thekitchensink
SILVER Star
Hey guys, looking for some advice here.
I've had my '93 FZJ80 for about 3 years now, and it has been great. However, I've been fighting cooling issues ever since I bought it (starting with the PHH, and now with an all new cooling system and a busted HG). The truck has 185k miles, and in general is in pretty good shape. Last week I noticed coolant leaking out of my catalytic converters, and the smoke out of the tailpipe got noticeably thicker, thus starting the path towards replacing the HG.
- I took it to a shop (Apollon Auto Repair in Chamblee) and they verified the HG is blown and estimated $3k for the repair.
- I called Merriam Automotive and talked with Peter. He said $3k seemed a little high but hasn't given me an estimate yet. He mentioned it might not be worth it to repair the HG as it can make the motor burn more oil than normal and cause other problems.
- ACC Garage is booked out through the beginning of December.
My questions:
- For those of you that have replaced the HG, have you noticed it burning more oil than normal?
- Are there any other shops that y'all know of that I can get an estimate from? Would it be worth the wait to get it into ACC?
- Due to the big list of "while you're in there"'s, is it even worth the repair? Should I sell?
I would love to get it back on the road for as inexpensive I can since I'm paying for school and don't have a great flow of income. Any suggestions are welcome. Here are a couple pictures of it:
I've had my '93 FZJ80 for about 3 years now, and it has been great. However, I've been fighting cooling issues ever since I bought it (starting with the PHH, and now with an all new cooling system and a busted HG). The truck has 185k miles, and in general is in pretty good shape. Last week I noticed coolant leaking out of my catalytic converters, and the smoke out of the tailpipe got noticeably thicker, thus starting the path towards replacing the HG.
- I took it to a shop (Apollon Auto Repair in Chamblee) and they verified the HG is blown and estimated $3k for the repair.
- I called Merriam Automotive and talked with Peter. He said $3k seemed a little high but hasn't given me an estimate yet. He mentioned it might not be worth it to repair the HG as it can make the motor burn more oil than normal and cause other problems.
- ACC Garage is booked out through the beginning of December.
My questions:
- For those of you that have replaced the HG, have you noticed it burning more oil than normal?
- Are there any other shops that y'all know of that I can get an estimate from? Would it be worth the wait to get it into ACC?
- Due to the big list of "while you're in there"'s, is it even worth the repair? Should I sell?
I would love to get it back on the road for as inexpensive I can since I'm paying for school and don't have a great flow of income. Any suggestions are welcome. Here are a couple pictures of it: