What to do with an old Ford Truck

[supp]

My brother in-law has a 95 f150 with a little over 200k miles. He recently took it on a fishing trip and called me because he was losing heat. Long story short it has a bad head gasket. Basically we are trying to decide what to do with it, is it worth repairing? The body is in pretty bad shape, lots of rust.

Has anyone done this job? Is it pretty straight forward? The truck is still driveable and he is leaning towards trading it in at a dealership, and if he can get anything for it I guess I would agree.

Just wondering what other people’s thoughts are.

Topic

[dreamer2355]

How do you know for sure he has a head gasket issue? What testing procedures did you do?

We have a free link to Chilton’s online that will give you some insight in the ‘How To’ section of this forum.

[supp]

Good question dreamer, I didn’t diagnose the head gasket. I warned him that it was likely but he brought it to a local shop that we often go to and they diagnosed it. I’ve worked with this shop before and they have treated me well so I trust them.

I’ll see what I can find in the ‘How To’ section.

Thanks

[Matt]

You might also consider posting this in the ‘service and repair questions’ section, as there are folks that can give you info on how to test for a bad head gasket for next to free. You can rent a block tester from an auto parts store that tests for combustion gasses in the coolant, and get the money back when you return it.

[crandall]

Sounds like you had two questions there, one about the head gasket and the other about whether to keep the truck because it has rust issues.

I do not know the extent of the rust, but if it is eating into the frame, then you may have a bigger problem than just a head gasket. I would check your frame underneath and take a look at the state of things. If you are seriously thinking about getting rid of the truck, the extent of the rust may be the deciding factor.

[skim3544]

If you have to ask, it is beyond your ability. In about 4 hours of labor, you can get to the timing belt/chain. From that point on, you will have to take out the intake, disconnect exhaust, then remove the head bolts. once it is out, you will have to bring the head to a machine shop and inspect for damage. Then you would have to put everything back afterward. Takes about 10 – 15 hours + machine shop service. In my case, I had valve leaks so I had the valves rebuilt for $400.

I don’t think it is worth the labor for a car that has 200K miles – if you want to keep the car, I think it would be better to just swap the engine

[Author]

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