What is needed in time & parts to replace the heads on a '99 Mercury Sable?l have antifreeze in a valve from a blown head gasket.

need a head gasket set and a head plus 8 hours labor, 1 gallon antifreeze and change the oil and filter. be sure to start it and let it run for 10-15 minutes before changing the oil and filter. when you remove head, you are likely to get water or other objects in the oil and the antifreeze.

If it is anything like my 97 mercury sable... get ready to get off your wallet... anywhere from $1300 to $1800 for the total job. my car is still at the shop maybe it will be fixed this week, it is the second week it has been there..Good Luck!!!
avani

l am going to assume u have a 3.8 litre V6 engine..this is fairly common in the Taurus & sable.honestly speaking u r looking at anywhere from $1500.00 to as much as $2000.00... l would highly recommend u actually take it to a Ford or Mercury dealer.only because they've done hundreds if not thousands of them already & it would more than likely be a one day job for them..Yes, you're gonna pay a little more at the dealer..but one day without ur car is better than the week that ur local garage is gonna have it...it all balances out in the end.
good luck...and if u intend on TRYING this yourself..one word..DON'T

My wife has a 96 Sable, & has the 24 valve V6. She had the car to overheat & quit on her in 05. The car had 110,000mi. on it. l took this quiet seriously. So l took it apart. Her dad is parts manager at a Ford dealer, so he gave us most of the parts. But l paid in headache from doing the work, believe me. Turned out the water pump had busted the propellor into 3 pieces. l did not find this out until l had rebuilt & installed the engine back into the car, & found l had no water flow. HMMM! there is food for thought. Then the viper alarm malfunctioned & locked the doors with the keys in the ignition & car running, with no water pumping. You know what u do at a time like that. Grab the nearest piece of 4x4 & gladly bash out the passenger side window. Man what a stress reliever.

Let me tell u if u have this engine, the 24V, u cannot & l repeat cannot rebuild the engine from outside the car & install it through the top as a whole. You either assemble it piece by piece inside the engine bay, or install it into the car from the bottom with the subframe out. The motor mounts at the back of the block r bolted to it in such a manner there is no way to get to them with the rear head on. You have to sit the block assembly in & bolt it to the motor mount first. then sit ur heads on & then put ur timing chains. This can be done, but it takes a little more time & attension paid because of clearance for the side of the wheel well.

Point two is exactly what l ran into with this many miles on my engine & having to take the heads off. How r my valve seats & stem seals in these heads? Well if u r gonna get head work done, u probally want to install new rings. The old rings will not withstand the better compression of the newly refreshed heads. Same for the crank & rod bearings, if u r gonna go this far.
If u do have this engine, let me tell you, either u go through with the rebuild or don't. Do not think u can go just easing the oil pan off & checking the bearings by pulling off a main bearing cap. The main bearing holster is a total tray that weighs about 35lbs. & completly encloses the bottom of the engine. Believe me l took this out from the bottom, while under the car. Color me stupid. Anyways if u have any questions u can email me mlnhead1.com l will be glad to help u with any info.
Get yourself a Haynes manual if u do not have one already. That was my main scource for info doing my rebuild. l can say that engine is a stout running, no oil using engine now. 7000 miles & has not used but half a quart since rebuild.

Also there r several rubber rings in ur cooling system, they r bright orange in color. If u see them when u r in the assembly process, they r a dealer item, but u want to repace them. l learned the hard way, they leak on the second usage, & one of them is in a knuckle between the front manifold & the radiator, after u put it together once, u will never want to see it again long as u live, so replace the rubber -o- ring.
Heater hoses will be fully visable when u have the head off, look at it & see if u would want to change it later with the head on. Yes l spent $200 on hoses alone, but l feel so much better in the end with my wife driving it to work at 11:00pm.