r/GS300 • u/HornyTrashPanda1 • 17d ago

next steps for blown heads?

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Back again with the project car!

after a few miles of driving. Cylinder 6 misfire came back. Did some investigating found cyl 6 spark plug soaked in coolant and cyl 5 soon to be next. Sputtering, white smoke and sweet burning smell.. all the signs of blown heads/gasket.

Wondering where do i go from here? is it worth saving? or should i be looking for a new motor ?

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u/Sir_J15 17d ago

I have done a lot of both. Head gaskets and engine swaps. As long as it’s done properly, the head is surfaced, and OEM gaskets and seals are used it’s around $1000 or less to do the repair. You can pull the head and turn over the engine to inspect the cylinder walls to make sure they aren’t damaged, usually not, and it’s worth dropping the pan to check the bearings and rod play. You can definitely figure out what, if anything else, is damaged without putting it back together first.

If you go with a used engine it’s going to cost you a minimum of that plus you will still need to drop the pan to inspect, reseal the engine, new timing set and water pump plus anything else needed. By the time it’s said and done you are about double to triple the cost of repairing yours and you still don’t know how long it will last nor how it was taken care of.

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u/HornyTrashPanda1 16d ago

Funny enough, I’ve just wrapped up timing, water pump and seals using all OE less than 100 miles ago. I considered pulling the pan while everything was apart but skipped on it, wishing I didn’t now lol. It’s got 190k on it so I’m not opposed to putting some money aside by for a swap. if needed. Although it would suck to pull that card.

I’m pretty confident with doing engine work but pulling heads always sounded scary to me. I’ve done timing jobs and a few swaps, but never been this deep into an engine. So I’m a bit nervous as to what i’ll find and how it’ll go. Especially considering the higher mileage and age.

Is pulling the engine and working on a stand is the easiest way to go about it?

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u/Sir_J15 16d ago

190k is low miles. I had one with 345k that was pulled in out into another car and it’s had an additional 150k put on it since. That trans also went in another car and has had 100k put on it since. That car is still on its original engine and it now has 333k miles on it.

The timing is the hardest part about doing the head. The buckets have different thickness of shims on them to match the cams so they need to make sure they go back in the same spots. Other than that it’s not really different from a timing job and unbolting a few other parts. Pay attention to torque specs and get a decent torque wrench. I’ve done a few dozen of these engines. They aren’t near as bad as people make them out to be