Well I have a bad set of Castech heads!
 

Hello All,

I have a 2002 silverado 5.3 with a bad set of castech 706 heads on it. It is my daily driver with 135k miles on it. I have searched some on this forum to try to see what my options are, but i dont have a pile of money to throw at my truck. My truck still runs ok, doesnt overheat, but i dye checked the coolant and could see it with a UV light when i removed the valve cover. I have been experiencing lose of coolant and some oil, also my oil pressure at running temp at idle has dropped from 40psi to around 20-25psi with the dipstick showing full. Any ideas or options you guys could suggest would be greatly appreciated. I have a fair amount of mechanical knowledge but dont know if im up to replacing the heads myself. Also what is the best place to get replacement heads looking at getting the 862 casting or 799/243 and milling them down, but have to remain reliable. I know its a long first post so please take it easy on me.

You might look into doing our CNC 799 castings. $1120 for the pair and we can mill them for an additional $75 to keep compression up.

https://sdparts.com/details/scoggin-...er/x88958765-2

Just need to add bolts and gaskets. I would also replace lifters & guides while you're in there. I can make you a packaged deal for $1339.95. Let me know if you're interested.

I bought a new assembled set of 799's on eBay for $450. Or look in the for sale threads on here and tech for heads. You will find a lot.

Well if you want to go super cheap you could get some Bars Leak ginger root tablets and see if it fixes the problem. My buddy did this with a whopped 2003 Silverado and it actually stopped the fluid leak.

If you want to go pretty cheap I could sell you a set of non-castech 706s I got sitting in my garage.

Or buy some new heads and while you're in there throw a nice cam in.

I'm going through the same thing right now. My local rebuilder had a set of 862's for $400 plus $100 core. It is a real PITA, though. If you've never done a head swap, don't do this one unless you are prepared to have your truck down for a week or more. I highly recommend a mini impact to speed up the work.