I've been having a serious overheating problem in my truck for some time now. Seemed to go away this winter, but once the weather hit the 70's the problem seemed to come right back. Long story short...it was a blown head gasket.

I really want to keep the truck since its paid for and I don't drive it all that much (177k total, I put on 53k in 7 years) I'm starting a new job soon, and I think I'll be getting a company vehicle...so the dodge will be getting significantly less driving.

I'd hate to see this truck go for cheap off craigslist and I don't want to take out a loan for a new ride. So the question is....Would anyone advise me to get this truck fixed? I did do a Bars gasket seal, but I'm not convinced that it actually worked.

PS: The shop that diagnosed this said it would be $1500 minimum...does that sound right?

 

jumpin' jimmy crickets, $1500?!

man, do it yourself for about $200 or so.. THAT is crazy!! (but considering the time involved, about right I'd guess)..

the only thing about head gaskets that concern me is the effort.. I've always thought if I go that far, I'll just keep going and get a fresh rebuild.. but then again, that job can be done in a long day in your driveway with the engine in it..

your choice.. i'd go with doing it myself.

 

$1500 seems a little high. i don't know the flat rate time, but i'd guess about 10 hours for a pro.

the big question will be - are the heads ok, or is one or both cracked. that can jack the price another $500-1000, depending a LOT on where you get parts.

if you can stand the downtime, you can do it yourself for a few hundred. its really just a plenum fix, plus the heads.

however - if you plan to keep the truck - while you're in this deep, it makes sense to rebuild the whole top end and front, including water pump, timing chain, plenum fix, etc. its hard to draw the line and stop, but it'd be a shame to not do those easy items.

if the truck's in otherwise good condition, its worth fixing.

if you're not going to fix it yourself, check some other repair places for better pricing. be sure you know what all parts are/are not being included in the price.

for what its worth, the water glass/liquid glass head gasket repairs are pretty damn good. you can check your success with a compression tester.

 

Thanks for the input.

Side note: I drove the truck around today and had it running for over 45mins...and the temp seemed to be just fine. Never got over 220-230 area. Is it possible that the Bars gasket seal did its job? The only downside to the lower engine temp is that the ambient outdoor temp is in the upper 40's, which might play a factor in cooling the motor down.

 

220-230 is a little high for the temp....shouldnt really go above the middle line...

There is still a problem, and the gasket seal only Hides the problem...it doesnt fix it...

IMO do it yourself for a couple hundred bucks...

 

220 is still too high.

since its summertime, temporarily remove the thermostat and see where it runs. i'd expect about 150-160 for a normal engine with a properly working cooling system.

 

when you temp hits its high does it vary up and down. most of the time varing temp is normally the first sign.

have you done a water pump and theromstat in that lately. my experance with bad head gaskets i have only ever seen three major signs.

1- at running temp the truck burns a large amount of white smoke out the exhaust.
2- with the radiator cap off at running temp there is either large amounts exhaust coming out of the radiator. also mixes oil in the radiator.
3- external coolent leak from head area. normally when this is the case bottom of the oil dips has a section of antifreeze on it. also when you change oil you will notice that antifreeze come out before the oil.

from the sounds of your issue just running high temp it doesnt sounds like the coolent is moving threw the block.

 

Water pump 3 years ago, tstat last summer

1. I have never noticed large amounts of white smoke at any temp. I have seen a few drops of water from the tail pipe.

2.Haven't attempted this before...the coolant is mostly green (as it should be) but is does get a little dingy...probably from emissions

3.I Checked my oil at the shop when it got diagnosed to see if there was antifreeze on the stick, and there was nothing there telling me that it was anything but black oil. I expected to see some cloudy/foamy oil/coolant mix...but it was all oil (good)

 

I was just estimating, looking at the temp gauge the needle moved just past the 1st ZERO on the 200. And stayed there when ideling, when driving it went back down closer to the 2 on the 200. I guess it was closer to 210 215

 

I'll give it a try and see what I find out. Thanks