Duallydog

Sorry it is so long.
A buddy of mine has an 05 that blew the plastic intercooler almost 2 weeks ago hauling a trailer going up hill. He drove another 15-20 miles smoking worse than a freight train then I picked up his trailer and unhooked his chip (65hp XZT) so it wasn't boost fooling anymore (and adding more fuel) and he drove the last 20 miles.
Last Friday put a used intercooler on. Now it has a rough idle and a cloud of blow-by coming out of the crank case vent hose. And yet he's thinking it has more power right now than it did before, to which I didn't get to drive the truck before, but this sucker will run for just 65hp.
He's taken it to a few mechanics about the blow-by and the rough idle and they listen to it and say drop a new engine in it.
So he's wanting to take it and trade it off tomorrow and I'm thinking we need to look at the pistons and sleeves and hopefully could be redone or might not even the issue.

Should we even try to take the head off? What is involved in that?
Could it be something else?
Or should I just let him let someone else have the problem?

pos dodge

Any codes? Why didnt the mechanics do a compression test, or a cylinder leak down check? I would check a few things before just replacing motor. If it needs rebuilding im told that it would cost around 1500.00. I would definitely go that route if needed. Im sure the motor got pretty hot towing up a hill with no intercooler. Good luck and let me know what you find out.