Well, it appears my passenger side head gasket is now leaking after 211K miles. How long did you guys run your trucks after noticing the leak before the head gaskets needed replacing? Right now I get about 3-4 drops of oil per night on the floor. The bell housing and starter are pretty well coated.

I asked my dealer why it was so expensive, and he said they remove the cab and all the wiring/hoses, and raise the cab on a lift to access the heads! They have one guy who has a lot of experience with this procedure, so he does all the head gasket replacements. I got a quote for $1,700 for one, $2,300 for two. I'm debating at this point if it wouldn't make more sense to drop a different engine in. I'm going to get another opinion this weekend.

Sounds like several members have had head gaskets replaced multiple times. I'm not up for that program with so many miles on the truck. Doesn't sound like dropping a low milage engine in from a wrecked truck is the answer either. Did they get this problem fixed on later models? My truck is a '97 SC 4x4 4.6L 5 spd.

Any advice?

Thanks, Ed

 

With that kind of mileage, I think I would look towards replacing the engine. Putting that kind of money into such a high mileage engine in my opinion is foolish. Its like setting a gas can near a fire, it may or may not burn you, but most likely it will. I work for a dealer and wouldn't even consider working on an engine with that high of mileage for any amount of money its not worth the possible aggrevation. Just my 2 cents

 

Ed.

Clean off the bellhousing and starter and switch to 10W30 oil. Watch for leaks. My 00 had the head gaskets replaced once under warranty and now it is leaking again. I switched and the leaking stopped. It might or might not work for you.

JMC

 

Mine started to leak at about 40-50K miles and now the truck has 110K on it. I cleaned the bell housing at every oil change with a can of brake cleaner that will help with the smell of burned oil. I switched to a thicker oil and it help a little too.

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice. Normally I wouldn't have any qualms about replacing a head gasket, but considering the difficulty and cost, it complicates things. The truck certainly owes me nothing, so I'll probably just continue to monitor the situation and see what happens.

Ed

 

I agree, with the mileage on your truck, I would be very reluctant to put that much money into it. Mine leaked @ 23,000, and still had an extended warrantee in place, so my cost was $100.00, which replaced both head gaskets with the new four layer gasket. The right side had the standard drip at the rear of the head, the left one was leaking into the valley, which seemed to surprise the mechanic. I'm hopeing the new gasket is the fix for this. Dealer says they have yet to see one come back that had the new gasket installed. By the way, the invoice was about $1350.00 for parts and labor. They may pad the cost when its not warrantee, not that they should!

 

Update...

I had to laugh when I saw this old post of mine...

In the end, I simply added a quart of Lucas oil additive when I changed the oil. Not sure if the added viscosity helped or what, but the leak completely stopped after about 5 oil changes (25,000 miles).

I gave the '97 to my Dad who uses it for his logging company as an everyday driver. Still running strong with 294k on it. No head gasket leaks!

 

I would suggest adding a quart of Barrs Head Gasket Stop Leak. If you have not been experiencing cylinder issues try it before that starts. Barrs makes a chemical that is usable with your current anti-freeze solution. The solution cost's about $25 to $30.00 at most auto parts stores. It usually in a silver bottle. Don't substitute the standard solution; primarily because extensive draining and drying is necessary.

 

98Expedition10,

Just so you know, the Barrs stuff will not work for an oil leak as it is introduced into the cooling system.

69Ed,

Glad to hear that the old truck is still running strong.

.

 

You're right!. I read the problem wrong. Normally the head gaskets leak anti-freeze; which can be remediated by the Barrs solution.
Absolutely do not introduce Sodium Silicate (or similar) into the oil passages of any engine. That method is used to permanently disable engines in the "Cash-for-Clunkers" program.

If you feel like taking a cheap calculated risk you could re-torque the head bolts on the 4.6Ltr. It has been found that early 4.6Ltrs had a tendency to leak a slight amount of oil from the right side head gaskets at the rear. Checking the amount of torque on the bolts "may" help in some of those issues, but no gurantee.
There was a work order from several engine re-builders dealing with this issue.