Got a 2003 merc Mountaineer V8 and both my cylinder heads shot and i need new ones. Ford told me itll cost 6300 dollars for it. Does anybody have any data on how to do it? thanks

 

wow... get a second opinion. it would cost that much to replace the entire engine in most shops I know of (including the cost of the new engine... even a crate motor from ford racing). I''d expect about $2000 for a simple head swap. (about $800 of that is the parts I think) and it''s a two day job. Unless you live in a high rent area like Beverly Hills where shops are used to working on high dollar rides. If the engine really is crap, you can get an rebuilt engine installed for around $1500 labor (figuring about 15 hours at $100/hr it may be $2000 and a 20 hour job depending on just how much mess is attached to that engine) plus the cost of the rebuilt engine (generally about $2000 to $2500 for the later ford V8s). I would definitely ask people you know that are gearheads (if any) that know of good shops in your area.

the how to do it requires taking the intake manifold OFF the car, replacing the gaskets there, taking the valve covers off (replacing these gaskets), taking the exhaust manifolds off (can usually reuse these gaskets, but may need to replace them), taking the plugs and wires out, unbolting any accessories like alternator, AC compressor, brackets, etc that are bolted into the heads, and then removing the heads. then removing and replacing the head gaskets and installing the new heads and putting everything back on. it''s a good 2 day job for a professional in a shop with all the right tools. it can take the better part of 2 weeks for someone working in their garage in the evenings to get it done assuming they even have the right tools for the job. A service manual of some type is required for this so that bolt torque settings can be referenced and applied during reassembly. Any gasket surfaces that are not absolutely clean before the new gasket goes on will cause problems. (don''t worry about the exhaust gasket though, it just needs to be tight with the surfaces wiped off good)