My mechanic informed me that my Ranger’s head gasket needs to be replaced. How long can I go without doing the replacement? How much should I expect to pay for the job?
Depends on how much more damage you want to do.
Right now if you’re lucky, you just need a head gasket.
If you’ve overheated it even once, you risk cracking the head, and will need new heads.
Also if you have the 3.0 V-6, make sure he gets the head gaskets for a Ranger or Aerostar, and not the ones for a front wheel drive like the Taurus or Windstar .
It has to do with the way the coolant flows through the engine
You did not think to ask the mechanic for a price ? That seems like the best place for a price since where you are and what kind of facility you might use are unknown.
What’s the reason for the head gasket failure? Gasket has a breach into the combustion chamber or is it simply an external oil or coolant leak?
The former is serious; the latter can go almost forever as is.