2001 5.4L F150 - Developed a miss on cylinder 1 Monday, no big deal coil packs go out often enough I keep 1 or 2 at the house. While changing I noticed some discolored liquid on the block under the intake. Really didn't pay it much attention till coming to work Wednesday morning. When I turned off the truck it looked like it was on fire with the what I think is steam coming from under the hood. Sure enough I look and see the same discolored liquid coming out from where I think the head meets the block. Blown head gasket. 3 shops tell me they won't replace a head gasket and put a motor in the truck.

I purchase a bottle of head gasket repair sealer ($34) to see what will happen. Well, get to work this morning and there was no liquid flowing from under the intake but still have steam rising ( not near as much though) but it looks like it is coming from the bottom of block passenger side.

Checked the oil several times no milky discoloration on the cap or the dipstick and the expansion bottle had water (although really nasty water) at pretty close to the appropriate level. On top of this I tried to drain the radiator and nothing flows from the pet**** valve on the passenger side. Going to pull both hoses today and see if I can flush the radiator.

So am I looking a head gasket issue and does it really require a new (newer) motor? Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks in advance for any help you could offer.

 

It doesn't not require an engine.

Let's do a little math here tho and you'll see why most shops recommend reman engines

Head gasket repair, you'll need about 700 bucks in fluids, gaskets, and about 18 hrs of labor. Once repaired, you still have a well used engine, even if you redid timing chains, did valve job etc you're just driving up the repair costs

Reman option gets you "new" everything from head to toe, about the same labor cost to install it 18-20 hrs


It's a little more on the parts cost, but a better option for the long haul.



Let's say you went repair method, spent 8hrs to pull the head off, and find out the head is warped (more common if it was overheated) and then you still end up going into reman option, but you've invested labor/cost into the repair already. Would drive the overall cost even higher if you end up doing both options in the end

 

I know this is an old post but Im on the fence about what to do with my truck ( head gasket ). What is this "Reman option"?

 

Nathan, please keep your questions in the thread you have already started. Thank you.