Hello all,
New to the forum-- I've done a search but ant to know your opinion(s) on a gamble. I recently bought an '03 D2 with 95K. Dealer maintained, all records, nice condition in and out, new brakes and tires. Got it for $4900 and expected to put another $2k in for Mike's major service, a new front driveshaft and a leaking front seal/cover.
It does not use coolant but unfortunately a pressure test revealed "mildly" leaking HG. I've been quoted $3500-$5000 for the major service/HG/new heads/cam/plugs/wires/waterpump/therm/radiator/front cover/seal. Now I know I "should" really do all of that but I was considering just the front cover/waterpump/radiator/180thermostat/cap and see if I can drive it another 10K before the headgasket/new heads etc. Basically I have $2K available and I am definitely going to do the driveshaft, thermostat, radiator, and an UltraGauge, and the major service with whatever is left over. I want to wait on the HG. Is this foolish?

 

Well you can always drive it until it overheats, and have it possibly warp the heads, then buy new heads.

You could also go get your head gaskets done for like 1600 at a regular independent shop.

Or you could spend $600 and do it yourself.

 

600 could be a little high, but would include machine shop work to plane heads, redo valves. Most heads will plane back to spec. Using a 180F stat, and an Ultra Gauge will catch overheat when it is in early stages. You may well go more than 10K.

 

the 3500 quote for HG is from two indie shops with excellent reputations and includes all the head work and every conceivable seal. ~$1700 in parts and $1700 labor.

 

I always include the planing of the heads, I think it's kinda silly not to. It's aluminum, and it's not like you're going to do the job often.

 

parts shouldn't be more than a few hundred dollars, $600 at most, that's including a cheap radiator.

 

simply put if you don't repair your cooling problems i.e. leaks, there is no sense spending any of the money on the other repairs.
parts are less than $600 as said and the hold job at an indy should be around $1700.

 

Indy shops with excellent reputations in the Pacific Northwest are charging $2400 for HG job with valves, seals, and machining plus new stat.

Add in a radiator, front cover, cam/lifters, and if that far might as well add timing chain... and his quote becomes realistic... expensive but realistic.

The mild external HG leak can be nursed for a while if you watch the coolant level and temps carefully while you do the other repairs yourself or save up the cash.

I did exactly that and got lucky nursing it along through three oil changes, 9,000 miles, with a slow leak on the rear of the passenger side HG.

 

where are you located? why would you be putting "New heads" on it? and why a "new front cover"? why no oil pump? why a "new cam"? what about lifters? timing chain?.

 

The HG exterior leak is usually at the front or rear, where water channel is, and not a lot of "meat" in the width of the gasket. This pix shows you an old one, with small cracks. Eventually one of the cracks makes it all the way. A block seal product like KSeal will stretch out the time, by sealing some of the small spaces. It has other issues, like sealing the small spaces in the radiator, which is already clogged with calcium buildup and lack of flush and replace program every 24 months. This reduces the cooling of the radiator even more, making engine hotter. Works better with a radiator that is newer.

Just thought you might need to think about this if thinking going the mechanic in a jar route, which some do, and for some it is the right thing at the time.

If DIY, somewhere to work on the truck is good, if under the shade tree and an hour a day, it will take a while and you'll need something else to drive.