Looking for some insight from some folks who have experience with this engine. I've been doing a ton of research the last several weeks and there's just a lot of financial risk involved with my choices. Unfortunately both our cars blew up the last 3 months and the dishwasher just went as well, and the wife and I are expecting a baby in the next month so both time and money are a little tight currently. I'd take this on myself normally, but with the baby on the way it's just not an option at the current point in time .
So I have a bad head gasket. It was showing the typical symptoms (fluid rushing through heater core, overheating at idle, slowly burning coolant, big puff of coolant smoke when starting), and eventually it gave me a cylinder 8 misfire code with the check engine light. Took it in, pressure tested, confirmed bad head gasket. So here we are. Jeep is 2005 Grand Cherokee with 148,000mi on it. I just put on new shocks/struts all around, new brakes, finally got the transfer case working after the horrendous recalls on it, wheel bearings, and the transmission valves and solenoids packs have been replaced. In other words, there's value in fixing the vehicle.
My options seem to be:
1) tear it down, replace all gaskets. Machine heads if necessary (though I understand they only have about 2 thousanths of allowance for machining - either not much or none at all)
2) tear it down, replace all gaskets and both heads.
3) only tear down enough to replace engine with remanufactured engine.
The jeep did get hot 2-3 times. Never hot enough to boil the coolant and blow the radiator, and never hot enough to pin the temp gauge. However, the temp gauge has gotten into the red a few times. I hear it doesn't take much to warp these aluminum heads, but I don't know if this is enough to do it. So, the state of the current heads is a question mark. Then there's also the question of the valve seats / valves and rockers which both seem to be an issue on this engine as well.
Both the oil and coolant are normal, so I believe piston rings to be in good shape, and I don't believe any coolant would have gotten into the block to kill the bearings. But again, a question mark.
There are absolutely no used engines in the area that are worth buying - all with 130,000mi or more. If I replace the engine, it would have to be a reman unit. I like the idea of 100,000mi warranty on the engine again too.
I'm aiming for the cheapest repair possible due to my current situation. But I want it to be reliable too. If they tear down the engine to replace heads I am also amenable to opportune replacements like oil pump, water pump, etc, etc.
So, to anyone who's deeply familiar with this engine, is it worth risking tearing down to target the repair, or in the end is it just wasting labor dollars when an engine replacement is the end result anyway? Thoughts? Many thanks in advance.
So I have a bad head gasket. It was showing the typical symptoms (fluid rushing through heater core, overheating at idle, slowly burning coolant, big puff of coolant smoke when starting), and eventually it gave me a cylinder 8 misfire code with the check engine light. Took it in, pressure tested, confirmed bad head gasket. So here we are. Jeep is 2005 Grand Cherokee with 148,000mi on it. I just put on new shocks/struts all around, new brakes, finally got the transfer case working after the horrendous recalls on it, wheel bearings, and the transmission valves and solenoids packs have been replaced. In other words, there's value in fixing the vehicle.
My options seem to be:
1) tear it down, replace all gaskets. Machine heads if necessary (though I understand they only have about 2 thousanths of allowance for machining - either not much or none at all)
2) tear it down, replace all gaskets and both heads.
3) only tear down enough to replace engine with remanufactured engine.
The jeep did get hot 2-3 times. Never hot enough to boil the coolant and blow the radiator, and never hot enough to pin the temp gauge. However, the temp gauge has gotten into the red a few times. I hear it doesn't take much to warp these aluminum heads, but I don't know if this is enough to do it. So, the state of the current heads is a question mark. Then there's also the question of the valve seats / valves and rockers which both seem to be an issue on this engine as well.
Both the oil and coolant are normal, so I believe piston rings to be in good shape, and I don't believe any coolant would have gotten into the block to kill the bearings. But again, a question mark.
There are absolutely no used engines in the area that are worth buying - all with 130,000mi or more. If I replace the engine, it would have to be a reman unit. I like the idea of 100,000mi warranty on the engine again too.
I'm aiming for the cheapest repair possible due to my current situation. But I want it to be reliable too. If they tear down the engine to replace heads I am also amenable to opportune replacements like oil pump, water pump, etc, etc.
So, to anyone who's deeply familiar with this engine, is it worth risking tearing down to target the repair, or in the end is it just wasting labor dollars when an engine replacement is the end result anyway? Thoughts? Many thanks in advance.