Replacing a head gasket. What else should I replace?

Getting ready to do a head gasket on a 2008 5.7 with 230K on it. Truck is otherwise in good shape and runs great, and I really feel like has a lot of life left if I can just get the overheating under control which means a new head gasket.

Since I’m doing it myself and therefore saving thousands on labor, that frees up a lot of $$$ for some other new parts and wondering what all else I might want to replace while I’m doing this massive amount of labor and will have access to so much...

Short list I can think of offhand:

1) radiator (I have reason to think it needs it)
2) water pump
3) timing chains + tensioner
4) id say thermostat but that is pretty new
5) considering AC compressor since that looks like bit of pain to get to otherwise
6) don’t recall if it was the starter and alternator but also remember thinking one time boy that looks like a pain to get to..?
7) drive belt + tensioner
8) goes without saying but any other belts/hoses/seals/gaskets/rings etc I encounter along the way

Any other ideas? Suggestions appreciated. And before you say “just get a new truck” blah blah , like I said this thing still runs solid except for occasional misfire due to leaking head gasket. Also it’s paid for so I’d like to eek some more life out of it! Now how much longer the trans lasts might be another story. Still rather replace a trans tho than go back to a car payment...

 

Coil, starter

 

I do a lot of head-gaskets on Subarus since they are 300K engines that like to blow their HGs at 100K. I do all the oil seals, reseal the oil pan, timing belt tensioner, water pump,thermostat, and associated pulleys. Any hoses that look old, and of course anything I have problems or worries about.

Starter on the tundra looks like a pain so maybe.....on the other hand, its all too easy to replace a perfectly good OEM part that will last another ten years with an aftermarket one that actually fails sooner.

My basic policy is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, unless its something you can only get to with the engine out.

 

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. That said replace everything you’re going to break along the way. If it’s plastic or rubber and has 230k on it prepare to replace it. You’ll curse less if you have all those particular items lined up.

 

^^^Good point^^^
Any plastic after this many years is just looking for an excuse to pop.

 

heater Hose too, not the two big ones, the small ones that go around the engine block and intake manifold.

 

All great ideas guys, thanks! Keep em coming!

 

I guess something I should have added, I never actually order parts until after I have the heads off an engine and a chance to look at everything and make sure that it really is just a simple HG job and not a trashed engine.

Also, Some people machine the head and block every single time they do a HG but personally, and again, if its not broke don't fix it. Its easy to check the surfaces for warpage with a precision straight edge and feeler gauge and if nothing is warped, there is no reason to machine everything, which can actually cause problems itself and the vast majority of the time, the heads will NOT be warped and won't need machining. But you do have to check. Its one of those things that people like to argue about "Always doing" or "Never doing" but the right answer is to do it when it needs to be done....and not to do it if it doesn't, because its not magic, its science and you can scientifically determine if your heads need it or not rather than gambling.

 

The Subaru 2.5L engine sucks and will start to leak oil and doing a head gasket job on one of those boxer engines generally costs more than the crappy turd car is worth. Can you tell I've had bad experiences with Subarus?

 

See, I love them....because if you do the job yourself it only costs about $300 and takes a weekend but, people will just about give away subaru's with blown HGs so it lets me have a lot more vehicle than I could normally afford for just a little work. I've got four of them up here, all of them came to be with blown HGs which I fixed and now I have one for my wife and I and then a backup for each if anything ever happens to the primary, or I need to loan one out or something.

And once you know how to do the job its an easy way to make money as Subarus are by far the most popular car here and you can charge $1500 for a shade tree HG job and people will jump at it because its half what a shop will charge.

 

Thanks so much! Yeah I definitely want to have my head inspected probably my a machine shop because I think they can use a scope or something to detect micro scratches etc.

Good idea though about not ordering parts until after you get down to the HG. But define “trashed engine” for me. What do I look for there, that’ll be able to see at that point?

 

There are a few things you could see, like cracked heads or block, which while unlikely, can happen and cause symptoms similar to an HG leak. You can examine your cylinder walls for excessive wear or scoring. If you are taking the oil pan off you can look for metal shavings, which often will not drain with your oil but instead be stuck to the pan and check for excessive play in the rod bearings. You can get a good idea of how worn the cylinders are by looking closely at the patter of scratches in the metal. Vertical scratches are from wear, crisscrossing diagonal scratches are from the original cylinder honing. If you can still see those its a good sign that you don't have any large amount of cylinder wear.

All this is unlikely if the engine was running well besides the HG leak, but its just good to check as this will probably the only chance you have to look at these things for the rest of the life of the engine and it would really suck to do a HG job on an engine and then find out it was almost worn out anyway. Again, unlikely but when you do a big job you want to be reasonably sure afterwords that you have an engine that is going to run for many more years.