When the parts were brand new, it worked great.... (and saved them some money.....) I always use gaskets when putting it BACK together though...

 

So i looked on roackauto at heads, and they had some remans. what do you think about them? good or junk?

 

Remans will have the EXACT same problems as the factory heads, and probably even more so, as they have already been machined some.

Check Clearwater, or Odessa cylinder heads, they sell NEW castings, that are heavier duty than the stockers, and you can get a pair for under 600.00.

 

Ok, can you post some links? This truck is a 1996 ram 1500 5.9L. Also maybe someone on this forum has some high-performance heads they want to get rid of?

 

Here ya go.

 

Will putting new heads on 98' with lots of miles accelerate bottom end wear?

 

Well the verdict from the machine shop after magnafluxing the heads is that both are cracked. Pretty deeply too. So gonna have too get new heads. That was evidently causing us a lot of grief with coolant loss and other misc things. None of the valves were sealing properly, and the some of the valve seats were sunken. Evidently someone else had taken the heads off of this truck before, discovered the heads were cracked, put new valve seals on, ground 2 or 3 valves, and slapped the whole thing back on...

 

Patt, if your rings are worn really bad, putting on a new head could cause excessive oil consumption, although I cannot say that from experience, just heard it from a fellow mechanic.

 

I did not do the non fouler trick & I have yet to flash a code. I did remove my cat & added a flowmaster 40 - HORRIBLY loud, but with a stock muffler or something better it may be tolerable.

 

I am planning to get an OEM compatible muffler, should be reasonable sounding without the cat, I hope.