I didn't..figured I would do it when it needed it. I'm all for preventative maintenance but I think doing the head gaskets before they fail is beyond preventative..at least for my purposes. The motor should last 180 to 200k before needing a head gasket and since the motor I got was at 124k and I drive 7k miles a year, I figure I will be good for a while. I have better things to spend my dough on since its in such limited supply. Also, I couldn't justify the cost or time because there are other things that can go bad in a car besides the motor. What if I spent all that money and energy to replace perfectly good head gaskets then the next month the transmission blows up because it has so many miles..or a diff..or a steering rack...or whatever else. Then it would have great new head gaskets but I still wouldn't be able drive it anywhere. But, if I had unlimited funds I would have done it differently..like getting the whole motor rebuilt by mitsubishi. There are a million things that could be preventative maintenance but I think the things to do while the motor is out are the things that are significantly harder to do when it's in, or things that you have to do anyways..for example, rear main seal is super easy to do when the motor is out but once it's in the car you have to drop the transmission or pull the motor if you want to replace it so that's good preventative maintenance, in my opinion. But of course who knows what's best for the motor you got
Good progress. What do you clean the parts with?
Great job BOPOH,
It looks like some of those parts needed some help and a thorough cleaning. A couple things I will mention, #1) My Favorite way to clean oily parts and #2) The Oil Pan Flange.
1989 Dodge Raider 3.0L Oil Pan Gasket
I think I bought it at O'REILLY's. But it's pretty common. You can probably find it at AutoZone.Thanks for the tips Jay! i'll make sure i check oil pan to make sure it's flat. where did you get this oil pan gasket? i was hoping to find something similar for mine.