Hello all, been awhile since I've posted on here. Haven't driven my old 1995 much in the last year. I bought a subaru legacy last march 2022 so my wife and I could have a better rig for our new baby boy. That became my daily driver and my 2nd gen took a break.

The last few months I've been trying to drive it more. I noticed coolant smell and coolant loss. There was coolant on the bellhousing. Quick search here yielded that the freeze plug on the back of the engine is a common culprit. Pain to fix from the sounds of it. Dang. I haven't had the chance to look for myself if that's what's going on, but I'm certain it is. The most recent time I checked the coolant, I couldn't see any in the radiator. It's parked for good now until I get this addressed. It also has 198,000 miles of never being opened up (other than to fix the plenum) still factory heads. So I'm thinking it's due for heads since they are known to crack too which mine probably are. Odessa heads are the clear consensus for new thicker heads on here.

Now, the dilemma. If I go through all the trouble of fixing the plug and slapping new heads on, how do I know if my piston rings are ok still? A compression test would tell me I suppose, but if the heads are cracked in the right spot, wouldn't that throw off the compression test and give me false readings? I'm also debating if it's best to pull the engine to fix the freeze plug and to work on the heads, or drop the trans for the plug and leave the engine in for the heads? I'd hate to just slap new heads on if she's time for a rebuild. Runs good and strong right now. Little rough idle you can feel in the truck, I'm chalking that up to the potential of cracked head(s).

 

I dunno, I'd fix any external coolant leaks and drive it.

 

Fix the leaks and run it like you stole it. If you need another engine due to worn rings, you can always procure a good used engine, as needed. Rings tend to hold up pretty well in magnum engines if the oil is changed with reasonable frequency. For now, 5.9 engines aren't too hard to come by or you could rebuild the one you have..

 

Do a leakdown test. That will tell you where the compression is going.

Although, at almost 200K miles, I would actually expect that the rings are worn.