After owning the truck for a bit over a year I finally compression tested my 332k mile 40th aniv. today. As as I know the headgasket is original and the engine has never been opened, although it was very well taken care of by the previous owner who put the majority of the miles on it. That being said I was pretty happy when almost every cylinder was between 170 and 180 with a dry compression test. #3 Peaked at 150 which isn't terrible but relative to the others isn't great.
Does this mean a headgasket should be in my future? Or that I should at least be very cautious? The coolant isn't murky at all and there's no telltale smoke or smell so I think I'm ok for at least the time being.
Additionally it does use a bit of oil and the (previous owner installed) catch can did fill up after about 2-3k although it is fairly small. This tell me that unsurprisingly my valve stem seals are probably going, but given I don't generally daily the truck that's not the end of the world.
I'm thinking within the next year I should pull the head, have it checked and rebuilt (or buy a rebuilt head) and replace the headgasket and all the other seals while I'm at it. I've been shopping full engine rebuilds but with most being 170-180 I'm thinking that might be unnecessary? I really appreciate any thoughts from those that have been through this before. Thanks
Does this mean a headgasket should be in my future? Or that I should at least be very cautious? The coolant isn't murky at all and there's no telltale smoke or smell so I think I'm ok for at least the time being.
Additionally it does use a bit of oil and the (previous owner installed) catch can did fill up after about 2-3k although it is fairly small. This tell me that unsurprisingly my valve stem seals are probably going, but given I don't generally daily the truck that's not the end of the world.
I'm thinking within the next year I should pull the head, have it checked and rebuilt (or buy a rebuilt head) and replace the headgasket and all the other seals while I'm at it. I've been shopping full engine rebuilds but with most being 170-180 I'm thinking that might be unnecessary? I really appreciate any thoughts from those that have been through this before. Thanks