hey guys new to the forums. Im kinda diving right in. so I found a 96 montero sr on craigslist and its in great shape but the owner thinks it has a blown head gasket. The owner said his son was driving it a month after they put a timing belt on it (dealer installed) and it started to overheat so they took it in to the dealer and the mechanic said that it might be a head gasket or cracked head and wants 1600.00 to fix it. So they just but his son a little honda civic so they decided to try and sell the montero to recover the timing belt cost. So he is wanting 800 for it as it sets. Is this something i should stay away from or jump on? I am a decent mechanic and not to worried about doing the head gasket job. (have done a couple 4runners and on pain in the butt 300zx) just wanting to get some opionions on it.. might be a cheap way for me to get in to the whole overland game without crushing my bank account (yet...) lol Anyhow thanks for any info.
1996 montero sr question
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Jay Ayala
Explorer
I would encourage you to get it and do the head gaskets and head bolts at a minimum. New heads may be necessary depending if they are cracked between the valves. I got my set from Clearwater Cylinder Heads for my 97 this time last year for $650.00 delivered.
1989 Dodge Raider 3.0L
1989 Dodge Raider 3.0L
Ok guys I did it got it for 800 Trailerd it home. going to order head gasket and studs Monday and start the tear down. So far everything looks pretty good inter and exterior no rust pretty decent 31x10.50's I did have to start it to get it on and off the trailer fired right up no knock or rattles but it does have water in the oil. :/ I'll gets some pics up in the next day or so. I'm sure I'll be bugging you guys for info and help for my new addiction 
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Ok guys, Been kinda a crazy week for sure. So i took the heads to the local machinist looks like what i thought were crack were just scratches. The heads were in spec for trueness as well. We did find what we that was the problem to begin with. Blown head gasket. ive got pretty much all the tools and parts needed to pull of the reassembly. Me and my 7 year old son are getting pumped to get this bad boy running. Back to work!!! here are some pictures for your enjoyment
ive got pretty much all the tools and parts needed to pull of the reassembly. Me and my 7 year old son are getting pumped to get this bad boy running. Back to work!!! here are some pictures for your enjoyment Well she is finished finally!!! Got the new head gaskets on, new cam seals, new valve seals, new spark plugs, and airfilter... Tried to start it on saturday after we finished putting it together not start after working backswards looking for problems or things i might of forgot i have that there was a bit of mis-communication on the service manual on setting the timing marks. So reinstalled the timing belt the ( correct way) put it back together. Turned the key and boom fired right up!! smoked and ticketed like hell when i started it up after about 10 minutes no smoke and purrrrs like a kitten. More pics to come as well as process of rebuilding this bad boy. So far it drives great and im pumped. heres a pic of it after the first drive after the rebuild.
after working backswards looking for problems or things i might of forgot i have that there was a bit of mis-communication on the service manual on setting the timing marks. So reinstalled the timing belt the ( correct way) put it back together. Turned the key and boom fired right up!! smoked and ticketed like hell when i started it up after about 10 minutes no smoke and purrrrs like a kitten. More pics to come as well as process of rebuilding this bad boy. So far it drives great and im pumped. heres a pic of it after the first drive after the rebuild.