Blown Head Gasket - Advice?
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Blown Head Gasket - Advice?
Greetings I have noob question but figured the experts here could help me out. I have a 76 F100 that is going to need some major work to get rolling, including as I just learned yesterday, blown head gasket(s). I guess there was gas getting into the cooling system and also burping fluid out the radiator cap - which lead to the bad heads diagnosis.
Question for the experts - given fixing up the truck is a long term project do i replace the head gaskets or start new and try to get a new engine.
thanks all!
Question for the experts - given fixing up the truck is a long term project do i replace the head gaskets or start new and try to get a new engine.
thanks all!
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Apologies I don't know what engine is in there right now. I know it is the original. That may or may not be much help. I believe it is on the smaller side. I don't have any other engines available off hand - i would have to go find and buy one.
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From: Northeast Nebraska
Are you sure its a head gasket and not a bad head? Ive never heard of gas gettin into the cooling system. Its possible but not common if you are running really rich. Usually you get oil in the water or vice versa. If you dont know what engine you have maybe its best to just take it to a mechanic and let them fix what it needs.
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true - it very well could be a bad head. i did take it to the mechanic and as you point out this is something outside of my expertise 
i have heard things like "after you get the head replaced it never runs the same (compression and such) so wanted to get you alls advice on that and if i should go ahead with that repair of start saving pennies to get something to replace it
thanks again.
i have heard things like "after you get the head replaced it never runs the same (compression and such) so wanted to get you alls advice on that and if i should go ahead with that repair of start saving pennies to get something to replace itthanks again.
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I would compression check the engine. this will give you a idea of what is actually wrong with the engine. You could find a good used engine for the amount of money it will take to fix the one you got now.
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Posting Guru
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From: charlotte nc
I would buy another engine thats been rebuilt to insure that you dont just repair part of whats wrong with the engine you have now. It will add value to your truck too
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If its a 302, don't sweat it. Take the head(s) to a machine shop and have them checked for flatness. If they need a little milling (.010 is about the limit for a stock engine) then that's no biggie. Get the heads trued up and magnafluxed for cracks, get a good set of head gaskets and put it back together. If its high mileage, you probably should really re-ring the engine and install new bearings, but that in itself shouldn't cost too much money. If its just a weekend work truck, swap the head gaskets and call it a day.
FYI, its far more likely that you'd be getting coolant in the oil, or vice versa, than gas in the coolant. Unless of course the rings are just shot, you're getting fuel past the rings, then the oil/gas mixture is getting into the coolant.
FYI, its far more likely that you'd be getting coolant in the oil, or vice versa, than gas in the coolant. Unless of course the rings are just shot, you're getting fuel past the rings, then the oil/gas mixture is getting into the coolant.
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if you dont know how long the truck was driven with a bad head gasket ( i had one blow on the highway once and drove the truck off the next exit and fried the motor in the process but it was safer than just sitting there) iget another motor.. If you wanna go cheap just find a junkyard motor for $300 until you can afford to get a real motor (crate)this way you can get it running and use it or move it . If you get the vin number you can identify the motor in it or it may actually be marked on the motor itself if its stock
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