My Head gasket , engine rebuild , cost breakdown

[half k cruiser]

Update : Looking back I couldn't be happier that I tackled this job myself. Much like anything else in life that is long and difficult it taught a lot of valuable lessons and the eventual success I had instilled a lot of confidence in my own ability's. As another bonus sometimes I just stand around out in my garage with a cup of coffee and look at all the nice tools I accumulated. I am very excited about getting the garage cleaned up this spring and starting on the next round of projects !

 

[profro]

Engine building is ..... Dumber people than you and me do it everyday

As engineer with 2 degrees I sweat stuff like this way too much. Perhaps its the meticulous enginerd in me, but I remind myself of what you said all the time and it helps calm my nerves.

 

[half k cruiser]

Update: still running like a champ. This motor doesn't leak a drop of anything, no oil consumption either. Runs a lot stronger than my 97 with 30k less miles.

 

[70Cruza]

Thank you for the update & the info.

 

[Clint0511]

Sweet thread and discussion. I may have missed this part... How long was your ride out of commission?

 

[CowboyUp]

For those of you who are interested, and because of all the threads I see on this, I thought I would post a breakdown of what it cost to redo the engine on my wife's 94. Keep in mind, other than machine work all labor was performed by me in my garage.

Backstory: Back in February of this year (2014) I noticed coolant contamination in the oil. I decided that with 207k on the clock and figuring we will pretty much keep this vehicle forever I would just rebuild the whole thing. The truck at this point had sprung several oil leaks and the power steering system needed an overhaul. So out comes the motor.

So here's the breakdown of costs:

Parts
-OEM re seal kit $303
-upgraded timing kit $91
-Clevite bearings $80
-NPR piston rings $131.59
-PS kit + HP hose $100
-Drag link tie rod ends $72.50
-Water pump, hoses, vacuum lines, fuel lines, harness connections, lubricants, coolant, and all other odds and ends $ 180.42

Parts total $958.42

I also took the cylinder head and block to the machine shop to have them done.
-valve job and surface $685.43
-block decked .10in and cylinder walls step honed $255.59



Labor total $941.02

Then I needed some tools, like a shop crane, floor jack, engine stand, gigantic torque wrench, and lots of other little odds and ends.

Tools total $795.82

So after all was said and done I came to the following total. Please keep in mind I may have misplaced a receipt here or there but the totals should be within $100 of actual moneys spent.

Total rebuild cost $1899.44 Cost w/ tools $2695.26

Great info and all are saved. Thanks !

 

[half k cruiser]

I dug this thread up the other day and realized it hadn't had an update in over 2 years. The motor still runs great, just over the 35k mile mark on the rebuild and 3 years later. Still doesn't leak anything, and consumption is so low as to not be worth monitoring. I did switch it to Mobil 1 0w-30 with the intent of running 1 year between oil changes. My thought is next year I will send the old oil off to Blackstone for a measurement.

 

[dubyahard]

I need to do this or some version of it. I'm consuming way too much oil between changes and my valves are noisy and exhaust smelly. I don't know if my HG needs replacement, but... its got 190k on the clock and it's original. Plus I'll have most everything off to remove the head. I was planning on leaving the engine in the truck.
Add in timing chain stuff and water pump, it adds up.

 

[half k cruiser]

I need to do this or some version of it. I'm consuming way too much oil between changes and my valves are noisy and exhaust smelly. I don't know if my HG needs replacement, but... its got 190k on the clock and it's original. Plus I'll have most everything off to remove the head. I was planning on leaving the engine in the truck.
Add in timing chain stuff and water pump, it adds up.

Leaving the engine in the rig will certainly lead to cheaper options. I decided to pull mine due to pretty much all of the seals leaking from age. It was either do the bare minimum or do a one time, engine out rebuild, and I decided on the latter. I doubt this will help with your smelly exhaust though. That's probably your catalytic converters telling you they're shot.

 

[Formulaonehd]

Such information is very useful, but also outlines a problem (without criticizing the thread starter here), which is the definition of a rebuild. What was done here is the absolute minimum, and therefore the costs were relatively low.
For a complete rebuild it would include measuring all cylinders for wear, tolerances and roundness (probably this was done here, I assume, and just not mentioned). A complete rebuild will include new pistons, pins, pin bushings and rod bearings, as well as measuring the rods for tolerances. At the least a complete analysis of the old pistons. I assume the block was magna fluxed and cleaned inside out, as this definitely needs to be done. The oil pump should be checked as well, and all the timing gears. Usually head bolts and rod bolts need to be new.

