Radiator out. Attack HG too? (1 Viewer)

[midfat]

Coolant system gave up the ghost this past weekend. Rig is a '97 with 212K miles - pretty much all original parts. I've already torn the radiator out and disassembled a good portion of the front end. Also doing PHH. My question is -- should I just attack the HG as well? Given the amount of disassembly I've already done, and the work I'm committed to doing with the coolant system overhaul, is there substantial efficiency in doing the HG now?

 

[Beej]

What?! No. You haven't done as much disassembly as you think. I'm not an expert but I've had the whole front face off the truck (replaced radiator core support). I think you've only done the easy part; not to mention the cost.

That is unless you mean valve cover. You've got good access to the valve cover.

 

[midfat]

What?! No. You haven't done as much disassembly as you think. I'm not an expert but I've had the whole front face off the truck (replaced radiator core support). I think you've only done the easy part; not to mention the cost.

That is unless you mean valve cover. You've got good access to the valve cover.

Yeah, I know I have a long way to go to remove the head. I'm mostly just thinking that with the radiator out and the extra open space up front, is this the best time. There's no signs in a HG issue, but it's got 212K miles. I caught the coolant leak pretty early so it doesn't appear that I overheated anything. Still drained a full radiator.

 

[ewillis]

Nah...just get the coolant system done, button it back up, and Cruise on!

 

[450LX]

Radiator is a drop in the bucket compared to the head gasket. I'd figure atleast $1300 in gaskets, vacuum hoses, injector cleaning, head machining, valve work, etc. That estimate is on the conservative side. Something always comes up too or you get a case of the, "mightaswells". Sort of like taking out the radiator and saying, "mightaswell do the head gasket".

Don't get me wrong, piece of mind helps me sleep at night. Just make sure your down time and bank account can handle the project before you get too carried away.

 

[midfat]

Radiator is a drop in the bucket compared to the head gasket. I'd figure atleast $1300 in gaskets, vacuum hoses, injector cleaning, head machining, valve work, etc. That estimate is on the conservative side. Something always comes up too or you get a case of the, "mightaswells". Sort of like taking out the radiator and saying, "mightaswell do the head gasket".

Don't get me wrong, piece of mind helps me sleep at night. Just make sure your down time and bank account can handle the project before you get too carried away.

I would definitely qualify this as an extreme case of "mightaswells." Already overhauled the EGR and all related vacuum lines about a year ago, as well as full RC injector service. That's all sunk cost. Just grasping at how much longer I really want to roll the dice on the original HG now that it's comfortably north of 200k and "may" have experienced a mild cooking event. Money is not a huge concern, but I also don't want to spend money I don't need to spend. The conundrums of FZJ ownership.

How about this... free beer if you want to help me swap a HG.

 

[LINUS]

It really depends.

If you're in a awesome spot to have the 80 down for a HG, you plan to keep it long enough to absorb the worth of doing the HG, and if you're the type who rather do this on your own terms rather than a surprise moment some point possibly down the line, then sure.

But if any of those 3 aren't you 100%, then worth a rethink.

It seems that last we thought long on this, HG seem to go more when a 1FZ is moved to a cold climate - you aren't that, so really I bet you can play the percentages & not roll snake-eyes.

OTOH, if you plan to own this quite some years/miles to come & know you will kick yourself for not doing it - then it's worth it.

Ultimately, your call but those are my thoughts on doing a PM HG job.

 

[OGBeno]

No.

 

[DirtScaresMe]

I'm planning on doing my hg by already sourcing materials and talking to a machine shop. Also getting the third car ready. Readying some cash.

I'm guessing it will go a lot faster if I've got all my pieces figured out. If it blows before I'm ready I still got a ton done first.

I'm treating it like any other project, albeit a long and complicated one.

 

[NLXTACY]

No.

Without going into detail, I concur.

 

[midfat]

Gotta say I really expected a much more doom and gloom response steering me toward the "jump in with both feet" result. The fact that y'all don't seem to have much concern or see the justification in HG PM is comforting. I'll take your advice and button the coolant system back up, maybe add a supplemental temp gauge, and call it a day.

I definitely plan to keep the rig for the long haul, but will likely put less that 8-10k Miles annually. At that rate, a HG service could still be a decade off. Fingers crossed...

Really appreciate the opinions and contributions.

 

[ppc]

Sure, do the head gasket, then reseal the two oil pans but then might as well replace the rod and crank bearings. might as well replace the front and rear main seals. Good time to replace the timing chain, tensioner and oil pump. Don't forget the power steering pump and lines. Well then the trans needs rebuilding because you are replacing the rear main seal anyway. Might as well rebuild the transfer case to. Always should replace all the old rubber hoses vacuum lines and the main wiring harness because the insulation and connectors are brittle. The engine sensors could fail any day along with the water pump ready to leak, The A/C compressor is surely going to fail this summer along with the alternator.

The good news is that the windshield washer pump will be OK so no need to touch that.

 

[richardlillard1]

You know it's too far when mud tells you that your preventative maintenance ideas are overboard.

 

[Rifleman]

If it's not broke, why spend the money to fix it????? Do head gaskets go bad on our trucks, well yes the do. If i remember right there was a survey thread here on mud asking members if they had done a head gasket, or not, and at what miles. There were trucks with 70 thousand miles on them that had their head gasket go bad. Then there were trucks with over 300 thousand miles on them still running on their original factory head gasket. I think what this survey shows, the trucks that had owners who really cared, and spent the time, and money to do proper cooling system maintenance, had fewer head gasket failures. So what does this mean to you, do your proper maintenance on time, and wait, and see if you have a problem, if you don't, then great, if you do, then fix it then. YMMV

 

[Hornd]

Put it back together and drive it!
If you wanted to work on one you should have got a Jeep.

 

[Irish Reiver]

If it's not broke, then keep fixing it until it is.....

 

[mdawg]

While you have the radiator out, it does make replacing the front crank seal and oil pump cover o-ring quite a bit easier. Especially for the oil pump cover o-ring... if it's the original and has not started leaking, it will soon.

 

[Red Merle]

I didn't remove my radiator when I did the HG. I also didn't need to do mine as what had actually happened was that the rear heater lines blew which lead to coolant dripping down over the cats which lead me to believe that I blew the HG. $4000 later I had a new HG and pretty much everything else that could have been replaced or redone/rebuilt "as long as I was in there". Honestly, 10/10 I would do the same thing over as I now have complete confidence that my rig is solid and the HG will be fine for the remaining life of the truck.

That said, if the ONLY reason you are thinking about doing it is because you have some items removed, I would probably wait until you have a better reason.

 

[girupb]

Someone mentioned the front crank seal and oil pump seal and I would concur if they show any signs of leaking. Of course, you could also do the fan clutch fluid mod while you are in there since you will already have it off but really, this all can be done later with not much more effort and if you are like me sometimes the project can creep way too far out of scope and leave you frustrated and broke. Don't be like me!

 

[kdxman]

You have the radiator out you might as well go ahead and do a V8 swap