Headgasket replacement cost

[ajd89]

Im curious what the repair book says for how many hours to replace head gaskets on a 89 cc 454 truck? Tried google but must not be wording it right. Talked to a shop about a noise Ive got. He thinks heads might need to come off possibly so just wanting to get an idea what it will cost me. They said they bill by whatever the book says for time.

 

[Craig 85]

Not sure of your zip code, I put in Midland's zip. Estimate for head gaskets on a 90 454 is $1235 to $1632. I found on google search for a late 90's 5.7 it's 12 hours.
http://www.myautorepairadvice.com/head_gasket_repair_cost.html

 

[ajd89]

Not sure of your zip code, I put in Midland's zip. Estimate for head gaskets on a 90 454 is $1235 to $1632. I found on google search for a late 90's 5.7 it's 12 hours.
http://www.myautorepairadvice.com/head_gasket_repair_cost.html

Im not far from midland. I sure hope its not that much or thats not whats wrong! Ouch! 12 hours at 90.00 bucks an hour still over a grand just for labor.

 

[Frankenchevy]

DIY all day on that type of stuff. Even in my expensive neck of the woods, rebuilds on carried in heads is not that bad. I burnt a valve on my Honda. I took it to a reputable cylinder head shop and it was around $250 for a full rebuild with all oem parts.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

X2... What’s the noise? I would start unbolting if you knew for a fact what it was. If you’re not getting combustion gases in your cooling system or coolant in your oil, I doubt you have a head gasket failure or cracked block, but it doesn’t sound like that was your concern anyway. If you have an issue with a lifter, pushrod, burnt or stuck valve, those are pretty easy to fix when you get things taken apart. Removing the valve covers and turning it over, not starting it, might reveal something. I say this because those guys move real fast when the engine’s running. You can also diagnose a burnt exhaust valve by putting a piece of paper at the tailpipe and seeing if it gets sucked back instead of consistently pushed away. A compression test might be in order if bottom end issues are suspected.

 

[dvdswan]

x3 on the noise. Heck you could have an exhaust leak. AFAIK, all shops use these shop manuals that list the hours to do the work. Keep in mind that these hours are based on basic hand tools (wrenches & ratchets) to do the job. So by using air tools and experience they are saving time to perform the task faster. This is how they earn a living.

 

[chengny]

From the GM shop manual:

You must be registered for see images attach

Those are the estimated labor hours for a 350 (or any other SB) - but I imagine that a BB would have similar numbers for labor hours.

 

[ajd89]

From the GM shop manual:

You must be registered for see images attach

Those are the estimated labor hours for a 350 (or any other SB) - but I imagine that a BB would have similar numbers for labor hours.

Thanks thats what I was looking for!

 

[ajd89]

DIY all day on that type of stuff. Even in my expensive neck of the woods, rebuilds on carried in heads is not that bad. I burnt a valve on my Honda. I took it to a reputable cylinder head shop and it was around $250 for a full rebuild with all oem parts.

X2... What’s the noise? I would start unbolting if you knew for a fact what it was. If you’re not getting combustion gases in your cooling system or coolant in your oil, I doubt you have a head gasket failure or cracked block, but it doesn’t sound like that was your concern anyway. If you have an issue with a lifter, pushrod, burnt or stuck valve, those are pretty easy to fix when you get things taken apart. Removing the valve covers and turning it over, not starting it, might reveal something. I say this because those guys move real fast when the engine’s running. You can also diagnose a burnt exhaust valve by putting a piece of paper at the tailpipe and seeing if it gets sucked back instead of consistently pushed away. A compression test might be in order if bottom end issues are suspected.

x3 on the noise. Heck you could have an exhaust leak. AFAIK, all shops use these shop manuals that list the hours to do the work. Keep in mind that these hours are based on basic hand tools (wrenches & ratchets) to do the job. So by using air tools and experience they are saving time to perform the task faster. This is how they earn a living.

Normally i would just do it myself but no im not sure what the noise is. Not sure if its valvetrain or something in the bottom end. Im just sick of looking at this truck sit in the yard. I want to drive it! I dont know much so i just figured id bite the bullet and pay someone to tell me whats wrong and go from there.

