Head gasket

[BABOSS]

If anyone here lives close to Narre Warren Vic and can help me take out 3 bolts from my inlet manifold tomorrow please PM me and i will provide beer. They are a C^&T to get off.

[Madhatter]

there is no specified factory interval for replacing them, whoever told you that had no idea what they were talking about.

Having the gasket fail depends on how it was serviced and how cool it was kept. Corrosion and overheating are probably the biggest problems which lead to failures on them. Expansion rates comes in behind both of the above (which is the other problem they can be known for, being a large cast iron block with an alloy head, shims and graphite headgaskets take care of it though). Ive seen plenty of them run well past 5 years and well past 250,000km. Mine is 10 years old now, has done 263,000 and is still running fine on the original gasket, even the cars i learnt on at tafe were ex taxi vehicles, a good 7 years old and over 500,000 on the clock, they were still running pretty well considering.

Keep up the coolant changes, keep them cool and you generally wont have a lot of problem with them.

[EF_Frmnt]

The best way to go is to buy an AU head gasket and headbolts as both are far better than e series... also use genuine if you can because its almost always better for specific things like that.

[BABOSS]

Managed to get the intake manifold off, damn that's some hardcore $hit (difficult to get to). Now for the exhaust and rocker assembly and head.

[EF_Frmnt]

oh and by the way ziptie the timing gear.... and dont break a guide.. that means motor pulldown time :P

[BABOSS]

Ok now i've taken off the rocker assembly and exhaust manifold. I had to pop down to total tools and get a 14mm black impact hex socket for the head bolts ($7.50) or i would have stripped them. Now the head is off and i've dropped it off to a head reco place in Berwick. They reckon it will be around $130 machined and pressure tested, providing there is nothing else wrong with it.

I have the following questions:

Now that the head is off and it's gone on holidays what do i use on the block to clean it up Fuc%#ng spotless so i don't have any chance of head gasket failure when i put it back together?

When i took the head off i noticed some kind of blue sealant on the bottom of the head on the timing case side. What is it called and where do i get it from?

I'm gettin a torque wrench and tightening in sequence when i get the head back, but is there any precautions or things i must make sure i do when i put it all back together?

When she is finally back together and iv'e triple checked everything, what is the best thing to do; crank it over and rev it for a while or just let it sit on idle and what are the common warning signs something you have done during head gasket replacement is not right?

As there was water in the oil and on top of the pistons which are dry now, is there anything else that should be cleaned out, i assume the crap and water would have drained in through the coolant and oil drainage?

Thanks for your support guys. :

[NEG]

Us a gasket scraper to get the old gasket off and then some fine sand paper like wet and dry.

Any type of sealant for oil will do for the timing cover.

for the head bolts from memory i think once they are tightned to the specified torque they need to be turned a further 1/4 turn or somthing along those lines.

what I like to do if the bores and everything is pretty dry from oil is disconect the main ignition lead and crank the motor for a few seconds to build up the oil pressure then reconnect it and start the motor.

[BABOSS]

The head gasket came off in one piece with nothing left behind except it's a little dirty, i was thinking of using some metho to clean it all out before i put the new gasket and head back on.

[NEG]

Yeh that sounds like a good idea. as long as its nice and smooth it will be ok.

[BABOSS]

Originally Posted by FlasherEF

I have the following questions:

Now that the head is off and it's gone on holidays what do i use on the block to clean it up Fuc%#ng spotless so i don't have any chance of head gasket failure when i put it back together?

When i took the head off i noticed some kind of blue sealant on the bottom of the head on the timing case side. What is it called and where do i get it from?

I'm gettin a torque wrench and tightening in sequence when i get the head back, but is there any precautions or things i must make sure i do when i put it all back together?

When she is finally back together and iv'e triple checked everything, what is the best thing to do; crank it over and rev it for a while or just let it sit on idle and what are the common warning signs something you have done during head gasket replacement is not right?

As there was water in the oil and on top of the pistons which are dry now, is there anything else that should be cleaned out, i assume the crap and water would have drained in through the coolant and oil drainage?

