Hey guys I have a buddy that has a 04CR and has a cracked valve seat he was wondering if any othe head would work because he herd that these years had a problem or if there are any other options availiable? Thanks!

Just have it rebuilt with the better valve seats.

I think the problem is much like the dodge gassers, junk castings and induction hardened seats {no inserts}The head rebuilders offer a new casting, supposedly more meat around the seats, with press in's to boot.the remans are about a grande, and the new castings about 1500... might be worth the upgrade.You can find the heads under various labels, enginequest etc. Clearwater cylinder head aka odessa cylinder head usually has the best prices.

Some head shops are dealing with this problem.Some stake them in,some are liquid welding them in then machine it.Did your friend damage the engine?Or did he get it in time.

he said one of the valves nicked the piston but it did'nt look that bad so I don't think it harmed it

Back when I was rebuilding engines I used to buy heads from the wrecking yards and rebuild them. It's not a big deal to install a new valve seat in a head. Bore the pocket .005/.008 under size put the seat in the freezer before you start the machine work to shrink the seat, bore the pocket, heat it with a torch (the pocket) then install it. Cut the valve angles in the seat, grind the valve, lap them together and your done. At most a half hour job if you have the tools and set up down.

They are getting $1000 to $1500 per head man I might take the buy out at Chrysler and go back to rebuilding heads!

Just what is the issue with the seats and what years are the bad seats found in? I have a early 04 is this part of it or did this start showing up in the 04.5 trucks. Never heard of this before.

Don