A real nightmare! If I were young I'd do it myself. It's been only used for recreation and has always been very well maintained oil changed, coolant flushed etc. It never over heated. i'm waiting to hear about head condition. I'm having them install a 1/4" thick billet aluminum plenum cover during the repair. Dodges are famous for leaking plenums. I'm thinking of replacing the water pump 128k miles but if they burn me bad on parts mark up i'll have to let it slide. The head gasket set was billed at $125 for Napa actual retail is $79.95 (probably 200% markup over their cost).

 

I'm glad you had this discussion because I had a misfire on cyl 3 for a while & couldn't figure it out. I have a 2000 B1500 Magnum (van)..I tried everything & did have a gasket
swap out on the intake manifold. Really ticked me off cause it turned out to be wasted money. Mechanic did it for me. He shoulda checked for underlying problems. I'd like to dispute the charge but he actually the work so I don't think I can. Turned out that I need a valve job. At some point, you reach a "point of no return" & I'm trying to convert the van for camping. I used to use it for business. I'm not sure what leaked, probably air, wound up too, with a leak in the rear of the van. Valve job fixed that too. But I spent a a lot of unnecessary $$ on a lazy mechanic. I won't do that again.

 

My mechanic says he has another 2000 dodge van with a Magnum 5.9 with identical problems cracked heads and sunken valves. I do have 130k miles on it but the cylinders look fine. They are looking to find reconditioned replacement heads not new. Of course they will need to replace the water pump as well more $$$. I'm having an after market aluminum plenum cover installed. It kills me because I was just telling my friend how well this van was running and then the check engine light suddenly appeared.. This is going to cost about $2200 to save my 21 year old van.
Questions
How many miles on yours? How much did the repair cost? Including water pump or not? Where are you? I'm in Southern Calif

Sunken exhaust on number 5 as well as on others. cracks between exhaust and intake

 

Don't bother with reman heads. If you want to keep the van for the foreseeable future, spend a bit more, and get NEW, better casting heads. They are available on EBay, and other places, for around 600 bucks for a pair.

 

Could you be more specific about the source for new heads with valves and springs installed?

 

Dodge cheaped it out on the heads. When I had mine replaced, they were thicker than the original ones.....hopefully that won't happen again. Vancamper, I sent you a private note. I'd got get another estimate. $2200 isn't out of range. I got 3 different quotes & they were all crazy. It'll take me 2 years to pay this crap off. But to be honest, with 105,000 miles on the van, it was "cheaper to keep her". I didn't want to buy another used van & have to fix all the stuff that shoulda been fixed by the previous owner. It'll pay for itself. However, at some point, you reach a "point of no return" & I'm just about there with all the other stuff I've done. Good luck. Incidentally, Magnums were not one of Dodge's finer products. When something works, you don't fix it. Dodge was losing some market on the vans believe it or not, cause their earlier vans were so well made, no one was selling them & looking for new ones. So Dodge made some changes between 1997 and 2003 I believe.
I elected to keep the Dodge instead of going for a Ford & definitely not a Chevy van. Just my 2 cents.

 

Agree on heads.
Ask the mechanic who's doing the heads, him or is he having an outside source do them

 

He is using an outside guy that he has used for years. Estimate is $550 using rebuilt heads. New aftermarket bare heads appear to be $700 alone. I'm guessing another $400 for parts/labor=$1100.
I can't find any recommended after market heads from a local reliable supplier. Look at all the negative reviews of Odessa in FLORIDA?? ANY SUGGESTIONS? My Napa mechanic says if I supply heads warranty is not on him.
PLUS some times there has got to be a limit on the budget ( Not according to our government)

 

I'm still looking for a So California supplier of a good new after market head for a decent price. I'm not building a rod $$