I got my Montero last summer, it ran fine for quite a while, especially with all the maintenance stuff I did to it. In the last month or so, lots of stuff has broken on it (many electrical issues, no heat, etc) NOw I have a burned exhaust valve, basically it's a V-5 now. I like the truck but I can't afford the green for a new engine (and the shop that looked at the valve issue wants almost $1500 just to R/R that one valve <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />) So do I just drive around on 5 and let it blow up, or find $ I don't have to replace an engine on a nearly 20-year old truck that will still have other problems? I like my truck and don't want to let it explode, but I don't want to just junk it out (and have no room to part it out either). ??? Thank you (in advance)

Remove the head(s). Have a shop resurface the head(s), taking the bare minumum (no more than .008"), but less if possible. Have them replace the burnt valve and valve stem seals. Have them regrind the valves and seats. Have them check the valve guides to see if any have dropped from heat..... if so, replace those... usually it's just the exhaust guides. Reinstall the heads, along with a new timing belt, tensioner and spring. Make sure you clean the block threads with a bottoming tap and carefully (as in slowly) grind the head bolts in length (remove the burrs) so there's plenty of clamping range on the heads. Torque the heads to 80 lb-ft. I'd also replace the cam seals.

You should be able to do the above for less than $400.

As a cheap alternative, you can buy a valve or a used head.

Frank

just a bit of moral support --
during a timing belt/valve seal replacement last fall I messed up and bent a bunch of valves. This was my wife's DD at the time, and there was NO excess $$ for a replacement vehicle.
To that point I'd never pulled a cylinder head off any car, and I was pretty skeptical whether I could get it done or not.
To be perfectly honest, it wasn't that bad, and there are a lot of small fixes you can do while you're in there. Rear cam o-rings, valve seals, valve cover gaskets, front cam seals, timing belt etc.
When you finish it will be almost like having a new engine.

Having both my heads rebuilt (including ~$150 for 10 bent valves) cost a total of $485. And they were PUUUUURDY!

The first shop I talked to wanted $600 JUST to remove the heads.

Oreilly auto had my head bolts for $30, and you'll need a new head gasket set - I went to the dealer for that.

To a novice like me it seemed like a ridiculous undertaking at the time, but it wasn't bad, and in the end was money well spent (well, not the bending the valves part).

Be VERY careful removing any bolts in aluminum. Steel bolts will eat up aluminum threads in a hurry. Don't ask me how I know <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />

So where did you go for this? (meaning a special head/engine rebuilder)? I tried looking up places by me, and of the 3 I called, 2 never called back and the 3rd would only do an entire engine rebuild, for north of $3000. Did you pull the heads yourself, send them out and reinstall them? Did you have "supervision" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" /> or a shop manual? Sorry for all the dumb questions.

Search threads in the last < 6 months too. There has been much recent talk about what heads are interchangeable. You might be able to get some used ones from a Diamante or 3000 and improve perf a bit.

It was just a local performance/machine shop.
The shop that gave me the $600 quote is a place I go to for odds and ends -- they referred me - it's the same place they use for machine work. You might just try calling a few local repair shops, or if you have a place you go to once in a while ask who they'd suggest for a head rebuild.



Yeah, I pulled them and reinstalled them myself -- that's the only way to keep the cost down.
It's that removal/installation time that costs.
I would bet the shop that rebuilt my heads didn't have more than a couple hours in them. They just disassemble them, cook them, surface and reassemble -- stuff they can do in their sleep.
I had a Haynes manual, but didn't use it much. As deep as I had been into it already for valve seals/timing belt there wasn't much left to get the heads off, basically just intake and exhaust manifolds. Plus the water lines and such that are bolted to the heads.
There was as much or more work getting the accessories out of the way (PS/Alt/AC, and electrical/air/water stuff attached to the intake) as getting the heads themselves out.
Keeping all the parts, especially nuts and bolts, straight as they're removed is key.
But all in all, it's the type of thing anyone with some tools and some common sense can figure out.

I picked the brains of a couple guys at the machine shop. Told them up front I've never removed or installed a head before. They gave me a couple pointers on block prep and sent me on my way.

See, there's the problem (common sense) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />
Thank you for the reply/information.