Blown head gasget. Pretty sure it is the #8 cylinder. Coolant flowing out of the block, white smoke billowing from the tail pipe. Just had AAA tow me home. What are my options? It is a '95 Burb with 137K miles. General ballpark guess for the cost of repairs?


Thanks Everyone,


JohnEdited by: Juancho

I am no expert on diesels. I have owned mine for about 3 weeks, but I bought 2 extra engines to learn from. The first thing I learned was you can not buy .010" thicker head gaskets and if you have the heads milled, which is normal, you will up the compression ratio. I have ordered a compression gauge to find out how much. I know you should replace the head bolts and I came across a fairly cheap source of diesel parts at Rockauto. I ordered head bolts and head gaskets but they called and said the .010" over gaskets were no longer available. I am assuming you will be doing most of the work??

I do not plan on doning any of the work. Any idea how much it might cost to have a shop do it? Do I need the .010" over gaskets? is that what came from the factory?


What about buying a new head. I thought they were only about $300?

You only need to have the head milled if the surface of it is bad. Otherwise, you can just resurface the head with a whiz wheel and put it back on. Are you sure it's head gasket and not a cracked head? You may not know until you get into the engine. If you have someone else do the work, you're looking at a good hunk of cash. Unfortunately I don't have my Motor time manual here so I can't tell you about how many hours labor you can expect to be charged (should be the same roughly for a head gasket or a new head). Time to take it to your favorite reliable shop (preferably one that's willing to work with you on parts, i.e. let you get a replacemend head online if that's the problem) and let them start diving into it. Sooner that they get started sooner you'll be back on the road.

You could also get rid of the truck, but for a head gasket or new head I'd probably keep it. When the motor throws a rod like mine did, then it's another matter entirely. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Angry.gif

General ballpark guess for the cost of repairs?


Thanks Everyone,


John





If you are having it done at a shop, I would guess between $1000 to $2000 total unless + heads if needed.


If you can find an independant shop that has a low hourly charge, you can probably get it a little cheaper.


When I had mine done, it cost $1800 but the shop way overcharged on parts. (I think the labor was $1250 @$65 per hour) I later found out that they just sent it out to an independant mechanic because they were too busy that charged them $35 per hour.

Thanks Everyone,


Any idea where I can get a new or reman Head for cheap?


P.S. How do you know if your engine threw a rod? Will it still run? Actually my engine would still run, unitl I let it cool down, then I could not get it to start. I just chauked it up to hydralock.Edited by: Juancho

Would it turn over? When you pull the heads and drop the pan you'll know.


www.car-parts.com (http://www.car-parts.com) had recently remanufactured 6.5 heads for $300-400.Edited by: quantum mechanic

Yesterday, I was contemplating weather or not to dive into this project. Seems like tremendous amount of work, and It may be a little beyond my abilities.

When the problem first occurred, I shut down the engine immediately. While the engine was warm, I could get it to turn over and run. Now that the engine has cooled off, the starter can’t even move the motor. Could this be the result of hydra-lock? I was thinking about dropping the pan first and surveying for a thrown rod. Dropping the oil pan, seems a lot easier than removing the intake manifold, turbo, exhaust manifold, etc.

By the way, what is the best way to remove the turbo? I was thinking about just removing the entire exhaust manifold, with the turbo still attached?

Any best practices or pointers, for getting to the passenger side head? How much time should I plan on spending on this project?

Thanks,John

I pulled mine this morning.


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/ZCB_exhaust.jpg


It took me 30 min. this time, but 1 1/2 hrs the first time. It comes out and goes back easiest with the oil line on.

Thanks quantum mechanic. You have given me much needed inspiration. does the oil return tube bolt into the oil pan? Did you undo the exhaust manifold bolts from bellow? Did you remove any of your A/C stuff first?

The Oil return line goes into a rubber hose with a 1/4" nut on the hoseclamp, nothing to it.


Yes, you have to unbolt the crossover from below the truck, and I slip my downpipe out of the expansion joint to make room.


My A/C doesn't have to move.

Cool! Is there much to getting to the heads after you remove the turbo/exhaust? It doesn’t seem like the intake manifold would be much trouble. Are there accessories attached to the passenger side head that need to be removed before the head comes off?

You would have to remove the A/C and brackets, lower intake manifold and turbo/exhaust for the passenger side, but you should do both sides if you do one.


Don't forget to drop the oil and/or oil pan to get all the water out.

Thanks Quantum. Stills sounds like a heck of a lot of work.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

Or a heck of a lot of money, your choice.


It's real important to examine the head for cracks between the valves and water jackets