My head gaskets are now leaking coolant about 1 quart every two days. I will be doing the work myself. The shops I called want between $1800-$2400. to do the job, thats almost enough for a low miles 4.6
I see alot of people use the Atlantic British Head gaskets and head bolts. Do these hold up good? I have all new hoses, thermostat, radiator and magnacores. Should I change the water pump? If I do should is the AB water pump good or should I go with the dealership pump? Is there anything else that I should change?

Thank you,
Willie

 

Congrats! 180k must be board record!

I just did my head gaskets and I believe all the gasket kits pretty much come from the same source. I also think they are composite gaskets and should hold up a bit better than the stock ones.

I don't know about the water pumps, but since you're in there why not?

Have a new serpentine belt? Front seal and bottom end gaskets? Just a thought given the mileage.

 

I looked at my service records. I have 58,000 on the Magnacores and Bosch +4s, 52,000 ont the hoses and thermostat, 9000 on the radiator and belt. I also just changed the front crank seal last year. How long do these plugs and wires last? There is not any misfiring now, it runs good. Good idea on the bottom end gaskets. I hope to get it to 300,000 miles. I like driving it.


Willie

 

order the HG kit from AB, it has a bunch of different gaskets in it, you might want to do the water pump gasket, the wires and plugs should be good but check them plugs since you been spittin coolant all over. you should change the thermostat more often than you have in the past. i would def change that and flush all your fluids, power steering, brake, tranny, hubs, transfer case, windshield anything you can find. now is the time. do it all regret nothing later.

 

how's the frt cover gasket ? mine wasn't leaking untill 2 weeks after I replace the head gaskets.......I would suggest that if you are going to do the water pump, to go just a little further and replace the frt cvr gasket too.

 

I would swap the water pump and thermostat while you are in there. I see that you just changed the front main, so you would have to get in there again if you want, but I did my front main and cover gasket a while ago. I changed out my timing set while I was in there. How did yours look when you had it off? I had some slop and "think" I noticed a better response in the throttle.. Then again, it seems faster when I wash it too...

 

I will change all the fluids again. The front cover gasket does not look to be leaking, but I think I will change it . I had a shop change the front crank seal, they only charged $75 so I let them do it. I don't know how much slop is in the timing set, probably alot. Where is a good place to buy a timing set? A rover guy at work recommends new lifters while Im in there to get rid of the occasional lifter tick. Do you need to shave more off the head for composite gaskets thickness? I will at least have the heads cleaned and lightly skim cut, I might have the valves ground. Is it a good idea to have the heads pressure tested and checked for cracks? I will post some pictures when I get it apart.

Willie

 

Your heads will probably need to be milled. Mine did at 58K.

I think the max is .020". One of mine needed .010" to correct some warping. The other didn't need as much, but was milled the same amount to keep things the same.

You shouldn't need to compensate for the new gasket. As I understand it the composite gaskets are just thick enough to account for some milling while keeping the compression the same.

 

Just got done doing the same. With the milage you have you might as well do as much as you can while you're already down to the shortblock. Replace the engine and crank bearings, all major gaskets, timing chain and gears, coolant flush, jockey pulleys. I don't know what your budget is but if it's there and you have the time and space to do all of these things I'd do it.

 

Front cover gasket went on mine after a simple water pump replacement. Seems any change in these worn systems just blows the next gasket down the line.

I did head gaskets, valley pan, front cover, front main, new hoses and t-stat, oil pan of course since that's how the front cover comes off. Everything is perfect now.