I'm going to have to replace the head gasket on my 3500 due to a known gasket issue. The new gasket should correct the problem. The truck has about 245k on a virgin engine that's running great, so I'm wondering whether I ought to have the head worked over at the same time. I really have no idea how many miles I'm likely to get on that head if I leave it alone. If it's near the end of its normal lifespan, I should probably go ahead and get the machine work done now. But if they typically go 350k or more, I'm tempted to save the $ and deal with the head when a problem arises.

What do you think? Thanks for your input.

 

it's the time to do it. 254k is a lot of miles

 

It's worth looking at when you have it off. I did the same repair 3 winters ago. Had the head magna fluxed and around the valves looked like spider webs, some big and some very small. The ones heading towards the water jacket sold me so I went with the cummins reconditioned head.

 

I have been told by a few shops that since the cummins head is so prone to spider cracking never magna flux it also pressure test the head if no leaking in the water jacket reinstall it and go.

 

Thanks for the comments! I'll have the head work done.

 

True indeed but with 370,000+ miles at the time I wasn't taking any chances.