Alright another update, been busy lately and not had time to futz with the truck alot. Pulled the injectors and none of them leaked at all, so put 'em back in and took it to a local highly rated mechanic who looked at it. He's saying I have anti-freeze in 5 of my 8 cylinders and he suspects both heads are cracked. Before I'd do anything I'd double check it's not just the head gaskets of course but putting that aside, if both head gaskets are cracked what would be the best course of action? Replace the heads and hope for the best, or replace the entire engine with a junk yard one (with less than 100k miles)? I obviously have no idea on the shape of the lower half of the engine, and whatever damage antifreeze getting down there has done. Once again, thank you for any help.

 

Replace the heads. Get some of the 'newer' design guys from the aftermarket, they have thicker decks, and are not as prone to cracking as the factory ones.

 

Why the new heads over the replacing the engine, out of curiousity? Not that I want to do more work, just want to make the best informed choice. Also, can you recommend any particular aftermarket heads? I mean I see some at autozone and etc. for varying prices, but not sure if one stands out above the other.

 

The bottom half of the engine should still be good. You didn't mention anything about coolant in the oil at least.... so, an assumption on my part.

Just changing the heads is certainly the least expensive route. Well, ok, a junkyard engine might be cheaper, but then, you end up with the exact same potential problem. Putting better quality heads on your engine solves the underlying problem, without the potential of introducing new problems with a junkyard motor.

A new engine runs in the multiple thousands of dollars...... How much do ya wanna spend?

 

Considering I just bought the truck a few months ago, as little as possible...!

The reason I was asking is the mechanic cautioned that new heads may not get along very well with the rest of the engine, seeing as it's higher mileage. Not trying to push me towards one thing or the other, just warning me that the lower half of the engine is a total unknown. I haven't seen any coolant in the oil as far as I can tell.

But yeah, I'd honestly prefer to go for the cheaper solution...but I also want the best solution, at least one that dosen't involve putting in a new engine. Simply can't afford that.

 

Well, best, and cheapest, are generally mutually exclusive. If the engine ran good before the heads crapped out, it is probably still good. Did you have good oil pressure? No weird (expensive....) noises? The major problem, as I see it, is all in the heads. Replacing the problem, as opposed to burning down the hole house, because you have mice.... is the better plan. Going with some reasonable aftermarket heads will solve the problem, and get you back on the road, with the lowest expense. (hopefully... it IS a crap shoot, but, I have replace heads on older motors more times than I really care to count..... 99% of the time, that's the end of it.)

Clearwater makes replacement heads for under 300 a pop. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have them checked out by a machine shop before installation though. (another 100 bucks or so.) While the intake is off, no better time to do the plenum fix. (hughes plate, can get just the plate for like 80 bucks, get the new bolts with it to, if it doesn't come with them. all the gaskets and such you are going to have to get anyway, because you are doing the heads. Might not come with the plenum gasket, but, that one is another 20 bucks or so.)

 

Well, finally got the truck back from the mechanic today and got the top end of the engine tore apart. The passanger side heads were cracked, just a little single crack on three of the four. Gasket didn't look good either. Driver side, wow. Multiple cracks on the heads there, and the head gasket...those metal rings that go around the piston wall (trying my best to describe it) were blown out in places and distended badly.

So long story short, got my remanufactured heads ordered on en route right now. One year warrenty on them. I'd have preferred to get all new beefier heads, but this is having to be done on abit of a budget so having to re-use what I can. I'm looking into replacing the plenum plate too, hate spending 80 bucks or so for a piece of aluminum but pretty sure it should be done. Figure while it's apart, I might as well do it right. Gotta replace the enhaust manafold bolts as well, they were in pretty bad shape.

While it's in pieces, anything else I should be looking for or looking to replace? The cylinder walls were still in good shape (thank goodness) and cleaning all the white gunk out of the engine should be fun. I should be able to reuse the manifold and head bolts, correct? I know you're technically supposed to replace them, but think if they're torqued down correctly they will be okay? Any thoughts and recommendations will be very welcome. Thank you once more for all the help!

 

Head bolts should be fine, I would replace the intake bolts just on general principles.....

Timing chain and gears while you have it scattered about the garage. Resealing the timing cover and such NOW, is a good plan. (and, if you are going to take it off, might just as well do the timing set.)