Head Gasket? Head? Paranoia?

[stingrae]

Howdy folks,

recently had another episode of overheating on the way home from a trip. Checked my coolant level the next day to find it all gone....Appears to have made its way into the oil (yay!) I figure im probably up for a head gasket at least. Has anyone had any pricing from mechanics on this sort of work? I'm fearing the worst with a potentially cracked head as well. many thanks

 

[Rumpig]

I don't know any prices but shop around. If the heads not cracked it would be warped so you would have to get it machined flat. Damn useless factory temp gauges, Nissan and the rest should be ashamed.

 

[stingrae]

yeah my thoughts exactly. for what its worth, its almost as cost effective to get a recon motor! which is another thing im investigating. whether its possible to swap out the motor for a zd30 patrol engine. thoughts?

 

[tweak'e]

most likely head has cracked. head gaskets rarely fail.
patrol zd30 won't bolt straight up as the bell housing is bolts locations are different. you would need to redrill/tapp the block to bolt the navara bellhousing up to it.
also patrol zd30 are usually in worse shape than navaras.

pull the engine to bits and see whats the cause, see what shape the engine is in.
have heard of odd things like cracked bore, holes in block behind the water pump etc.

 

[baylock]

My brother and i just did the head on my ZD30, a word of advice...... burn it!!

 

[ben85]

$4500 should have you back in business, if your lucky you might have a bit of change left as long as there's no other damage to the rest of the engine.

 

[stingrae]

many thanks everyone. yeah not really looking forward to handing over the cash but you gotta bite the bullet! let you know it goes!

 

[unkn0wn]

Mate recently paid $2200 fro head gasket, replacement head thatsd was cleaned and checked (his had pinholes in it) and new injectors installed.

just shop around, some places quoted him in the 4k range.

on a td42 patrol gq

 

[stingrae]

thanks mate. im going to try and woo the mechanic into cash and carton work but will just have to see how we go!

 

[stingrae]

for those interested. ended up being a cracked head. had a new head put on. new gaskets all round, new head bolts, new glow plugs and fitting. 3 grand !

 

[Rumpig]

Any idea why it cracked? Was it between the glow plug and valves?

 

[stingrae]

not 100% sure but the coolant was leaking at the exhausts. was a pretty good outcome compared to it seeping into the cylinders!