 

[highdesertrange]

that's a lot of money just to have someone tell you what's wrong. if you want to have an older vehicle it's best to learn how to fix it. there is no time like the present. highdesertranger

 

[ajd89]

that's a lot of money just to have someone tell you what's wrong. if you want to have an older vehicle it's best to learn how to fix it. there is no time like the present. highdesertranger

Well im sure if I paid for a full job it would be more then just figuring out whats wrong. I was just curious what the job would cost since I dont usually have to take stuff in. I fix as much as I can the best I can, but im no mechanic.

 

[dvdswan]

Can you tape the noise with a phone and post it on you tube?

 

[ajd89]

Can you tape the noise with a phone and post it on you tube?

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[Craig 85]

I had a somewhat similar sound with my 454 earlier this year. The PO said it had a newer rebuilt engine. I started off with adjusting the valves (a few were definitely loose). I still had a low end knock type noise. I just had the transmission rebuilt, so I checked the torque converter.

The weird thing was when it was down to 40 degrees out it would not knock for up to 2 minutes or so. Once the oil thinned a little it came back. It then disconnected a spark plugs at a time to see if the the knock would stop. Unfortunately, it did not. I also removed the mechanical fuel pump to see if that was it. No luck. I had a stethoscope and could never really pinpoint it.

So here I am 6 months (long story) after dropping my truck off waiting for the shop to finish installing my new engine. One thing I did find is the cam was wiped out in several spots. I'm assuming the PO did not break it in correctly. The inside of the engine was pretty clean, so it had been rebuilt in its recent history.

FYI I ended getting a GM rebuilt 454, 3yr/100k warranty. Costs a little more, but worth the added expense for me since I'm restoring the whole truck. One benefit is I went from a 2 bolt main to a 4 bolt and the engine is a 1990 which here in California would let me switch to any CARB legal mods for a 1990 454 engine.

 

[ajd89]

I had a somewhat similar sound with my 454 earlier this year. The PO said it had a newer rebuilt engine. I started off with adjusting the valves (a few were definitely loose). I still had a low end knock type noise. I just had the transmission rebuilt, so I checked the torque converter.

The weird thing was when it was down to 40 degrees out it would not knock for up to 2 minutes or so. Once the oil thinned a little it came back. It then disconnected a spark plugs at a time to see if the the knock would stop. Unfortunately, it did not. I also removed the mechanical fuel pump to see if that was it. No luck. I had a stethoscope and could never really pinpoint it.

So here I am 6 months (long story) after dropping my truck off waiting for the shop to finish installing my new engine. One thing I did find is the cam was wiped out in several spots. I'm assuming the PO did not break it in correctly. The inside of the engine was pretty clean, so it had been rebuilt in its recent history.

FYI I ended getting a GM rebuilt 454, 3yr/100k warranty. Costs a little more, but worth the added expense for me since I'm restoring the whole truck. One benefit is I went from a 2 bolt main to a 4 bolt and the engine is a 1990 which here in California would let me switch to any CARB legal mods for a 1990 454 engine.

Kind of a long story with this truck parts of it are here in diffrent posts but I bought it a year ago didnt run said ran when parked lol. Talked to the guy who owned it before the one I bought it from he had it 15 years. He put a comp 255 cam in it headers roller rockers and did some other stuff to the truck. Got it running but not well. So we did compression check had 3 cylinders 1,2 and 8 couldnt get the same reading twice pulled the valve covers found 3 bent push rods 2 in the valley. But never heard this noise.


It sat for a year now back on it. Drained the oil again had probably half gallon of clear water in it then some oil even with the hood shut got in there somehow. Got it all back together. Ive never set valves so i tried to set them before it was running and it wouldnt start rolled over slow. I went though loosened them all up it fired then got them tight till they didnt rattle the best i could gave it 1/4 turn of lash. One rocker wasnt straight on the valve ended up being bent push rod replaced that again. It seems to run decent dont hear any missing or anything. Not 100 percent sure that ive got the valves set right since ive never done it.


I tried pulling plug wires to 1 3 2 and 4 noise is still there. From what I can tell the timing chain is still tight the rotor moves as soon as I spin the crank. Tried the paper test it dont get sucked in the tailpipe. It really seems to run decent. I would think bad lobes on the cam and it should miss or with stuck lifters too. I spun a bearing 2 days after i bought my 87 with a 350 (a story for another day) and it was a loud high pitched metal on metal noise. This to me sounds much diffrent. Sorry for the long post.