rebuild cologne v6 or drop in a v8?

[4x4d Truck]

Hello,
I have a 92' Explorer sport, 4x4, with the stock cologne v6 and 5 speed manual trans. just got vehicle, old owner said it has a blown head gasket and that he put some type of stop leak in it. truck seems to run fine, doesnt over heat, holds coolant relatively well.
My question is, would it be much more expensive to drop say a 5.0L v8 in it than it would to just rebuild the stock v6? would it be much more work than engine mounts, front suspension and radiator? And finally, is there a v8 that would bolt to my stock manual trans, would i have to get a custom drive line built if i put in a trans that would mate to the v8? Opinions are nice, fact based reasons are nicer. thanx for taking the time!!

 

[wood1]

Welcome to the site dude. I would be a bit surprised if stop leak could patch a head gasket. Lower intake manifold leak sure, no pressure like a head gasket is subjected to. Just for kicks try to tighten the lower intake manifold bolts. They are known to loosen up over the years and cause a coolant consumption issue... you might get away with that.

If it is a head gasket you are better off replacing the heads. They are known for cracking if they get hot once and the new ones are made stronger. I just did mine, wasn't hard to do and not that expensive.

Your transmission will not bolt to a V8. The best way to do a V8 swap is by buying a V8 powered truck and then you have the electronics, mounts, trans etc. That being said, anything is possible if you throw enough money at it.

Many guys do their heads etc on high mileage 4.0L engines, the bottom ends seem to last forever. Mine has 320 kms on it and I have no problem replacing the heads. I feel very confident that it will last many years to come.

 

[colintrax]

I'd say rebuild the v6, btw if it seems like the stop leak worked then I'm pretty sure it did. Took 2 trys before it worked on my truck, but it's been good for 20,000 miles now. Went with the $10 barrs

 

[wood1]

I used Barrs for my lower intake and it worked great. If it does work on head gaskets then that stuff is amazing!

 

[colintrax]

It is, except the first time it didn't work. Did a radiator flush and redid it. Worked that time

 

[4x4d Truck]

first, thanx for the warm welcome. a lot of sights i have been to are full of d.b.'s who just want you to know how cool they are. and second, talked with the lady, she says at $4.00 a gallon for gas, we cant afford a v8 with the way i drive. looks like im stuck with the v6. now for this barrs, how long should i wait (after putting it in) to flush the system and replace the fluids? i would like to do an oil change and coolant flush asap. thanx again guys for the help! and i will take a look at the lower manifold bolts.

 

[wood1]

You just dump that stuff in and leave it. Maybe Colin has more to add?

 

[Anime]

You're probably better off going the suggested route with new heads on the stock V6, a V8 conversion isn't cheap or easy, and it's not necessary unless you plan on having really big tires or just really want it to move quick.

You can spend just a few hundred on heads and maybe a few performance upgrades if you want more out of it. You can get way better mileage with the 4.0, and if you take care of it, it'll last a long, long time.

 

[colintrax]

The first time I did the barrs I didn't do a coolant flush or follow the directions completely.
The second time, I just followed the directions to a T. I was/am to broke to replace the heads and figured it was worth burning the gas idling to make sure it was right. http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...oz-)-Bars-Leak_7120013-P_N3286_T|GRP2053_____
^This is what I used, not sure if the more expensive stuff is better because I'ma broke ****

 

[wood1]

Ah ha! That's different then the stuff I used, didn't realize they had special stuff for head gaskets. What the hell, can't hurt to try. If it worked for Colin...

 

[4x4d Truck]

thats great fellas. thanx for the input!! i will be giving it a try this weekend.