mumzer

Well my newly former mechanic managed not to tighten the hardline on the back side of the turbo on the cars last visit, and venting coolant here, the hose failed....i never saw a high reading on the temp guage, but affter repairing the hose and firing the car, i have an oil leak out of the rear corner of the cylinder head-block mating surface.

i must assume the head warped and the gasket is smoked. im a fair wrnech...not a porsche wrnech, but a wrnech nontheless, and i stripped the thing down to the bare long block this am before work...im ready to pull the cam box and head, but would like some guidance, since i dont have a manual handy...

please avoid the urge to tell me to buy the manual...i know... its on order...but any tips are appreciated...is there a write up on a head gasket change on line somewhere?

thanks

Danno

Piece of cake:

<ol type="1">[*]drain coolant[*]remove fuel-rail from intake (tie to cruise control to hold out of the way)[*]remove intake manifold[*]loosen headers at head[*]remove crossover pipe[*]relax timing belt & remove from sprocket[*]remove cam-tower (make 6mm allen socket if necessary, loosen outside-in)[*]loosen head bolts outside-in, remove head with headers attached[/list=a]

That's it, installation is the reverse.

Luke

remove with header? why loosen? are they gonna break off? (bolts?)

Danno

If you loosen the headers, you'll have some wiggle that makes it easier to remove the crossover pipe. Then there's not enough room to slide the headers off the studs in the head. The headers will bang into the strut-tower before they clear the studs. So you have to remove the head with the exhaust headers attached.

John Anderson

I assume you have the intake manifold off, since you mentioned that you have stripped your motor to the block...if so, then...

remove the timing belt from the cam gear, if you have an auto tension car, then loosen the two 13mm nuts on the front of the autotensioner, and push downward on the part of the tensioner that holds the tension sprocket, this will collaps the tensioner, while holding the tension in the collapsed position, ( I use a big bar for this pushing and holding method) tighten the top 13mm nut you loosened. This will not keep the tensioner collaped, and allow you to slide the belt off the pully.

Remove the rotor and cap assembly, this is pretty tight work on the bottom screw that holds the cap on. The top screw is easy to get at, the bottom is tough, I used to use a shorty screw driver, then I just bought a cheap flat head, put a 90 degree bend in it, and that made the job a lot easier :-)

Once you have the cap off, you will need to pull the rotor off, this is attached to the cam with an 8mm bolt, remove the bolt (and sleep with it, you don't want to loose it) and the rotor can be worked off. If it gets sticky, then plan to replace it, and use pliers to work it back and forth while putting outword force on it.


Take the aluminum gear cover off the front of the cam housing, this is held by three 10mm bolts, one is outside on the top left of the cover, the other two are located inside and to the lower drivers side. Use a small slot head to pry it from the rear section of the cover, it will be a little stubborn, but it comes off. Slide the timing belt off the cam gear now.

Remove the two small 10mm bolts that hold the rear section of the cam gear housing to the back of the timing belt cover, these are located bottom drivers side, and to the back.

Pull the hose clamp off the power steering resevoir, and move the resevoir out of your way, you need this space for the removal of the cam house and head. I just move it slightly forward infront of the cam gear area.

Using vise grips, clamp the ends of the water lines feeding the hardpipe that runs the length of the cam housing over the headers. Remove the hose clamps on either side and slide the hoses off.

On the top/rear/drivers side of the head, you will see the fitting for the water heater. Its easier to just remove the hose that fits on the end of the fitting, some remove the fitting, but its a little tight for that.

Remove the water fitting for the bleed bolt on the front/drivers side of the head, its heald by a series of 6mm allen socket bolts. The hard pipe that is connected to that fitting will also need to be removed to clear the head. Its held it place at the bend by a 10mm bolt attatched to the engine lift bracket.

NOw, using an 8mm allen socket, take the cam housing plugs out, these are the big aluminum plugs on the top of the housing. You can toss the aluminum washers, you get new ones with your head gasget kit.

Using a long 6mm allen socket (snap on), pull the allen bolts that hold the cam housing to the head. I start in the middle and work my way oput slowly. I lossen them all at first, then lossen each one in order (your order, just do it evenly), repeat this untill there is no tension on any of the bolts. The cam hosing will pop up on its own when your getting close to the end of the process.

Gently lift the cam housing up and tilt it towards the passenger side at the same time, this will keep the lifters from falling out and rolling all over your floor. I try to use as swift a motion as possible for this operation. If you drop a few lifters don't panic, but try to keep them in the same order as they are set in the housing originally.

At this point you should have a head looking at you, with oil running down the side of your block (this oil will soak inot the header lining and will smoke like hell on start up when your done, don't worry, but start the car outside of your garage)

Take the bolts out of the header crossover flanges (collector), this allows you to pull the head and the headers at the same time, many hours of cussing are saved this way!@^$#^^*^*^%$!!!!!! If one or two bolts are stubborn and you cant free them from the flange due to tension at the junction, dont worry, leave them be, when you loosen the head, the tension will leave, and you can pluck themn out then.

NOw, loosen the head nuts, I don't know how to do a diagram here, so I'll trust someon will, or that you might already know the pattern :-)

Lift the head out, it might need a bit of prying at the pry points, then gently work it with the headers attatched, until it comes out, its not that tough.

I hope that I did not miss much here, but I'm sure the cllective on this list will fill in the blanks for you if needed :-)

Take Care!

Luke

excellent, Thank you Mr. John

951carter

Wow John, you must be bored tonight! That's probably more descript then the factory manual! You might as well go ahead and answer his next question though...............how tight to torque the head bolts upon reassembly ;-)

John Anderson

THere is some confusion on this :-) There are old specs and then there are the updated. I always use the updated.

20 foot lbs, then 90 degrees, then 90 degrees. I use the angle guide for the process (snap on).

You can re use your washers, but be sure to keep them right side up, look for the slight rounded edge, this goes up. Also, you don't want the washers to spin when re torquing, so I use an 80 grit sand paper and really give the bootom (the part that contacts the head) a good sanding. I just put the paper on a flat surface, then rub the washer over it. This will give the washer "bite" when torqing. Be sure all oil between the surfaces of the head and the washer contact area are clean and free of oil.

Use a drop of motor oil on the nuts only when torqing. I simply spin the nut on the stud about two twist, then put a drop of oil inside the nut, then torque. Use only motor oil, as any of the real slippery stuff will actually increas your torque value by making the nut too easy to torque.

Take Care!