Checked the oil today in my 1996 Ram 318. Dipstick has rust on the upper inch or so, and the oil on the stick is a frothy-chocolate color. I'm thinking coolant in the oil, as the resovoir is empty. Probably a new head gasket is in order. How difficult of a job is this? I can do brakes and other small stuff, so this may be out of my league. What do mechanics charge? I know my new tranny was 1,700.00, so it wont be cheap.

 

buy a chiltons manual......its not too bad i just replaced a bent rod back in december and the manual really helped...

 

Yes, milkshake in the crankcase is coolant in the oil. It could be a blown head gasket, a cracked head or (in extreme cases) a cracked block. Given the time of year, it's time to start seeing damage from frozen systems.

It depends on how fast you need your truck back. You can tear it down and do it all yourself, tear it down and contract the head work out or just throw it in the shop. As usual, cheaper = slower. If you don't feel comfortable doing precision work, I'd consider option 2.

 

As was said before its one of those three issues (cracked head, block, or gasket).

Hope that its the gasket as the others start getting real pricey.

 

I'm almost of the opinion that most shops don't want to fool with top-end rebuilds anymore. Too much warranty exposure for them. My feeling is most shops would rather just swing the engine and be done with it, and honestly, with a 13 yo old truck, I think you're probably ready for a replacement or 0-time overhaul anyway.

 

The first time I did my head gasket rebuild it was on a '92 Cavalier 2.2 4 Cylinder and it took me over the course of two days. The second time I did one it was on a '95 Grand Prix 3.1 V6 and it took me about 6 hrs (Aside from fighting with the stupid torx bolt in the motor mount). I am guessing that now when I go to do my truck eventually it will take about 2-3 days so that I can take the time to clean everything up and get the heads re-machined flat and probably ported and polished.

That is of course if the heads are not cracked, then it would probably be an extra week to account for shipping from wherever I buy them from.

If all you have experience with is small stuff like brakes and whatever, then you may want to take it in. However, if you are not afraid to dive in and do a little exploratory surgery on your truck then go for it. Just be prepared to run into some issues when you do it. For some reason things don't always go as planned!

 

I've found that things RARELY go as planned. Allocate 2 x the cash and 3 x the hours you initially figure for.

 

Wow, apparently things go better for you than me. I did my trans rebuild to save some cash and spend 500 (New oil pump included) instead of spending 800 and I ended up spending that much anyways and it took me two months and 3 removal/installs to get everything finally tweaked right.

 

Amen, brotha.

 

I would'nt even fool with getting a Haynes of Chilton manual if you plan to re-build the motor yourself. I would go ahead, spend the money, and buy a Factory Service Manual. It will go into way more detail than the Haynes manual. Although it is a bit pricy($90@ Geno's Garage), you will thank yourself in the long run.