Again, I am not bashing the thread starter, but people need to be aware of the difference between a minimal rebuild and a complete rebuild, and often one cannot getaway with a minimal one.
cheers,
J

You are spot on. I say one thing though. The FZ is tough and a basic rebuild is really all that is necessary in my opinion

 

[dubyahard]

I've suspected my cat converters were bad. I've had the replacement magnaflows sitting in my amazon cart for over a year!

Leaving the engine in the rig will certainly lead to cheaper options. I decided to pull mine due to pretty much all of the seals leaking from age. It was either do the bare minimum or do a one time, engine out rebuild, and I decided on the latter. I doubt this will help with your smelly exhaust though. That's probably your catalytic converters telling you they're shot.

 

[dubyahard]

Would I be stupid to do the valves and leave the head as is?

Just had to add 2 more quarts last night. I've already put 3 in.

 

[half k cruiser]

Would I be stupid to do the valves and leave the head as is?

Just had to add 2 more quarts last night. I've already put 3 in.

In what amount of time/mileage ? Being low 2 quarts is a decent amount on a vehicle that takes 8.

 

[dubyahard]

In what amount of time/mileage ? Being low 2 quarts is a decent amount on a vehicle that takes 8.

Time doesn't seem to be the determining factor. It's the mileage and mountain climbs. The truck went from Portland to Mt. Hood this past weekend and on Tuesday the low oil light came on. It's probably the third such trip and then the light came on (not after each trip). Maybe 70 miles one way.
I try to fill it to the top of the hash marks on the dip stick. It just depends on when I check it.

 

[half k cruiser]

Time doesn't seem to be the determining factor. It's the mileage and mountain climbs. The truck went from Portland to Mt. Hood this past weekend and on Tuesday the low oil light came on. It's probably the third such trip and then the light came on (not after each trip). Maybe 70 miles one way.
I try to fill it to the top of the hash marks on the dip stick. It just depends on when I check it.

So 70 x 2 x 3 trips ? 2 quarts in roughly 400 miles of driving ? That's very excessive, I would want a leak down test and a compression test just to see what's going on in there. It might be going past the rings or it could just be the head. Either way sounds like its time for something.

 

[dubyahard]

So 70 x 2 x 3 trips ? 2 quarts in roughly 400 miles of driving ? That's very excessive, I would want a leak down test and a compression test just to see what's going on in there. It might be going past the rings or it could just be the head. Either way sounds like its time for something.

Well, there was daily commuting in between those trips. It just seems like every time I make a long strenuous run like that, I have to replace oil from 1 -2 quarts. Frankly, I don't keep good track of it. It's still excessive though.
I'm leaning toward the HG when I do the valves, but man that opens a can of worms.

 

[half k cruiser]

Well, there was daily commuting in between those trips. It just seems like every time I make a long strenuous run like that, I have to replace oil from 1 -2 quarts. Frankly, I don't keep good track of it. It's still excessive though.
I'm leaning toward the HG when I do the valves, but man that opens a can of worms.

If you were driving a thousand miles and consuming that much it would be excessive. I would say just do a compression and leak down test, see what your numbers are, then take some time to think about what you want to accomplish.

 

[Joe Link]

I decided to pull mine due to pretty much all of the seals leaking from age. It was either do the bare minimum or do a one time, engine out rebuild, and I decided on the latter.

This is exactly where I'm at, tons of leaks. I have the valve cover off up top and the oil pans off on the bottom, but now I realize I could probably have the powertrain out in two hours, or I could spend five doing the front seals, still not address the rear main seal seep, and everything would still be filthy. Last year, as part of PM, I purchased a ton of replacement hoses (vacuum, coolant, fuel) nor realizing many of them are located under the intake manifold. I also purchased a full OEM reseal kit from a Mud member who sold their rig after using only the upper to lower intake gaskets.

My engine runs great, though it does use a quart of oil every thousand miles or so, so I'm thinking of doing exactly what you did (rings, bearings, timing kit, rebuild head, full reseal). We have all the tools and, though I'm still planning on an LS swap in a couple of years, ~$2k seems reasonable for a 'refresh'.

Any other tips you can give?

 

[half k cruiser]

@Joe Link not really any other tips. That's a good plan, take your time, try to enjoy the process, OEM parts are the best you will find. Oh and don't scrub the piston tops with the pistons still in the motor.