Time for new head and gasket

[Dan2722]

Well after 262,000 miles it finally happened. Took my truck to John at SD Trux this morning for a pre-Baja inspection and he found the head gasket seeping coolant at #6. There are no outward signs of a failure such as temp spikes or milky substance under the oil cap, bubbles in the overflow tank etc. He had told me a few times with my mileage it was not a matter of "if" but a matter of "when" the head would crack and I would need to replace.

So next Monday the old girl goes into the loving hands at SD Trux for a top end rebuild including a new head, whether cracked or not, and all the other stuff that goes along with it. I also have a cracked Y pipe which John kindly offered to remove while in there so I can take it to Ed Hanson to be welded.

I'm sure a few more items will come up but am stoked at getting this many miles before needing this and getting a refreshed engine.

 

[Brentbba]

Dan, you are absolutely in the best of hands with John. My truck ran like I was driving it off the lot when he was finished. Worth the $$ to replace the head while you are doing this too. Good decision. Baja trip isn't until September so you've got plenty of time, right? We'll miss you at MR.

 

[sdnative]

Best of luck. You're in good hands, both John and Ed do great work and stand behind it.

 

[619TOY]

Sorry to hear that Dan. I guess the inevitable is the inevitable, but X3 on knowing you're getting it fixed right by the best shop in town!!

 

[Dan2722]

Yep, do not trust my Cruiser with anyone else than SD Trux. I know that Mark is looking at doing this and has talked to John about it. I asked John if we get a group discount for multiple head gasket jobs but he didn't bite.

As weird as this sounds it was almost a relief when he told me I had a head gasket leak. With this many miles it was always in the back of my mind that there was a stronger and stronger possibility it would fail on the trail. Even though it is a chunk of $$$ it will give me peace of mind on trips and let me focus on other maintenance items.

 

[Brentbba]

Dan, did you let John know that IH8MUD requires progress updates and pictures!?

 

[Dan2722]

Fortunately I only work about 2 miles away and can stop by on lunch breaks and give progress reports.

 

[sdnative]

Give him a IH8MUD sticker. He'll love you for it

 

[ChiTown]

Why replace the head? I would take a properly seasoned head over a new head any day.

 

[Dan2722]

Why replace the head? I would take a properly seasoned head over a new head any day.

According to John he has seen too many head gasket replacements done without replacing the head only to have the head crack a year or two later and the whole thing needs to be done again. I think this is what happened to Brent but will let him chime in.

If the head I am replacing checks out under a pressure test I will have a well seasoned head for sale.

 

[ChiTown]

That makes sense. I have a spare also lol

 

[Bluetribal]

Damn he didn't bite on the group discount!
Lucky yours went 100k more miles than mine.
I don't have any trips planned so I can pay off a couple bills then take mine in for the re-build later this summer.

 

[Brentbba]

Dan's correct. Big crack developed at head bolt by cylinder #5. No way the shop that did the first HG would have missed that crack or the shop that milled the head and supposedly pressure tested the head before returning it. John is giving Dan some great advice, especially at 262K on the original head.

 

[Dan2722]

Slider's came off over the weekend and dropped off at John's. Boy does it look naked without the slider's on. Going to take the opportunity to sand and re-paint the sliders which have not been off the truck in 7 years.

 

[Brentbba]

You Sir are an anal retentitive obsessive compulsive accountant (it takes one to know one!)...repainting sliders from all their war wounds! Sheez Wear those scraps and scratches with pride - you EARNED then!

Voting you off the island! hehehe

On a more serious note - why not have the sliders powdercoated? Probably wouldn't cost all that much and would probably turn out a whole lot better than rattle canning them.

 

[Dan2722]

You Sir are an anal retentitive obsessive compulsive accountant (it takes one to know one!)...repainting sliders from all their war wounds! Sheez Wear those scraps and scratches with pride - you EARNED then!

Voting you off the island! hehehe

On a more serious note - why not have the sliders powdercoated? Probably wouldn't cost all that much and would probably turn out a whole lot better than rattle canning them.

HaHa...... Funny I was going to take them for powder coat but with the the cost of the new head I decided to save a few $$ and rattle can for now. Once I recover from this and the new kitchen remodel I will take them down to get properly powder coated.

Now if I could only find the correct shade of official Toyota black to paint them.....

 

[Brentbba]

Now if I could only find the correct shade of official Toyota black to paint them.....

Ummm...I'll bet CDan could quote you the paint code!

 

[miked]

If I may ask, about how much $$ does this cost at that shop. I see similar signs of coolant on mine. I'm scared

 

[Dan2722]

If I may ask, about how much $$ does this cost at that shop. I see similar signs of coolant on mine. I'm scared

I can only speak to what I am having done as each job will be different depending on the "while you're in there" stuff that needs to be done. I expect to pay somewhere between $4k - $4.5k depending on what can be re-used from the old head and what needs to be replaced. My wiring loom needs a little work along with my exhaust pipe needing to be welded as well.

I went down yesterday picked up the "Y" pipe, took it to Ed Hanson where it was welded and returned it to John. I saw the old head before it left for the machine shop and it had a lot of carbon build up. They said it was pretty close to blowing the head gasket and it was a race between whether it would go at the #6 or #1 cylinder. Really glad I took it in when I did.

 

[Brentbba]

Would agree on the price you're guestimating. New head and all it's associated nipples and hoses will easily run you north of $1500-2000. That and labor easily gets you to what Dan is quoting. John does excellent, honest and trustworthy work and is worth every penny of it!

You're having the head sent out for machining - is that to test it to reuse? Thought you were replacing it completely from your first post.