In amongst these questions, i have two more:

If i leave the rocker assembly in the garage over the weekend is there a chance of any oily components 'bleeding down' before i chuck it back in on Monday?

What brand of head gasket is 'quality'? Bursons reckon $99 for a full gasket kit. But i want an extra special one for the head.(don't wan't to do it again for quite a while)

Thanks.

[Damo]

get an AU steel head gasket from ford. The rocker gear will be fine, just wack a bit of oil over it and the cam when you re-install.

[BABOSS]

"get an AU steel head gasket from ford"

Won't that change the compression ratio? I want to keep it stock which is between 8.3 and 9.1:1

[XRated]

Go the AU gasket for sure.

There is an appropriate sequence and tightening procedure for the head bolts that someone will be able to give you.

Once everything is back together again, turn the engine over by hand (I think it's a 22mm socket?). If it turns freely and you don't hear any weird noises, chances are it's all okay.

Good luck mate! And to think you were going to pay big bucks to get someone else to do it, fingers crossed!

[FRDXR6]

Also think about checking all the coolant pipes etc for blockages maybe even get your radiator tested & flushed at a specialist place whilst the heads off. Just a bit of a preventitive measure to stop it happening again anytime soon....

[BABOSS]

Ok, got the head back today and chucked the head gasket on and the head. Tightened all head bolts in order to specified 2 stage torque and all seems fine. I chucked the cam back in and now i'm trying to figure out TDC and have to un-tension the chain because i can't get enough slack to slip the gear over the cam. When i took the head off i marked the timing chain against the mark on the cover and they are still alignedthe mark looked like this - on the cover. After this is sorted then it's straight forward from there. What happens if i screw up the TDC or timing? I hope it's not too major a problem.

The head part went very smooth and the gasket is sitting perfectly. I will continue and hopefully have it finished tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed.

[Damo]

to get the motor to TDC on number 1 cylinder turn it over by hand with a breaker bar and 22 socket until the notch in the balancer lines up with TDC on the timing case, get someone to stick there finger in No 1 spark plug hole and feel for air, that way you knows its TDC on No1.

Good luck with it, you seem to be doing great for someone with limited mechanical knowledge, the best way to learn is to do it yourself, and think how much money you'll have saved,

[Damo]

also try using a big screwdriver to lever the cam gear on.

[BABOSS]

Originally Posted by Damo

also try using a big screwdriver to lever the cam gear on.

Thanks Damo, appreciate the help. Should be running in the mornin- arvo i hope.

[Gunns]

Did you back off the timing chain tensioner? This will give you the required slack to put the cam sprocket back on. Don't force it on with a screwdriver, cos either:
1. you will shatter the tensioner when you turn the engine over.
2. you will snap the chain guide due to to much stress being put on them.

I have seen both happen and in both cases all the timing gear and the head were distroyed.

[naughtyfalcon]

someone said the e series head were harder than the x series,,bulls%^t,i've done both and the e series is a lot easier,

[BABOSS]

There, all done now and wow the power difference is amazing!!! I had a mechanic mate come and help me align the cam and TDC crankshaft etc before i bolted the cam back in (THANKS STEVE!!) then he left me to it and the rest was all straight forward.

I had to replace 1 lifter because it fell out of the rocker arm and fell to bits (it was old anyway) than it was a martter of simply oiling up the new lifter and popping it into the arm.

All up to replace the head gasket inc all parts, oils, head bolts etc. came to just under $400 and took 3 days or so (not 3 full days) to complete.:

Thanks for your help.

[naughtyfalcon]

good stuff,,and you did it youself,,i need to replace a few of my hla's,,oh well some time this year,,but good on you another diy'er...

[BABOSS]

Yeah i was going to replace all my hla's too but they were $25 each so i thought maybe next time, it's easy anyway, much easier than the head gasket!

[Damo]

good work. I bet you learnt a lot in the process to.

[naughtyfalcon]

i may just get a 2nd hand valve train from a wreckers and make a good set out both.