Spot u 3 wrote:HAHAHAHAHAHA everyone's got jokes!!! I know the obvious is to fix it, but I weighing my options. New head or just get a used motor? I just put $1300 in suspension so I'm not sure which way to go.......
Do you know why the HG blew in the first place?
Did it leak coolant into the block?
How long was it run after it blew?
My experience is only with the 4.0L 6cyl in my son's Jeep XJ. We had to deal with a blown HG on 2 different occasions.
With those if the gasket blew a certain way it would let coolant into the cylinder down into the block and if it was run very long could ruin bearings etc in the bottom end. We had one that the cylinder wall was scored pretty bad.
Once you figure out if you can just do a gasket vs rebuild etc, the next step would be to price some used motors. You might get lucky and find a junker on CL or something for cheap. You could also get together a list of parts you need for the replacement and how much a shop will charge you to check out your head. Then think about how much work you can do yourself and what you might have to pay to have done. I don't even know, do all the electronic components know/care if you swap out an engine?
With the Jeep there was a kit of gaskets for about $125 + head bolts + a head job etc. We could get a used engine for about $300 so it was a no brainer for me. I think it took my son and I about 20 hrs to do the 2nd swap.
I would expect though that our engine used would cost a good bit more than a $300 JY Jeep engine so you have to weigh all that out with what your plans are for the truck. If you plan to keep it forever it might be worth going through more in depth. If you are planning on trading/selling it soon anyway you might not invest as much in it.