Leaking head gasket

[knewblewkorvett]

Hi, I noticed a oil spot under my 97 Expedition. She has the 5.4L. Anyhow, I took it to my mechanic. He put it up on the lift and he showed me where it was leaking from. It is coming from the head gasket on the passenger side towards the very back. I was quoted a whopping $3,500 to fix! That includes both sides getting done. Is that about right? She only has 105,300 miles on her. He also showed me my AC compressor was leaking. Doh!

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

I don't know what it would run on an Expedition, but I was quoted nearly $3K from a few different shops for my '98 Crown Vic and that was back in 2005 or so. Parts are cheap, but it's labor intensive. I ended up selling it instead to a guy that shipped it off to Saudi Arabia for resale.

 

[John Christopher]

If you do both repairs it's more than the truck is worth. If it were me I would sell it and buy something newer.

 

[Trainmaster]

Same thing happened to my 2000, but it has almost 250,000 miles. There was an oil and slight anti-freeze leak just above the starter on the passenger side. It's a known problem with these engines, some poor machining.

I little Bar's head gasket repair goop in the anti-freeze stopped the anti-freeze leak for over a year, but by then the rear end components were rotted along with brake lines so it was time to go.

The price you quote is what the job's worth. The question here is whether to replace the entire motor, or do gaskets, timing chain, etc. Or get rid of it. Tough choices. Remember, it's nearly 20 years old with a resale value of perhaps $1500.

 

[stamp11127]

Unless that leak just started I haven't met anyone that can pinpoint the source of a leak without cleaning it first. Valve cover gaskets can and do leak as the mileage gets up there.

 

[Jdcline54]

That price sounds about right, as they pull the engine to do these sorts of repair. Or that's what the local Ford dealership told me when I asked why they'd charge so much.

I thought I might have a head leak on mine, after digging into it I discovered it was actually a valve cover leaking.

If it's coolant leaking down the right side or the front of the tyranny area, it's more that likely the nipple on the heater hose pipe which is behind the intake and runs underneath the intake. Could also be be the pipe off the back of the water pump that leads to this pipe. You can get a pretty good look at it by removing the generator. You can get a half decent look at it without removing it also. .

As far as valve covers and intake..
If you are a semi decent mechanic that can follow instructions, it is a job you can do yourself in a weekend.. But it would be a real pain if you had to do it outside in the cold weather

 

[knewblewkorvett]

Thanks for the feedback.
Yeah, we looked up and down and the valve cover gaskets area was bone dry. The head gasket was wet with oil.
My mechanic did clean up everything with some nasty smelling cleaner. I think I'm just going to park her for the winter and deal with it in the spring time. I would hate to junk it because she is in mint condition. I have a 2000 Expedition that I use in the winter, it is rusting big time and has well over 200K miles.

 

[1955moose]

Head gaskets can be changed by just pulling intake and heads. The dealer as usual is trying to pad the bill. If your mechanical and limber enough, do the job yourself. At the least shop around for a shop that's cheaper than dealer.

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[terryb99]

My 2000 Navigator got a reman engine at around 50k miles for Head gasket. I had an extended warranty and the Ford dealer refused to just do head gaskets and fought for me to get the reman.
They told me the machining and tolerances were so tight that their experience was I would be back if they just tried to machine the head and replaced gaskets.

 

[1955moose]

More than that, they didn't want to gamble. The reman Ford motor was a safer bet. Ford would send another engine, and credit their account for the labor too. It's a no brainier, no risk for them. And time wise for the tech, a quicker job. Anytime you shave heads/ intake manifold, you raise compression ratio, which despite the slight power increase, also has side effects, such as having to run higher octane fuel, and possible overheating, not to mention new gaskets settling in proper. No a pluck and replace is smart money for that dealer. If I was service manager, that would be my call.

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