So...the head almost came off yesterday in a lot less time than I expected (about 4 hours of solid work). I am stuck on the two death bolts coming from the header to the x-over pipe (the bolts on top of the pipe where you get 1/8 turn before you have to flip your wrench) and I need someone to wiggle the head around so I can pull the bolt through the flange (the nut came off, but the flange is stressed and is pinching the bolt in place).

So far everything looks as expected...lots of milkshake was contained within the cam housing. Timing belt and balance belts were perfect (I'm going to replace them anyways because they have 25,000 miles on them).

One problem...I snapped a bolt in the head. It was one of the two 6mm hex key bolts in the upper right corner of the head (if you're looking at it from the pass. side of the car). I don't know if this is an important torque bearing bolt or not...it was severely corroded (as was its twin that did come out without breaking) and snapped with just a little bit of torque applied to it. Strange.

Here is a diagram of the death bolts (I got those figured out) and the location of the bolt I snapped:



What should I do about that? Do I need to drill the block out, or is there some way I could go about doing it without drilling? I'm not sure if its snapped above or below the deck surface. Any suggestions?


What else...oh yeah. For some reason when I pulled my injectors out, every single injector came apart (the hat?, o ring, and washer stayed in the intake manifold). I remember this didn't happen last time I had my injectors out, but these were freshly rebuilt injectors if that has anything to do with.

Anyways, thats about it. I found a machine shop that would do a basic rebuild of my head for about $250, so as soon as I get it off (tonight hopefully), its going out to the shop. I'm going to order parts today (head gasket, gasket set for the rest of the head, the rotor bolt I stripped out, other various knick knacks) and maybe I can get this back together by this weekend or the next!

 

Have you tried going at the two header bolts from above? The headers are what is keeping that thing on the car, we went through the same issue with Sharky's car.

 

The header bolts are a pain. Definitely remove the headers still attached to the head. I found that loosening those two lower bolts...the best method was using a socket wrench with universal fitting(360 swivel) and a small stubby wrench on the other side. Even then it wasn't fun.

As for the bolt....I think you will definitely want to tap that one out. Otherwise I fear you'll have a coolant leak. The only way to tell of course is once its assembled and i just isn't worth the risk. You can tap it out physically or go to a metal/industrial supply shop and get some stuff called "tap out". It's an acid of sorts that attacks steel only and leaves aluminum unharmed. I used it on my motorcycle with great success. It usually eats enough of the bolt away to let you turn it with an extractor easily. Otherwise, be carefull and use extractors.

 

I don't have access to the bolt from above (the header pipe blocks it) so I will have to do it from the bottom...I think I'll try using a swivel wrench. I'm relieved that there is that acid stuff that won't harm the aluminum...seems like it will make it much easier to fix this problem than I had thought. Thanks guys.

 

Ribs.. for the 2 header bolts that are stuck, take a pry bar and gently force the flange in the direction needed to free the bolt. There is a little give in the pipes to allow this. You will need to do the same on the install.

For the broken one, once you get the head off, you might be able to back the remainder of the stud out with a well placed set of vice grips after a soaking of PB Blaster. If not, a little heat from a propane torch can help. Heat the block, not the stud. Run a tap to clean out all the holes before you re-install, and use a dab of anti sieze on all bolts. (especially the exhaust)

 

Anti-seize is your friend!

- Julie

 

I had the same bolt brake off during my head removal. I was able to get the head off, but the bottom part of the bolt was still stuck in there. I tried everything to get it out, vice grips, bolt extracters and other stuff I dont rember. I ended up having to just drill the bolt out and re-rap the whole, it was a little crappy looking, but it seems to have done the job.

That single broken bolt added about 3 days to my head removal. hope yours is a lot easier than mine was to get out.

 

Go to your local aircraft parts dealer and pick up a bottle of "mouse milk", then get a doctor friend to give you some hypodermic needles. Keep a syringe full of mouse milk for getting into tough areas. This stuff works wonders for freeing up exhaust hardware!!

 

Don't worry about the broken bolts around the coolant passage. The headgaskets tend to leak and corrode the bolts from the inside. If you can grab them with vice-grips, then you should be able to unscrew them. Another idea is to cut a slot with a hacksaw and use a big screwdriver. Last resort, you can drill them out.

The header to crossover joints has 6 bolts that's only accessible from the bottom. Use the loop-end of an open-end wrench to hold the upper side.. Then reach up with a 13mm with built-in universal (not a 13 socket with a universal adaptor). You'll need about 6-12" of extensions to reach up there, but those 6-bolts can be removed in 15-20minutes maximum.

Trick to re-installing is to have everything loose when you re-install the bolts. That means the header nuts are loose on the head. Theninsert those 6-bolts back in again. You may need to stick a screwdriver in a neighboring hole so you can wiggle th e flange to line up the holes.

 

Thanks a lot guys! I didn't get a chance to screw with it tonight (8 hours of work, 4 hours of school on 3 hours of sleep...ugh) but I can probably play with it tomorrow or wednesday. I ordered my parts today (and the crazy headgasket from danno) but won't be able to take the head to a machine shop until friday because I'll be waiting for valve seals. I'll let you all know how the remaining two bolts go after I get them off, and of course I'll have pictures of my decimated head gasket for you guys. Thanks again!

 

How many miles were there on the gasket? Mine went 175k miles, and when it was replaced it still looked like it had life left (not much life, more like a roach on its back kicking its legs). That stuff is a mess to deal with! When oil entered my cooling system, I had the shop pressure bleed the entire thing (my buddy who worked there had the fun job of cleaning out the overfill tank for the radiator).

Ahhh, at least my car troubles others as well...I mean I don't wanna be stingy .

 

Robert- when Michelle's head was removed the gasket looked almost new- at 230+ K miles..
I also have a broken bolt I have to remove.. luckily it's on the 944!)

Quote of the day- Julie "anti seize is your friend!"

so true..

 

The gasket had about 120K miles on it. I still haven't gotten to see it yet (the head is being held to the car by two bolts on a braket that hold something...idle stablizer I think) but I'll brave it tonight and get it off. Its getting replaced with danno's steel headgasket (no WFR bs) and I have a bunch of other parts going on too. I think I'll use dishwasher detergent (I heard that works well) to get the oil out of the coolant system. Still not sure what to do about the oil system though...maybe I'll read my other post. Thanks guys!

 

I guess the head gasket is just another one of those things... I love anti-sieze, the stuff sharky talks about is a m a z i n g. He squirt it on an exhaust bolt we were removing and let it set for not even 40 secs it seemed. That was all it needed. That stuff rocks.