What should it cost to have the head gaskets replaced?

[whatnot]

I just had them done and the total cost was $1850.
They changed the oil, flushed the coolant and changed some hoses too. (and might have replaced the fuel filter) And about $250 of it was for having the heads pressure tested and checked for warping.

[turbovair]

Boy, that sounds awfully expensive to me. Head gaskets, right? Not the heads themselves? I bought Haynes techbook 10330 "Diesel Engine Repair Manual" which goes into very good detail regarding GM 5.7/6.2/6.5 and Ford diesel engines.I guess I am fortunate to be able to do most of my own work.Parts are pricey enough, I would hate to have to pay labor too.
I would think most shops would check your heads for being true @ no charge as a courtesy, being that they are already off. Only if they were warped and required machining would there be a machining charge.As far as a pressure check, if the heads are not cracked, I'm not sure that it would even be necessary.Anyone?

[cruzer]

If you told head gaskets were the problem, I would assume you blew one, then machining the head surface would be automatic. They need to have
the surface square so the gasket doesn't blow again. Did they do a valve job or anything else
other than cutting the surface?

[whatnot]

I don't think they machined the heads.
By the invoice, it looks like they sent the heads somewhere to be tested.
Both head gaskets were blown. They showed me one of them and the metal part was bent out toward the coolant hole but not broken. The gasket material was gone behind it though.

[Jim P]

That sounds pretty expensive to me.

We just resurfaced a set of 6.5 heads the other day at work. WE charged $40.00 for the set.

[Randee of the Redwoods]

Surfacing the heads is normal. It's a necessity(sp) when the heads come off. I don't know much about heavy duty cast iron heads, but from what I learned, heads are surfaced to return them to a true surface before they go back on the block, gasket blown or not. It's a given and usually part of the testing procedure. The extreme torque of the headbolts against the extreme environment of containing combustion warps the head(only to the point the mating surface will not be ture) but the bolts keep it straight as long as it stays on the engine. When it comes off, it must be resurfaced to return the head mating surface to as true as possible so that bolt torque will be evenly distributed and there won't be gaps(space) between the mating surfaces that can cause cracks when the bolts are torqued down. I've replaced 3 sets of headgaskets on alum headed cars and surfacing is a must before reassembly.

[whatnot]

Well then hopefully that $250 included resurfacing. They did tell me that the surfaces were checked and perfecly flat and straight.

[tom.mcinerney]

Not cheap.
Friend had head gaskets renewed on an 86 Taurus gasser a few years back for $1600.