SuperKirby
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- June 23, 2012
- Messages
- 205
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Central MN
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1993 Explorer XLT
So an update from my previous post - I didn't get a compression tester yet. However, I did top off the radiator and reservoir yesterday. I drove it 50 miles to work and back. I checked it again this morning and the reservoir was empty and the radiator was not quite half empty. Unless someone can tell me otherwise, I feel comfortable working off the assumption I need to replace the head gaskets. That brings me to some questions.
1) In the interest of time, I'm going to order a set of remanufactured heads rather than having them machined. My reasoning behind this is I will have a weekend to have it off the road. Being able to pull the old parts off and have new parts ready to go on will make this possible. Besides that, I'll then have all new parts that I shouldn't have to worry about any time soon. So my question- has anyone ordered these that they can tell me is one place better than the other? I can get a set anywhere as cheap as 340 or as much as 500, but it looks like they're all rebuilt to OEM specs. Right now my plan is to order them from Rockauto and order a few other parts all at the same time. Advice on this would be appreciated.
2) What gasket set do I want? It looks like Fel-Pro and Victor Reinz are probably the best? What about the DNJ brand? Again, any advice one way or the other would be appreciated.
3) Anything else I need to know? Special tools I should have handy? I have both Clymer and Haynes manuals and have read what I can find on the internet. It looks tedious but not overly difficult.
Thanks for the help guys.
1) In the interest of time, I'm going to order a set of remanufactured heads rather than having them machined. My reasoning behind this is I will have a weekend to have it off the road. Being able to pull the old parts off and have new parts ready to go on will make this possible. Besides that, I'll then have all new parts that I shouldn't have to worry about any time soon. So my question- has anyone ordered these that they can tell me is one place better than the other? I can get a set anywhere as cheap as 340 or as much as 500, but it looks like they're all rebuilt to OEM specs. Right now my plan is to order them from Rockauto and order a few other parts all at the same time. Advice on this would be appreciated.
2) What gasket set do I want? It looks like Fel-Pro and Victor Reinz are probably the best? What about the DNJ brand? Again, any advice one way or the other would be appreciated.
3) Anything else I need to know? Special tools I should have handy? I have both Clymer and Haynes manuals and have read what I can find on the internet. It looks tedious but not overly difficult.
Thanks for the help guys.