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Really the way to diagnose this sort of thing is with a leakdown check, taking the engine apart before the customer commits to doing the fix is sort of bad form IMHO. A leakdown check would confirm which cylinders, and by listening to the intake horn and exhaust pipe you can verify that the exhaust valves are what's leaking.
I have never seen or heard of an actual case of an intake valve burning. A tight intake valve can cause all sorts of backfiring back into the intake system (never mind how I know this) on cars with manually adjusted valves.
It might be possible to get some better than stock aftermarket valves, if you do the fix, OP, I would check into that.
I'd get a Used Motor with Low miles---cost about $1-1200 for that motor. Engine Drop and change about 1 day---should be $1800 Max for that job.
How's the Rest of the Car?
Seems like an expensive repair job for a Car that's not worth that much to begin with. If you shop, you can probably find one in GREAT CONDITION for 3k.
I'm not certain how even 2 burnt exhaust valves on this engine caused you go go through 1/4 tank of gas in 10 to 15 minutes. That's a very high burn rate, unless you were driving *really* fast and hard.
So there may be a different problem.
Would you pay $400 for diagnosis and then $1550 for the labor to fix, or does the diagnostic fee go towards the $1550 for labor?
Is this shop doing the entire job, not just the mechanic work, but also the machining of the heads?
Actually if this gets you all the machining, and at least 8 new exhaust valves, OEM or FelPro gasket set, if you can be reasonably sure the job was done right from soup to nuts, the price is on the high side but with you being near Silicon Valley, it's not out of line, really.
When the fast burn rate occurred I was taking it very easy, doing 55 on the highway to get back home, since it was obvious there was some kind of problem with the car.
Yes I believe the $400 diagnosis would be included in the quotes/labor I received. I'm not sure about the machining of the heads. No decision has been made yet though whether to repair or replace the engine.
As for the $5700 quote for installing a re-manufactured 4.6 w/3 yr warranty, it actually is in line with two other places I called. An over the phone estimate with a local Ford dealership came to $6.5k, and I called the Campbell Ford performance shop sonarrat mentioned. The Campbell shop said around $6k is a good ballpark figure for a job like this to be done. Maybe prices of this range is the new norm if you want something like this professionally done with an OEM engine??
I'll have to check out Jasper and that other link to see those prices.
I am looking at a similar situation...
2001 Dodge Ram 1500, 360 CID engine, bad exhaust valve in #1 cylinder, CEL on nearly all the time.
A similar truck will cost 4 to 6000 dollars, and have unknown problems.
I have, over the past 2 years, installed new front hub bearings, a complete rear axle, a brake controller for towing, an AM/FM/cassette/CD stereo, my ham radios, and it is set up for towing behind the motorhome.
A little research shows that I can get rebuilt heads from NAPA for $322 each, or I can get brand new heavier casting complete heads from Amazon for about $600 per pair, no core charge.
I can get a guaranteed used engine, complete less A/C compressor, for $1145, delivered to the shop of my choice, an additional $75 fee for delivery to my door.
The truck is paid for, and I don't want another payment.
So, regardless of the economic factors, the truck WILL get fixed. The only real decision yet to be made is whether I will do it myself or have it done, and where the heads will come from.
OP, if you like the car, and you want to keep driving it, do some research and find other quotes for the work. I think you can get a better price for a quality job.
Definitely go for rebuilt heads, and definitely swap out BOTH heads! Do NOT do half of a top end overhaul!
Rather than new or rebuilt heads, why not take the existing heads to a machine shop for a valve job?
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