New to the board. It's been great reading so much information so far. I was wanting some advice if someone could help

I have a 2001 Jimmy 4.3 4WD with around 109.000 on the odometer. Noticed a head gasket problem (at least that is what I am thinking it is since I have coolant in my oil) I've talked to the dealer and they basically want $1500.00 to repair and replace both head gaskets not includeing if I need to have the head milled at all.

What I was thinking about doing is just buying a rebuilt 4.3 from a engine rebuilder company or if this is possible buying a 4.3 crate engine from gm and just swaping out the motor entirely. reason being the other part to my story the truck has been siting with the mixture of coolant/oil in the motorsince last labor day when I first noticed the coolant in the oil has not been driven except for moving it around driveway twice and a 5 minute trip to move it from my garage to another storage garage.

I guess I am thinking it would be better to just start fresh with a new motor since I know of all the other issues these motors can have head gasket, intake gasket etc. Anyone got any suggestions as far as what the best route to take would be getting it repaired. The head gasket job I would not feel comfortable doing myself so I would defientaly take it somewhere.

 

How sure are you that it's a Head Gasket Problem, and not a Lower Intake Manifold Gasket Problem???

 

I'm not sure. It is not leaking coolant externally at all. I am going to have a buddy come over with a pressure tester just haven't did it yet? Which is more common on the 4.3 the head gasket or the intake gasket?

 

Way more common is the intake manifold gasket. You could check the compression to see if there is a cylinder that is leaking past... You typically can see signs of coolant on the spark plugs as well...

I'm betting on a blown intake manifold gasket.

 

The Intake Gasket is a much more common problem, especially at your mileage on your truck. If it is the Lower Intake Gasket that went bad, I would and I did change it myself. Very Very Easy Job, LOOK HERE

 

Thanks for the link Dino. Excellent write up non that link. So good I might try to do it on my own.

BG

 

Do not forget to get the updated Felpro gaskets with the metal frame!!