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Blown Head Gasket

9K views 33 replies 15 participants last post by  KC_Metal 
#1 ·
Was passing a car, and and looked in rear view mirror, and all i saw was white smoke/ Steam. i drove for about 3miles and making sure it didnt get to hot till i saw a gas station. once i checked it out i saw i blew the lower radiator hose. what gets me is if it was low on coolant why didnt it ever overheat to warn me? replaced the hose and filled it back up and when i turned it on, it was blowing smoke and water out the exhaust, so i hope its just the head gaskets and nothing else like a cracked head
 
#2 ·
Did you check the oil to confirm that your head gasket was blown?? The cold weather is probably why you didnt overheat immediately. Luckily you have the 4.7L so you have more room to get your heads off and replace the gaskets. I highly recommend doing both sides. You don't want one to go out right after you fix the one thats messed up.
 
#3 ·
That sucks bro. I hope you get if fixed soon. Your truck looks great with the wheels and drop!
 
#4 ·
unfortunately, we have seen more than a few threads of this same nature with 4.7s
 
#8 ·
My 3.7 as well... Took it to a "trusted" mechanic, and ended up with a new engine after it was all done. The mechanic screwed everything up in the old one.
 
#6 ·
when low on coolant,steam will not operate the temp sender. it must be in liquid.
 
#7 ·
yeah, it sucks! lol took it to the shop they are gonna check the heads not just replace the gaskets. Weedahoe, You said youve seen threads like this before, about how much is this gonna set me back?? have any idea. there was not water in the oil.
 
#9 ·
IDK about price but there are more than a few threads here from guys with 4.7s coming in an saying they were overheating and it was either blown head gaskets or cracked heads. Obviously, head gaskets would be cheaper. But either way you can do the work yourself minus the machining of the heads or magnafluxing them for cracks.
 
#11 ·
I have over 100k now, but this happened at like 60k.
 
#12 ·
I just knew it was a 4.7 when I saw the thread title. Just waiting my turn!
Good Luck on the repairs.
 
#16 ·
So do you think that the 4.7 is somehow causing bad radiator hoses?

Or that the 4.7 more prone to head gasket failure than any other engine
when being driven 3-4 miles AFTER the driver noticed that he blew a
radiator hose?

When you drive your truck with no coolant, you're pretty much saying
I'd rather take a chance at having to replace the engine than walk...
It's a choice he made.
 
#13 ·
If you ever suddenly see smoke out of the back of your truck, pull over, and turn it off.

I hope it's not damaged too bad....good luck! :D
 
#14 ·
I was told to replace both head gaskets and only the head gaskets would cost me $1000-bucks; to replace one head would cost me $2000-buck. I was told this info by a Dodge dealership. I'm sure you can get a better price by someone else. If you're around the Dallas Texas area I know someone you can talk to about this type of problem.

:)
 
#15 ·
Here's a breakdown of what it cost me for parts only (all numbers in CDN$ which is pretty much par with US$)

$300 for gasket kit
$200 for new head bolts
$60 for new oil & filter
$30 for new coolant

The job itself took my Dad and I a whole weekend, but we were only able to work 6 hours both days.

There was no machining involved because the block had less than 30K miles on it and I put ported heads on at the time. Not sure what shop rates are there, but up here they're about $100 per hour, so I would expect someone who does this regularly to take 8 - 10 hours. They'll also probably charge you an AC drain/refill charge unless they're nice enough to just tie it out of the way. Almost 2 hours of that time was the two of us cleaning parts and surfaces because they would have been coated in an oil/coolant mixture.
 
#17 ·
Down here a couple shops quoted me between $2500-$3750 to replace both gaskets and machine the heads.
 
#18 ·
My understanding about these cylinder head, you can't machine (plain) the 4.7L heads. If the head is warped, you're SOL; you have to replace the head. That's why I'm getting new heads instead of having mine rebuilt.

Is this yet other fact about the 4.7L heads that's BS or was I told the truth?

:dunno:
 
#19 ·
I guess it would all depend on how much material there is to remove. Also, if you shave the heads, how will you shave the intake to match them? Its plastic.
 
#21 · (Edited)
There you go; that's most likely the reason.

:IDEA:

edit: .... or I should say that better be the reason after I dropped almost $2000-bucks on cylinder heads!!!

:tup: :D :tup:
 
#20 ·
You guys have a point...
 
#22 ·
The heads can be machined just fine, though I don't know why you'd need to machine the top unless you were porting them. Even then you shouldn't have to touch the intake. The way they mate up I don't think that fraction of an inch that get's taken off would matter.
 
#23 ·
When you shave the heads, the will be closer to the block which means the intake ports wont match up which also means your intake bolts might not match up. But again, it all depends on how much material there is to work with and IDK anything about 4.7 heads
 
#25 ·
I get that, but you're talking a 64th, 32nd of an inch max and I'm sure the plastic intake manifold isn't that precise to make a difference. If you have to shave any more than that off the head I'd say get a new one as it's probably warped.
 
#24 ·
I wonder if Sharadon carries large valve heads for a 4.7 with a matching cam?
 
#26 ·
You would have to take a fair amount off of a head before you had to worry too much about the intake not lining up correctly with it.
Being that the motor is overhead cams is where I would worry about taking them down too much. I know the chain tensions will take up slack but I have no idea how much.

I thought I also read in one of the theads on here that the 4.7 heads were basically throw away heads if they got warped at all. I could be wrong.
 
#27 ·
Well i got the heads cleaned, pressure tested, machined and did a valve job on them too,tht was $418 including the head gasket kit, and $450 to the mechanic. But idk whts wrong with it now!!! Im Pissed, every electrical thing isnt working now, no lights, radio, windshield wipers, and horn not working. Do you think they forgot to plug something in?
 
#29 ·
If it started and ran even with the blown gasket when it went in then that is all on the machanic that did the work to figure out. It does sound like something was left loose or not plugged in at all.
 
#34 ·
Damn! WTF! I'd unhook the battery for awhile and then reconnect and see if that helps. :mad:
 
#33 ·
Stop messing with the truck and take it back to the shop that did the head gasket! If you keep messing with it, they'll just claim you did it and you'll be stuck with a new bill to repair their mess-up!!!

:loud:
 
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