What to do...?

[houli]

Just tested my head gasket with a 15 psi gauge, I drove up a huge hill with pedal floored in 4th gear (manual) and the needle was jumping around like crazy when the pressure cap relieved the pressure.

I have picked a shop to do the repairs. Well trusted powerstroke mechanic who has one himself and has studded and repaired dozens of them.

I will be doing an egr delete, new up pipe, ficm replaced and retuned, new oil cooler, cat 1 coolant, oil change, arp studs, ford gasket, head will be taken to a machine shop to be sure it is flat. This will cost $5,500, is that a reasonable price?

I will also be buying an sct itsx from quicktricksauto $469
And I think I want to do an exhaust, I can get one for $350, from a local diesel shop (not the one doing my repairs). It is a 4 inch turbo back without Cat. Should I be particular about the exhaust or are they all pretty much the same? Can I install this myself in 2 hours and save $140 on labor? How much does an exhaust help with fuel economy? I am hoping to be at 17mpg around town when I am all done? Is that reasonable if i drive conservatively? Sorry for all the questions, it's a business truck so I can't justify the exhaust unless it is going to pay for itself in fuel savings.

Am I forgetting anything that should be done while I am at it?

[dhanna6powerstroke]

I think it's at least $1500 too high, maybe closer to $2000.

[Willy Mo]

Agreed^ when my truck had to have all that done (pretty much same list of parts) id cost just over $4000.

[windrunner408]

Yep I wouldn't pay more than $3500 to $4000 for that.

[Dirty_Stroke]

Seems high to me too. I had $3200 in my stud job which included replacing thermostat, glow plugs, belt, upgraded drain tube, and all gaskets. I wouldn't expect no mpg gains with a 4 inch exhaust. Yes it will lower your EGT's some and it will sound good but its not going to pay for itself. Also, if you decide to buy it anyway you can easily install it yourself and save on that labor.

[houli]

Wow, that is helpful, I will call the other guys around town and see what their price is. I do want this shop to do it cause I trust his quality more, but I will push him on price.

[houli]

I posted a couple weeks ago with the scope of work and price that i was getting for my truck. Well turns out i was wrong! My mechanic was including 8 new 155 injectors (stock nozzles) and a PHP tuned (my choice of tune) FICM. So that means for roughly $5500 I will be getting:
ARP studs
Ford head gasket
HPOP stand pipes
EGR delete
OEM oil cooler
8 injectors (155)
tuned FICM
Up pipe
CAT-1 coolant
5w40 synthetic oil
Cleaned turbo

Does that sound reasonable? He said the set of injectors are $1200 in parts and no labor cost since he is going to have the whole thing torn apart anyway.

I will be buying a tuner from vivian and an EGT probe as well

Do i NEED to get a 4 inch exhaust to keep EGT's low? or will it be alright without? I can get a turbo-back MBRP 4" w/o cat for $350 and install it myself.
Do i need to monitor fuel pressure?
Do i need to do a blue-spring?
Am i forgetting anything, should anything else be done while its getting done?

thanks

[Dirty_Stroke]

At the point that your building the truck to, it would only make sense to put a 4 inch exhaust on it. It really needs it. Yes you need to monitor fuel pressure and I would highly recommend the blue spring upgrade. If your lucky with the blue spring you might not have to get an aftermarket fuel pump (although with my 155's I did have to).

[william_ace]

I'd go ahead and do the 4" exhaust. A buddy and I did my 4" MBRP 4" turbo back in less than 2.5 hours. It's really not that hard to do so I would say go ahead and try it.