Shawn Ryback

iTrader: (1)

Hey Auto Brothers... How do i replace the head gasket on my firebird how do i get to it?
also can any where else cause motor oil leaks help....

1988CamaroSC

iTrader: (2)

you have 2 headgaskets. basicially remove the whole top end of the motor, heads, manifolds included until you get down to the cylinders/pistons and wala there it is. but its about 100 times harder than i made it sound.

sogabe

oil can leak from head gasket, oil pan gasket, rear main seal etc..
replacing head gasket won't guarantee a fix on leak,
but if u know how, new head gasket is always nice, tighter seal = healthier engine.

but yeah, it's a pretty hard process, if you're not that confident in doing this I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself. I can try and roughly write the step for u though. Assuming its a v6 and assuming you have no idea where to start..

1. find the fuel pump fuse from driver side under dash and pull them out,
try to start the car few times(until it wont start) this kills the fuel pressure, thus you won't leak gasoline
when pulling fuel related components out.

2. take the air intake manifold out, after taking the top manifold out,
you will now need to pull out the fuel rail+ fuel injector assembly.
you'll spill a little gas so be careful and wipe them off.

3.now unbolt and take the buttom manifold off.
you will need the distributor taken out also,
this is as far as I know pain in the *** to reach the hold down bolt,
it's behind the distributor way down there and you need that one nightmare bolt untigthen in order to take the distributor out.
with the distributor out now you can take the lower manifold out of the way.

4.unbolt valve cover nuts and take the valve cover off.
now you will see a fairly big sized bolt that holds the head in place.
unbolt them and you can move them out(rocker arm nuts needs to come off first too)
and not to forget you will need to unbolt the exhaust manifold bolts if necessary
or head might not slide out of place.. not sure on this.

if you have no idea about engines,
it's not for you to do. you need to keep everything labeled
and when taking the distributor out you might need readjusting timing afterward also.
you need to readjust the valve lifter since those needs to come off..
I forgot to mention up there but you need to drain both oil and coolant prior to this job,
and our car is old that there's always rusted bolts that will give u headache.. so when you're 100% sure your headgasket is bad, have a mechanic do it for u.. they aren't cheap though. hopefully this was some help.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

with this job, theres a few things that are very specific and kinda require knowledge of automechanics. i would not advise you doing this job unless you have mechanical skills. it could result in more damage than what was started with, or complete engine failure if something isnt put back together right.

pairtoe

iTrader: (4)

ill tell you what ive changed the head gaskets on my car 3 times in the past 3 months and let me tell you its not picnic. i would seriously consider taking it to a mechanic to check and find the oil leak before jumping into anything.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

I think I'll make this a little easier on the guy. From the above:
1. DOES NOT need to be done UNLESS you have the seventh (cold start injector), and all this would do is to make the engine hot for when you need to pop the heads off and touch the exh manifolds.
2. Exactly right. All bolts on the plenum are 10mm bolts, except the ones on the throttle body, which are 13mm.
Im going to add a step here. The AC compressor, alternator, and power steering pump need to be (re)moved. Drain the coolant (INCLUDING THE BLOCK), but not the oil until AFTER you are done.
3. Exactly right again. Take the dizzy cap off, and leave the #1 plug wire on the cap, removing all of the rest, so you know which one goes to the front PASS side plug. Mark the position of the rotor inside on the base of the dizzy, or on the body, if necessary, so that the rotor can be realigned when you put the dizzy back in, so you don't really need to check the timing. Dizzy bolt is 15mm, and you will need a swivel socket or a u-joint to get at it, with a good size extension. Remove the valve covers BEFORE the manifold, or you won't get the manifold off. Scrape all of the gasket crap off of the block, heads, and valve covers.
4. Remove the wiring at the back of the heads, the grounds and such, otherwise the heads are going to be tethered to the car. REMOVING THE ROCKER NUTS IS UNNECESSARY!!! When you use a (6-point, please) 15mm socket to remove the head bolts, the valve springs will push the heads off of the block for you, and this has the added benefit of not having to readjust the valves when you get it back together. You need to unbolt the y-pipe from the manifolds before you can pull the heads off, also.
Get a MS93020 gasket set, 2 head gaskets, and 2 exhaust flange gaskets. That's all you need, and will cost a heck of a lot less than a head gasket set. Bolts, BTW, are $30, and you can get them from NAPA, but the set only comes with 2 small bolts when you need 8.