When I joined this site about 2 or 3 weeks ago I stated that I had an exhaust leak on the the drivers side of my 88 f-150 302. Well I had some sugestions of what it was and done everything including checking the air tube that goes from the left head to the right head on it. I gave up and took it to a mechanic down the road a few miles yesterday and he jacked it up this moring and looked at it. He said it might be a blown out plug on the head somehwere when he heard it running yesterday, but when I went to see if he got it fixed he said no and told me what the problem was, A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. He said it would cost around 250.00 -300.00 to fix it, so I made a deal w/him that I would buy the gaskets for the valve covers and heads, and he knocked off 100.00 dollars so instead it will cost me around 150.00-175.00 in the long run. He is also going to check the piston walls while he has the heads off and make sure they are still in good condition since it is supposedly a rebuilt motor w/less than 500 miles on it, and he is going to put it back into time it while it's there. I just hope that I didn't buy a nickel and dimer truck. But I only paid 500.00 for the truck so I'm able to put some money into it I just don't want to put a fortune into it and not get my money back out of it when I decide to sell it.

 

You got a real fair price on the repair and a good purchase price. Is the truck pretty decent, how many miles? Maybe he'll straighten everything out and you'll get a good run out of it. That's all you can hope for. I'm a pretty good engine mechanic on 60's 70's stuff but this newer stuff with the EFI and computers is really a new deal for me so I'm learning as I go along on these trucks I'm messin' with but I've been dropping some money at the shop for some stuff, especially front end work, it's always the risk you take with these older trucks, but if it's a good truck and you hold on to it it's worth it.

 

the truck is in need of new tires and RIMS..lol, and to my surprise it only has 2 little rust spots on it. but i'll hold off on the rims till I make sure that my tranny and rear end are ok, b/c I noticed that it does jump a little bit going down the road and shifts into drive and reverse pretty hard at times as well, but for now it's the motor I want lined out then I'll deal w/the other problems as they arise.

 

is that just one head, not a good idea and are they going to redo the heads, or are they just replacing the gasket, down here just to redo the heads cost almost that. if the gasket is blown, it had to be caused by something, thus needing to redo the heads. ie, overheat warped heads, list goes on, but that sounds cheap almost to cheap! but i suppose if it has less than 500 miles on it they could have screwed up the gasket on the install, or something.

edit, down here on my 351 they quoted almost 900.00 for a (cylinder) head job. that was to remove rebuild and replace.

 

there is a lot more than just valve cover gaskets and a head gasket, you have upper and lower intake gaskets, new antifreeze, a oil change, and new plugs are also suggested, oh and also exhaust manifold gaskets, not a easy job my no means, so i kinda doubt you can get it that cheap. don't want to scare you but these are what i did when i replaced my head gaskets. he will probably pop you with all this after he has it all tore down so i would get prepared.

 

If one head gasket is bad after 500 miles on a rebuild, then for sure the other head should be retorqued at the same time.

 

So the exhaust leak is now diagnosed as compression blowing out of through the head gasket? Are you loosing coolant? Either way be careful here- if it really is an exhuast leak, it is unlikely to be a head gasket. More likely a cracked exhaust manifold or a bad seal between the manifold and the head or a bad connection between the manifold and the down pipe. Get some of that Marvel Mystery oil or Seafoam or whatever and with the engine running, pour a little bit through the brake booster hose. Don't over do it- you just want to introduce enough to burn in the combustion chambers to result in smokey exhaust. If it's an exhaust leak, you might find it when the smoke comes out where its leaking.

 

Jeremiah, there is only one head on a 300 and I have never heard of one being warpped. Who ever did the rebuild probablly messed up and you picked up a truck that needed someone to straighten out the mistakes. Their loss your gain, so to speak. We all started out where you are at. I susspect you are going to need some tools and at times some help. The best way to do things is to do it yourself. It's cheaper and you will know what you got.

 

I am picking up all the seals and gaskets myself, and he all ready for warned me that the heads might have to be resurfaced, and w/the drivers side one that is leaking if it has to bad a groove in it I might possibly have to get a new head which is no biggie. And just for the record I thought that it was an exhaust leak to begin with and have pulled the exhaust manifold off several times and even got a good manifold from the salvage yard and put new manifold gaskets on it so it wasn't that, and The air tube that goes from head to head was checked by me several times, and by the mechanic, and it was a new air tube. I am confident that this mechanic knows what he is doing and talking about, everyone in this area takes there vehicles to him for repairs b/c 1 he is reasonable w/his prices and 2 he does good work. This is the second time I have been to him myself, the first time was to have the pulley on the power steering pump pulled off of the old one and put on my new one, and he only charged 15.00 to do it. I only take my vehicles to mechanics that have a good reputation and that are highley spoken about, for in these small towns it doesn't cost to much to get a vehicle worked on. But I will keep everyone updated as to how everything works out

 

Once a vehicle gets to be 10-15 years old with lots-o-miles, you've got yourself a nickel and dimer. The main thing is how many nickels and dimes the previous owner dropped on her. The good thing is that most of the parts for these trucks are cheap and very much available. I've got 5 vehicles (72, 92, 94, 96, and 98) and last summer I spent just about every weekend repairing something. It wasn't the nickels and dimes that killed me because parts are cheap. It was the wasted Saturdays. The good thing is that once winter rolled around I haven't had any trouble.

But the choice is yours, nickels and dimes and Saturdays, or $500 a month (which turns into nickels and dimes just about the time you pay it off anyway.)

 

my two cents are yeah it probably is a nickel and dimer, but it is a nickel and dimer with out a payment. If you replace them with quality parts then as they fail you will be out of the woods rather quickly and you will know EXACTLY what you have.

Give you an idea, I have an 01 with a payment that is nickel and diming me pretty hard too. I plan on sending that down the road and let it nickel and dime someone else and rebuild my 94, with no payment.

 

Yep, I figure all the nickel and diming as a car payment. Good thing is it adds up to about one for the year (for all 5 vehicles) instead of 12 each.