Leak in a head gasket requires a COMPLETE engine rebuild is that so or poppycock?

[SooperDave]

You don't find out about worn main bearing by pulling a cylinder head off and a simple compression check will tell you if the rings are worn and need to be replaced...

You said that a valve job will not bring other issues to light on a well maintained car. You already lied about what you said and now you are trying to divert the issue.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You said that a valve job will not bring other issues to light on a well maintained car. You already lied about what you said and now you are trying to divert the issue.

Christ...now I'm being called a liar. Whatever dude.

I was trying to offer some advice to the OP. He was given two completely opposite diagnosis on his car and he really didn't even give us enough information to give him anything more than an educated guess as to how much work his car will need. In reality, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle of the two "mechanics" who looked at his car. The only way to know for sure what his car needs is to address the problems it has...which starts with pulling off the cylinder head with the blown head gasket.

Recommending a complete engine rebuild is a bit extreme IMO especially if it runs well, doesn't burn oil, there is no coolant in the oil and it has decent compression. Sure, he may need other work done once the mechanic gets the heads off like a valve job but other than that, and a tendency to have a leaky rear main seal, those motors are pretty bullet proof (assuming he has the 302 and not the 2.3l 4 banger-I'm not sure how good those engines are).

Honestly, I wouldn't listen to either of those guys. I'd take it to someone else...someone who works on Ford Mustangs preferably...like a performance shop. If he lived near here I could recommend a couple places.

 

[Stefan Payne]

How it was maintained is equally important. A 20 year old engine with 150k miles on it that was well maintained and not thrashed should not need a rebuild. A 20 year old engine with 150k miles on it with a spotty service history may very well need to be rebuilt. A 5 year old engine with a blower running high compression and 2000 miles of hard drag racing will probably need a rebuild.

That's absolutely true!

But 150k miles ain't 150k miles!
Besides the maintenance it's important how the 150k miles are obtained!

If it's just short ways in the city (ie buy cigarettes, breads or something like that), so the engine never gets warm, it's pretty much done with 150k on it.
But if you drive 200miles a day (2x 100 miles) it should be nearly as good as new, even pedal to metal doesn't matter that much (OK, you wouldn't do that, I do, sometimes, well at least up to 200km/h )

A lot depends on age and mileage on the motor. If you are at or over 100K miles, it may pay to do a full rebuild and be good for another 100K or so. Plus you will end up with better reliability as all the problem parts would be changed, like bearings, water & oil pump. And you car will feel like new, since as it ages, it does lose some horsepower.

Age is an important factor, especially for anything that's made of rubber.
But the milage isn't that important.

We've owned a 2001 Toyota Avensis Diesel (81kW) wich we bought with about 200k km on it.
It did run fine, we wouldn't have any less problems with a car wich had just halfe the milage on it, though it was only 3 or 4 years old...

 

[SooperDave]

Christ...now I'm being called a liar. Whatever dude.

I was trying to offer some advice to the OP. He was given two completely opposite diagnosis on his car and he really didn't even give us enough information to give him anything more than an educated guess as to how much work his car will need. In reality, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle of the two "mechanics" who looked at his car. The only way to know for sure what his car needs is to address the problems it has...which starts with pulling off the cylinder head with the blown head gasket.

Recommending a complete engine rebuild is a bit extreme IMO especially if it runs well, doesn't burn oil, there is no coolant in the oil and it has decent compression. Sure, he may need other work done once the mechanic gets the heads off like a valve job but other than that, and a tendency to have a leaky rear main seal, those motors are pretty bullet proof (assuming he has the 302 and not the 2.3l 4 banger-I'm not sure how good those engines are).

Honestly, I wouldn't listen to either of those guys. I'd take it to someone else...someone who works on Ford Mustangs preferably...like a performance shop. If he lived near here I could recommend a couple places.

Liar was probably a bit harsh... Misstated then. And I haven't recommended anything to anybody. All I have been addressing is your statement.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Liar was probably a bit harsh... Misstated then. And I haven't recommended anything to anybody. All I have been addressing is your statement.

No, I know you haven't recommended anything. The OP had two recommendations, one from his mechanic (that he should just drive it, that it was no big deal) and one from some guy named Jim who said he needs to rebuild the entire engine and half the people posting in this thread are agreeing with this Jim guy who, from the sounds of it, never even looked at the car.

 

[Pacfanweb]

No, I know you haven't recommended anything. The OP had two recommendations, one from his mechanic (that he should just drive it, that it was no big deal) and one from some guy named Jim who said he needs to rebuild the entire engine and half the people posting in this thread are agreeing with this Jim guy who, from the sounds of it, never even looked at the car.

See, this is why I and others are responding to you.

I never agreed with "Jim". I merely pointed (correctly) out WHY a shop would recommend what he allegedly recommended. You said it was a crock, or something to that effect, and you are wrong.
Now you are misrepresenting what I and others have said. Nobody's saying that "Jim" is definitely right or wrong....just that when you start disassembling an old engine, you oftentimes open up a big can of worms. Lots of shops don't want to do that, because people like you think that mechanical work is black and white, cut-and-dried work, with no variables. It is not.

I don't care how well an engine has been maintained....you open one up at 150k miles, and you very well might be opening the proverbial can of worms.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Bad head gaskets are just free invitations to drop in performance parts while the engine is apart.