TypeOPositive

I certainly did miss the distinction you made about the machine shops and dealers. Sorry about that. Removing the engine has been the popular opinion in the posts I've read as well. Guess it's time to get an engine stand. Thanks again for the advice.

In your experience with resurfacing EJ heads using a piece of glass and sandpaper, has the end result consistently been within tolerance / flatness? It seems like a perfectly acceptable way to do the job if the stealerships are using belt sanders. That's actually kind of sad. I've basically accepted the fact that I'll have to pull the engine myself or part with a large sum of money. So thank you for helping me realize its not nearly as bad as I would have myself believe. Doing this myself definitely seems more realistic now. The block seems like the least likely component to be affected by a head gasket failure, but is it worth having it checked? I recall an issue I had with an oil cooler on my truck where the surface warped after the mating parts were removed. That was spooky, and i no longer trust aluminum! So now the big question is, wheter or not to remove the engine? Seems like it would make life easier.

Thank you very much for your very thorough reply. It seems like making them flat again is the most important part. The additional work seems like it might be worth it if the mileage was really high. One other thing that I've worried about was the change in engine timing. I know that its only a few degrees, but the only solutions I've read about are adjustable pulleys and thicker head gaskets. Is it worth fooling with in your opinion?

Do you have a suggestion on where to have the heads resurfaced? I did momentarily consider doing the post apocalyptic glass and sandpaper thing. But it'd be a shame to waste all the effort over a little money.

Hello everyone! I bought a fozzy a while ago with blown head gaskets. The PO had their mechanic replace parts on the cooling system thinking that was the issue, so I'm lead to believe the engine wasn't overheated. Its got around 150k, so I'm having a hard time justifying the cost of a junkyard motor. I'm not exactly sure how much money would be saved doing the repair myself. Seems like I would just be paying for a more thorough job with the money saved on labor by doing it myself. My concern is that after looking into how involved this job is, I dont know if its wise (financially) to attempt this on my own versus having a professional do the work. I think I'm capable, but from the reading I've done, this model year has the variable valve stuff. Seems to complicate matters. I live in southeast Ohio, if anyone has recommendations on a shop. Thanks in advance!

Looking at the receipts from work the PO did, we have a Timken camshaft seal, a Fel-pro (and/or) a beck/arnley crankshaft seal as well as a DNJ engine components lifter. Interesting... Edit: Forgot to write seal after camshaft

Just replaced those exhaust gaskets when I replaced the front O2. PO had to replace the CAT, and the rear O2 was seized (even with a torch.) But, I'm sure it can't hurt to verify. Would a leak down test be conclusive one way or the other?

I've cropped and attached the pictures of the plugs I took with my cellphone (sorry) during the compression test. Electrodes on all the plugs seem fine to me. The suspect plugs are from cylinders 3 and 4, and had a bit of gunky crap on the bottom of the threads nearer the electrode. Does the rear pair of cylinders cool less effectively than the front two? Doesn't seem to me that any plugs have an oil deposit. That's why i suspect exhaust valve stem seals. Assuming that is the only other place oil can get out the exhaust but avoid the combustion chamber. It's also just as likely I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. Hence why I'm here asking questions! I'll thoroughly look at the PCV hoses this weekend. Should I just replace the hoses and call it a day since I've already replaced the valves?

Sorry, that should have said 10 thousand miles. I've had to replace several quarts of oil and would like to avoid replacing my catalytic converters if possible. You're likely much more familiar with this than I am, but isn't the problem usually a valve stem seal? I think that's'd what I read. At any rate, I'll thoroughly clean the pcv hoses this weekend.

No, and I've put around 10 miles on it, smoked the whole time. If oil isn't coming from the bottom end, but is being burned, isn't the head the only logical place?

Where would one get a resurfaced head from?? What about the head internals if going used??

It's a five speed. I actually took pictures of the plugs during the compression test. It's all coming out of the tailpipe. The spark plugs in Cylinders 3 and 4 had a but of that build up on them. Not terrible, but it was definitely present.

I did replace the PCV valve (hoping it would stop the smoking) with a subaru one. Still had the OEM, wasn't terribly gummed up either. I'll clean the hoses when I get a chance. Thanks for the suggestion.

Quite a lot, gets worse with acceleration. Smokes enough that I can see it in the rear hatch (even after a 40 minute drive daily.) As far as the color, I'd be tempted to say blueish.

The engine in question was compression tested and measured 200 psi across all cylinders for one gauge, and 180 for another. I previously thought i was burning coolant. This smoking and the lack of fouled or oiled plugs leads me to believe it's in the top end. 120k on engine. Do I need to send my heads to a machine shop to have this work done, or could I handle it?? Should I replace the said exhaust valves and all valve guides? Also, can anyone recommend a shop in or near ohio? Thanks in advance