Hello, Jen here,
Well first thing we are going to do is a compression test, then pull the heads and get them magnafluxed to look for cracks.
I am currently a college grad, unemployed, and poor. So hope we only do this once. I live in NM, and found a machine shop in a town called Truth or Consequences, that will resurface the heads for $16.
Since it is my truck I am going to do all the work, and as i stated earlier, I train horses, not trucks, so if this truck is in better running shape when I'm finished with it, it will be a miracle, lol. My father is probably going to stand back and laugh as i struggle to get the fan cover off, lol.
Oh, and Mr. Maxx Magnum, I am indeed attached to my truck, I call her Precious!!
Dhvaughn, Thank you for the information, your assessment of the situation of fuel pump/overheating failure seems quite accurate. To save money, I opted to do the work. Everyone reading this should be laughing, blonde girl who knows nothings of the mechanical workings of her truck, and shes gonna do advanced mechanic work like changing heads. Little different than changing spark plugs-which i did, and didnt push some of the wires in far enough and then wondered why the truck was misfiring, lol.
No better way to learn to swim, than just jump in.......right? :/ If I can get another 40,000 miles out of it after this, I'll be happy!
Thank you for your concern and support. You'll be hearing back from me, I'm sure. Like, "How do I?" x 100. hah.

 

Jennn ... Where rrr uuuuuu ??

 

New Mexico....Its by Texas and Arizona.

 

New Mexico, between Texas and Arizona. But not in Mexico.

 

lol ok how about you two make two different accounts so we know who's who!

 

Well from here on out, you will get the divine pleasure of just talking with me...
Jen

 

Awesome, now fill out your profile information about your truck and location etc etc

and make sure you thank your dad, he's cool as hell to be doing that for you.

 

Just on a heads up notice. If your motor got to hot to mess up your heads. It could have cracked your block and you really cant tell till you get her back running. Not trying to scare you. But when you take the heads to get shaved have them to reseat the valves. Its alittle bit more money (i know you dont have alot) but it needs to be done with 200k + miles on the motor. And if i read it right you said your going to do the work your self. Get a camera and take pictures of taking the motor apart, it with help you when you are putting it all back together. Do it all by the book and you will be ok. Good luck with it all and its always great to see/hear about a girl getting there hand dirty!!!!!

 

You are going to get help with this, right? There is a lot to it than just taking the heads off and putting some back on. Torque sequence of the heads, putting the head gaskets on the correct way, rocker arm placement and torque sequence proper installation of the intake gaskets, intake torque sequence and making sure the plenum isn't leaking, distributor placement and proper timing... Are you pulling our legs? That's a pretty advanced task.

I've done my fair share of head swaps and I can tell you that if you had a problem putting the spark plug wires in this is going to be a nightmare for you. I'm not trying to scare you, but there is a lot to it and it's very important how things go back together.

 

Jen, +1 on pictures. Take lots of them with enough different angles to see all the bolts you are removing. That is a good way to avoid having extra parts when you're done.

Also, any road blocks you hit can be overcome with a post on here. There's people on here that have done just about everything you are going to do to your truck and they get on here almost every day, so the help is available.

And about the fan shroud deal, it is easier to remove if you take the fan out first. It will come out through the bottom if you have the two blades that are close to each other facing the steering box and wiggle it out on the left side between the shroud and the harmonic balancer (the pulley on the bottom of the motor). You want the open space between the blades facing the steering box so you'll have room and won't have to fight with it.
After taking the fan out then you just need to take the coolant reservoir and the washer fluid reservoir off and remove 4 bolts from the shroud itself and it will come right out.