years, misfiring issues at times on #4 and it has low compression since way back when, mystery coolant loss, and starting to lose compression on the other cylinders last time I checked when I did the valve seals. Is the cracking easy to see by eye, or does it take some special test?

I saw some re-manufactured heads as well as one outfit advertising new ones (The Cylinder Head Shop) on Ebay that seemed like they would be good, and can get a pair of them for the same price as 1 head from Jegs which would keep me in my current budget. They are claiming no cracks, complete with valves, etc as well as free shipping. Is there any word on how good they are? I was hoping to get a few more years out of this truck, if any of these last 50k or so that'd be great.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...cylinder+heads

 

Skip the reman heads. They have the same problem, only worse, as they have had the already thin surfaces, machined even more. They are a waste of money. (and this is the same reasoning for why having your stock heads redone is a waste of money as well.)

Sometimes you can see the cracks with the naked eye, other times, you actually need to magnaflux the heads to see 'em. But, if you are over 100K miles, likely they are cracked.

 

5.2's have the same problem as the 5.9's? Ive only ever heard of the 5.9's

 

They use the exact same heads.....

 

this.

 

I've started taking it apart but haven't pulled the heads yet. It got me thinking though, what's the best way to get the old head gasket material off? I know not to use anything metallic like a razor blade, but it seems like a plastic scraper isn't going to cut it either.

 

I stuff rags into anything I don't want crap to get into, and use a whizwheel, on an air powered die grinder. (angle head, so it can get into tight spots. and try and angle it so it isn't blowing the stuff it takes off into the engine.....) When the surface is good and clean, I use air to blow all the excess dust off. Works great, and I have never had a problem with the engines later.