'98 4.6L leaking antifreeze in engine

[dquiocho]

I'm thinking about picking up a 98 4.6L, but the owner told me that it has been losing antifreeze, no leaks, no milky oil but it smokes really bad. What could be the problem? Possible Head Gaskets? Cost to fix?

 

[toms89]

I'm thinking about picking up a 98 4.6L, but the owner told me that it has been losing antifreeze, no leaks, no milky oil but it smokes really bad. What could be the problem? Possible Head Gaskets? Cost to fix?

Depends on if you do it yourself or not. It is quiet involved with these overhead cam motors ! You have to remove the harmonic balancer, timing chain cover, timing chain, intake, exhaust manifold plus many misc items just to get to the head. Practically everything short of the block.

 

[Thermo]

To do the heads yourself, you are looking at about $300 in parts and about 20 hours of your time. To have a shop do it, you are looking at about $1000, if not more. If you have the time, it is a great way to get a truck for cheap as most people are not going to want to mess with it when they will be able to get a truck for a little bit more than won't have a problem like that.

Too bad I still do not live in Bremerton. I would tell you to drive the truck up to my place and we could get it done in a weekend. I've had the heads off of my truck twice and know all the short cuts and have all the tools. But, I am now living out in Maryland. So, a little bit of a drive.

 

[thegeneral]

I was once looking at a BMW that had a blown head gasket.

I talked to my uncle, who is a mechanic, and he said even if you replace the heads and gasket there is a chance that the bearings were damaged with it running with a broken head gasket. The more time that it has been running damaged, the better chance that the bearings are shot.

Just something to think about.

Sounds like a can of worms.