blown head gasket ?

[ajw2420]

My son was driving his 1994 explorer limited and it overheated on him twice.... as a precaution I changed the thermostat because I thought it was defective.....As soon as I was finished putting on the thermostat and buttoned everything back up, I topped off the explorer with a 50/50 mix of coolant and brought the engine up to temperature... then soon after a cloud of white smoke began pooring from the exhaust.... I'm assuming the head gasket is blown... which one, I do not know.....could the head be cracked or warped... best recommendation would be greatly appreciated... also his step dad put some kind of quick fix in the radiator to get it to stop... white smoke still comes out occasionally but then after it warms up it quits... I dont want a quick fix.... please help.

 

[MrShorty]

The 4.0 isn't as bad as the 2.9 for cracking heads, but engine rebuilders I've talked to still say it's a little more prone to crack heads than many engines. I would certainly have the heads properly inspected if/while you have them off.

 

[monkeypothrower]

warped heads is my case. I had this happen to me over christmas. Same exact thing. It will be fine for a little bit till the liquid get thin enough then burns on the block. Get the head reshaped and resurfaced if neccesary and change all the gaskets. if you do it yourself i can help you with questions. I did mine to save cost. THey quoted me 800 down here. Hope this helps.and yea the radiator stuff if just a quick fix. The heads will be the permanent -TJ

 

[exploded99]

Explorers are cheap because of gas prices. May very well not pay to fix it if it has high miles or is not in real good shape. Cost / benefit may say put some more radiator stop leak in it, a low pressure rad cap, and drive until dead. Check ebay for explorer prices, I think you will get the idea.

Could also buy another 94 - say one that needs a transfer case, and use the existing carcass as a parts donor

If you fix it, the general rule is once you've gone to all the trouble to get one head off you might as well take both of em off - surface both heads and put in new head gaskets both sides. No real way to know if you got a cracked head until you get it off.

 

[marragtop]

I agree with the previous post. If you are going to pay someone to do it, you are looking at about $1500-2000, which may be cost prohibitive. How many miles are on it, and how is the trans? The auto trans is a weak point on the 91-94's. Also, if StopLeak was put in the system, you might be looking at needing a radiator and/or heater core at some point.

 

[monkeypothrower]

yea hes right. with the qoute of 800 all they would do is replace the gaskets. I had my heads done for 120 bucks. With all the cost of doing mine only came to about 600. I replaced the tensioner, idler pulley, water pump, radiator, belt, spark plugs, wires, all new hoses, new head bolt, new gaskets , enough oil for three changes and filters. And anything else that needed to be replaced. -TJ

 

[cculter]

Same problem

I had the same problem, put new gaskets on myself. Worked for a little while then back to the same problem, I believe my head(s) were warped. I found a good engine out of a junkyard in Circleville,Ohio for $300. I couldn't beat that so I replaced the whole engine and everything has been great since.

 

[Maniak]

Those numbers seem high.. Its a 10 hour job (book time) and a set of heads (remans) is about $525 (less if your cores are good enough to rebuild).. and about $150 for gaskets/head bolts

Now if you talking about a shop that charges $90/hour then those are right.. If its a shop that charges $60 (thats more normal for here in Tucson) it should be about a $1000ish job..

~Mark