Monday, November 22, 2010

Head gasket change on 97 mustang?

A friend of mine has a 1997 mustang gt with a 4.6 dohc and it needs a head gasket. About how much will this cost to fix? also would it be cheaper just to put in a used engine? and also, do you have to pull the engine to remove the heads on these cars?Head gasket change on 97 mustang?ok lets slow down here. it would be very impractical and most likely not cost effective to swap the engine out of this mustang even if you have the motor already. Changing the heads on this car would require the following:

the new head gasket

a tourque wrench

the ford manual for the car from that year or the same information which can be found at

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/shop_p



You really do not need to be tech savy to do this change, all you need is the ability to follow strict instructions, assuming you are planning to do this yourself and not through a shop because a shop will charge you an obscene amount to do this most likely. The price could be as much as $800 or more because of the labor time that the factory allows for this maint. on %26quot;flat rate%26quot; pay.



If you would like a more step by step approach i would be happy to detail it out for you. This should be all you need to get started though.



after reading it seems i left something out, you shouldnt have to pull the motor to do the heads, only pull parts of the top end which really isnt anything more then taking out the head bolts, becareful though!!!! IMPORTANT READ THIS!!!! the head bolts are most likely Tourque to Yeild bolts which means they have been torqued to their maxium limit once and cannot be reused, if you try to reuse them you will break them off in teh ehads and end up trying to fix a big mess drilling them out.Head gasket change on 97 mustang?swap the motor if you can you may be able to find one for less than the repairs of the head gasket the heads will have to bet tested at a machine shop 100 bucks and up if they are fine but if not about 200 for new ones or 100 for used ones then the labor for doing it could run you 1200 i would swap it. in any car i have blown a head in which it has been every ford i have owned i swap the motor until i get rid of it been a mechanic for 20 yearsHead gasket change on 97 mustang?Whats wrong with head gasket and how did it get that way? Depends on where you live but it could be done for about $500. Used engine not a good answer.



OK swapping motor can run you into ALOT more trouble. You could end up with the same thing 6mos to a year down the road. Bottom line is why does it need a head gasket?Head gasket change on 97 mustang?i think the problem isnt the head gasket, its the fact that its a ford. ya see, mustangs ((along with any ford product ever made)are not only complete garbage) but are like tampons every pus$y has one. hope that helps .