I've got to replace one of the heads on my truck soon, have new ones en route now. Is there anything you guys can recommend for when I'm doing it?
Any special tricks to keep in mind?
Anything I should do when I've got them off or the other pieces of my engine apart? maybe to help performance? I don't want to take the time to port my throttle body or anything, and i'm on a tight budget.

thanks

upjeeper

 

Can I ask why you need to replace it? Going but not gone yet?

~Amanda

 

Gasket thickness, clean seal surface, and a square block surface are important when installing new heads. Too, you probably want to get new head bolts and follow the torque sequence. Good luck.

 

No kidding... doing the Heads is a big job... tough stuff! I don't think I'd attempt it. If I screwed it up, I'd have to have someone to blame. LOL!!

~Amanda

 

It's not as tough as you think, mechanically. It sucks to do it when the engine is in the vehicle, but it can be done. The worst part for you would probably be getting the head on the engine. A cast iron head weighs about 50 lbs. which makes it PIA to move around in there.

 

That's what I've heard it the 'problem' is... getting the head just perfect because it's heavy and awkward. Most all of the people I know who've done it, did it while the engine was still in the vehicle. It took awhile to get it all set up perfect... I just wouldn't want to mess with it myself. If I screwed it up, I couldn't live without my truck. LOL!

~Amanda

 

here's why i've lost a lot of faith in my local dealership...

my engine has lifter noise as well, near cylinder #2, which is the cylinder I knew that had bad compression. Just to be on the safe side i brought it into the dealership and asked them to verify. Sure enough their diagnosis is "bad valve seat, replace the head, our cost $1500".
I talked to a local (and well renouned) machine shop yesterday, the gentleman there told me from the symptoms i gave him that I shoud certainly replace my lifters. oh yea... i must have been having a slow week or something. bad lifters could account for low compression. Good thing I didn't have them do the heads. i'd have been out $1500 and my truck wouldn't be fixed.
On the other hand I made a contact in Denver who overnighted a set of nice heads to me for $223 (including shipping). IF you'd like his contact feel free to get a hold of me.

i've been told before to stay away from that dealership, if you're in Rapid City, I'm going to recommend you do the same thing. Now I just hope I can get my $42 back for the bad diagnosis.

 

Wow... what an ordeal... I'm glad you knew better. That would have been a costly mistake.

Some advice... the dealer likely will not give back the $42, but the best way to try is to be nice, rational, calm, whatever you want to call it. I've worked at several dealerships and if you walk in there talking smack, they won't recieve what you are trying to say at all. Speak to the Service or General Manager, your advisor can't do anything for you.

If they ask you why you brought it in if you already knew what the problem was, say you wanted a second opinion, and would have gladly paid the $42 if they had gotten it right, but they came back with a problem worth over $1,500, that wasn't even the problem...

I wish you well, what dealership is this?

~Amanda

 

have you ever seen a dealership refund money for an incorrect diagnosis?
I'm going to try to be as calm as i can, but this had drug out for several weeks, there's another mechanic i've sort of dealt with and they replaced the pick up plate, at a cost of $107. Seems to run a bit better, but still is definately missing on #2.

it's Dodgetown in Rapid City, SD

 

OMG!! Dodgetown?! I would think they'd want to be the best.

No... never for an incorrect diagnosis... BUT weirder things have happened. Did you ask how and why they came up with their diagnosis? They give any details at all? Did you ask? Those are all things you can say back at them.... "I asked for detailed explaination of how your mechanics came to that conclusion, no one helped." Etc...

~Amanda