Got to thinking about it and was wondering when it makes sense to just pull a motor and redo it.

Take my 96 SE with 186k on it. Now I have already replaced the valley pan gasket and the valve cover gaskets. and thats was about a 5-6 hour job (translated that's 3 days waiting on various parts).

But it got me thinking about the replacement of the head gasket which seems to be a pretty time consuming process and the timing cover gasket which by the book looks to be another huge undertaking...

I'm just wondering when it would make more sense to just pull the whole engine and do a rebuild?

It would seem to me that if one gasket had already failed the rest can't be far behind.

At least with the engine out, you would be able to work on it easy.

 

it would be more of an undertaking to pull the engine. you need few tools to do the heads and alot more to pull it, after pulling the motor you would need a stand as well. only if the rear seal was failing in a big way then yes pull it if you have the time. but if not then don't bother.

 

With my motor in, (keeps it stable), I've:

done oil pan cleanout
timing chain & sprockets
valve covers
rod bearings

The only time I'd pull it is if it was getting honed & pistons, I'm going after the main bearings eventually, engine in.

There are items that require cracking it loose, such as cracked flexplate or as 'Rovin says, rear main seal, I don't know if it'd have to come out, tho'

luck,greg

 

Interesting. I kind of figured that the time saving would be worth it. Just doing it all at once.

 

Pulling the bonnet and the wings ( fenders ) may give you better access when doing major work, remove the grill and radiator and such...............

 

90% of all work on that engine can be done with it still in the truck.
You could even hone the cylinders with it in the truck.
When working on the bottom half support the truck by the frame and let the front axle hang.