Head Fix, Both or just One?

[BearJam]

Alright, knucklehead move on my part...08 1500 with 5.7L....200K miles

Developed exhaust leak from broken bolts last year. During the repair I broke an extractor bit on one of the broken studs and my "fix" did not end up going well. Let's just say I have a little seep of coolant coming from the head from underneath the exhaust manifold...and still a couple loose bolts.

So...after calling/reading around, decided taking the head off for potential repair would be best. Ideally, a shop can just weld in the hole, drill out, and retap...but:

The questions:

1. Should I have the shop do anything else on the head while it is out?

2. While i'm at it, should I take off the driver's side also and have a shop check threads, etc. on this one too? No leaks/breaks on driver's side that i know of. (i know, 200K miles)

3. If I have to buy a new head (which i don't want to, but it's possible), what about the driver's side? Would this cause issue with one bank being brand new head, other bank 200K head?

4. Anything else you would do while I have the top end apart? Budget friendly of course!

Thanks for any help!

 

[LoneWolf3574]

My mantra has typically been "If it isn't broke, don't fix it". It isn't always a hard and fast rule as my bottom end rebuild this past spring proves. If the other head is giving you no problems, I would check for broken exhaust header bolts, the big 3 aluminum heads are notorious for them.

I did the same thing (busted an extractor in a broken exhaust bolt) a couple of years back and ended up dropping $200 at an exhaust shop to get it removed and my hardware installed, now if I just get off my butt and get the other exhaust header broken bolt taken care of, lol.

 

[crash68]

It might be worth doing a compression test on all the cylinders to get an idea of the overall health of the engine. If any are low, figure out if it's rings or valves. While you have the engine torn apart to do one head it might be cheaper in the long run to slap a set of remanufactured heads on if you have valve problems. If your rings are wore, might be more cost effective to slap a short block in if your planning on keeping the truck long term. If your just looking to keep the truck short term then just do the one head.

 

[BearJam]

Yeah, probably should have done a compression test before I started. I'm about taking the manifold off now. Reman heads on rockauto are about $400+ each all dressed. May be an option if the machinist laughs at me. lol.

Hopefully i don't get into the "might as wells"...and all of a sudden i'm pulling the engine, lol

 

[CVX20]

IMHO at 200 k I'd probably just do enough the get it back running or If you go the other way and do both heads then in my opinion you should do the bottom end as well.

 

[BearJam]

IMHO at 200 k I'd probably just do enough the get it back running or If you go the other way and do both heads then in my opinion you should do the bottom end as well.

Sounds like a "might was well"!!! I know, i know. Truck isn't worth much, and has just been "demoted" from daily driver to just my hunting/towing rig.

 

[BearJam]

Well, I finally fixed everything!!!


Took off the passenger side head and sought out my options for a possible repair. Two machine shops just laughed at me...but a local welder said he would give it a shot. He tried and tried, but could not fill up the hole and drill/tap it straight. Super nice guy and tried his best, but to no avail.


**By the way, I did bring up to both machine shops about running an old head and a reman. I likened it to running a marathon with two different shoes. Both machinists said it wasn't a big deal, and if the other head is alright, just leave it be.


OLD HEAD (yeah, i know...lol):



So after searching for a while in parts stores and online, I found https://www.headsonly.com/. Got good reviews on other forums and intentionally mentioned all of their Ram reman heads have new valve seats pressed in to resolve the common problem. PLUS, the head was only $250+$25 shipping and NO CORE CHARGE!! They had the head to me in 4 days, I loaded my old one in the same box, used their return sticker and dropped off at UPS. Piece of cake!!


The new head (fully built btw) was clean and exactly what I needed. Week later, with new pushrods, gaskets, plugs, and fasteners I put it all back together, and ran on the first turn of the key. No dummy lights, no skipping, no vacuum leaks...AND no more exhaust leak!!


I'm as surprised as anybody all went back together well. I've tested it in traffic and long haul up north and back. All good.


Shameless plug to https://www.headsonly.com/ again. They were great and product was cheap, complete, and perfect.

 

[GTyankee]

While you had the head off, how did the cylinder walls look ?

 

[LoneWolf3574]

Shameless plug to https://www.headsonly.com/ again. They were great and product was cheap, complete, and perfect.

Thanks for the link, if I ever need a head, I now have somewhere to go.