Old Coot

I have a 97 Dodge 2500 turbo diesel, Cummins 5.9 just looks like my head gasket blew, water seeping from right side 3 headbolt, steam rising..question is i need an estimate of how much it will cost to fix this thing.....the truck has 116,000 miles on it and first major engine problem i have with it.
I drive 64 miles round trip each day to work and back,,usually with cruise control set at 65..Any help would be appreciated..

thanks
Old Coot

thumper 549

price of new head bolts, new gasket, I would not gripe over 6 hrs labor ,it can be done much quicker, but while it is a part do you want the water pump replaced?
mabe a good time for dif inj.?
new water hoses for sure
New Head Bolts for sure.......steam clean the whole thing b4 dis assy?
Check your head for cracks while apart

Crimedog

Now you've got the perfect excuse for fire rings Heck, you gotta do something with it anyway

On a more serious note, I haven't torn a head off, but If you take your time, you may be able to do it yourself. Otherwise, get in touch with the South Carolina DTR chapter, someone could help you there. If you have someone else do it, they are going to charge you a decent sum I would imagine. At a recent DTR/TDR meet, I showed up 3 hours late and they had already ripped a head off to replace a head gasket. That can give you a time estimate if you take it somewhere.

thumper 549

Well.....you did not ask that..........it is ez enough.....not much diff then any other 6 cyl head

Smkndzl

The SRT for your dodge with 12 valve and EGR is 7.5 hours for a Cylinder head gasker replacement , that includes checking parts for reuse.

Old Coot

Hey , Guys, my Brother came over yesterday and looked at it.. said one of the head bolts sheared off. I am wondering if the truck still needs a full gasket replacement. No water in oil or coming out tail pipe. Could we take the sheared bolt out with an easy out. and replace and retorque all the headbolts back to spec or do i need to do a gasket replacement. I called 3 places and all three quotes are in the $1500.00 range, seems a little high to me. Gasket couldn't cost over a hundred bucks, now 1400 for labor takes the cake.

thumper 549

well ...remember if it was real ez you would not be callin around for prices.
Now it is not that hard if you have ever done anything like it b4.
And yes you could gamgle the bolt r and r.....but I think you will have to take it apart cause the gskt is probly compomised.
Re place all the bolts.period

LeMaverick

Our first generation 4x4 blew a head gasket a couple years ago at 300,000 miles plus. It took only a couple hours to remove the head. While it was off we had it planed and magnafluxed and valves ground. A small automotive machine shop near Fresno, California did the machine work for (sit down for this) $100.

The gaskets cost more than that. Be careful when buying gaskets; however, because a "head gasket kit" from one of the discount auto stores did NOT contain a head gasket (believe it or not) -- that was a separate order that took two days. If I remember correctly the gaskets totaled about $150.

Reinstall was not much of a task and took only a little longer than removal. Of course that was possible only because my wife was fully involved in the job and she remembered how things came apart.

NOTSTK

I pulled mine apart early this summer, took about a hour to remove and about 2 hours to install. I pulled the head because my wife was driving and downshifted from 5th to 2nd.. over revvvvved and mashed a couple of pushrods.. any ways same time KDP let go and crunch... So to make a long story short the head came off anyways. Gasket kit cost about 300 cdn. That was for the upper kit from Cummins. Always use the real deal. My head bolts were good , a strech gauge comes in the kit.. Same time cleaned injectors and installed 12 new pushrods, done a valve set and good to go... Not a big deal just a really heavy piece of metal. Mabye time for a set of 370's as well..

dsljunkie

I wouldnt use an EZ out, too much risk of breakin it off worse . I removed a sheared head stud out of my motor by pre drilling with a small carbide bit and then using a left handed drill bit to take it the rest of the way out. However, this was on a head stud, not a head bolt, ie. head studs arent super tight like a head bolt . But if you are able to get it out I would put some of that "Great Stuff" (black gasket maker) on the new head stud to give you a better chance of sealin it back off
Good luck
Scott

Dieseldude4x4

Do yourself a favor and replace the gasket and bolts. Don't forget an engine oil change very soon too in case any coolant got in the oil.