Blown Head Gasket

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Feb 21, 2005 | 09:49 PM

f100beatertruck

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Cargo Master

Joined: Apr 2003

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From: Parkesburg PA

Blown Head Gasket

I blew a head gasket on my truck last night. I haven't looked at it, but I'm thinking of doing both heads anyway. In addition to rebuilding and resurfacing the heads, head bolts, gaskets... etc, I'm thinking of doing the timing chain. Anything else that I should do while I'm in the neigborhood? I'm on a tight budget but I want to take care of anything major so I don't have to tear it apart again.

Thanks.

David

P.S. Anybody else blow a head gasket on a (stock) 302? The fan clutch went and the truck pegged the temp gauge one day when I was idling. It started puffing smoke from time to time, then about a week later poof....

Feb 22, 2005 | 09:22 AM

spikedog

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Joined: Apr 2003

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From: Wyoming

I've blown one on a 351W, but it was rather non-stock (a bit higher C.R.). With only 4 bolts per cylinder, it's not too hard to pop them.

Sounds like you are approaching the rebuild in the right way. If the valves are coming out you may want to replace the little rubber caps under the springs to keep from burning oil. Changing the springs themselves isn't too expensive either. If the budget allows, a 3 angle valve grind is a good thing. The timing chain is a good idea too. Check all your pushrods for straightness. Good luck.

Feb 22, 2005 | 11:56 AM

Pkupman82

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Joined: Feb 2003

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From: Muskegon, MI (home)

You want to be careful when doing head work on a engine with over 100k on it. I learned it the hard way. When I first got my 84 300 six (135k on it at the time) I noticed it was using oil especially at start up. I decided to freshen it up a bit with a valve job and a new oil pump. About a month after doing this I spun the number 5 rod bearing. My dad had a similar situation with his 88 Chevy Astro Van with a 4.3 V6. It was also using oil, shortly after having the heads redone he started experiencing power loss and blow by. After looking into it we discovered he had severely low compression on 4 cylinders... it took the rings out. Both of us were forced to rebuild/replace or engines. Hence...lesson learned the hard way.

Feb 22, 2005 | 12:36 PM

f100beatertruck

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Cargo Master

Joined: Apr 2003

Posts: 2,408

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From: Parkesburg PA

Thanks, Pkupman82. I've thought about rebuilding the engine too. I've had the valve covers off before and it's spotless, also it only uses about 3/4 quart of oil per 3000 miles, and half of that is from leaking... The truck has 85k showing on the odometer, but it's being listed on the title as being 169k (When I bought it with 69K on the odo). The truck is pretty clean except for the body rot (which isn't realy that bad). I'm guessing that either one of the previous owners added the 100k to the title thinking that the truck must have that many miles, or that the motor's been rebuilt.

The oil pressure is real good and it ran great up until the other night. I may do a compression test before I pull the heads and then look at the engine after I pull the heads and make a decision then. If it's got good compression and I see 030 over slugs then I'm just going to leave it. It's $1,150 for a long block, $300 for the heads. I don't really want to spend the extra money, but I can't buy another 4x4 truck for $1,150. Well I can, but how much work is it going to need...

David