i know its a difficult task but i need to do it and my school's shop is really well equipped so i can just use there stuff and the teacher is real coool so that helps...but yeah...
i know i can just ask him how to do it but hes always really busy when i go in there...
so yeah
how to change out a Head Gasket???
Mikey

 

It is standard mechanics. Get a book and read up.

 

I'm curious why you're asking.

There are 17 bolts in the head holding it to the block. Getting at them, thats another story. Basically you take everything off the motor to replace them.

 

1) remove the plenum
2) remove the runners
3) remove the fuel rails and swing the fuel rail assembly over to the passenger side.
4) remove manifold base

thats basically it, but it gets a lot more complicated.
i had to let the alternator hang to get at the bolts for the fuel rails.
i also have no smog pump ect so that made it easier for me.

once you have the manifold off, make sure to scrape all the old gasket off.
once you think you have it, wipe it with a paper towel. if the paper towel is any color other than white when you are done, keep scraping.
you will need to scrape the manifold base clean as well.

i use fel-pro blue gaskets. they are generally considered to be the best.

it took me about 4-6 hours working with my uncle (who has done it many times before)

if you haven't done it before, expect it to take longer

 

hmm...alright guys..thanks
and im doing it cuz i may have a blown head gasket...not sure yet...prolly not tho

 

If you dont think or dont know for sure if you have a blown head gasket, it may be worth your wile to figure that out for sure before you spend all the time and the money on replacing something that may be just fine.

 

how would i go about checking for it?

 

you will know because when you are driving you will have tons of white smoke pouring out the exhaust

 

Other ways to see is look at the exaust pipes.. if there is a lot of water (coolant) coming out of the tail pipes. also look at your coolant under the hood, if it looks like a melted chocolate milk shake (brown) then its leaking. another thing to check too is pull your oil dipstick out.. if you see any bubbles in the oil then you have coolant in there. oil won't bubble up on its own

 

There is an easy tester for combustion gases in the coolant. It attaches to the radiator cap fitting and contains a blue liquid. If the liquid turns green or yellow, you have a leaking head gasket. Pressurizing the cooling system may also show you the leak, although the leak may only show when the engine is hot or cold, so keep that in mind.

 

i wonder if mine is starting to go.. because the coolant in the rad is green but the coolant in the reserve is always brown and i do get a puff of white smoke sometimes when it stumbles the start.. runs rough for like 5 seconds then goes to normal also kind of smells a bit like fuel not sure

 

my does the EXACT same thing....lol

 

interesting anyone else know what this could be

 

That's a blown head gasket. The Brown in your reserve is oil. meaning the gasket is leaking oil INTO your coolant.

 

Just a couple things that didn't get mentioned..

-You don't have to disassemble the heads, but you may have to remove the rocker arms to get at the top 4 bolts in the head (Not sure about it if you have the stock arms, I had to with mine, not stock though) Just means you gotta set the lash after, easy. Remove the pushrods, blah blah

-Not many people seem to do this, but the head bolts should be removed in reverse order from the order they should be tightened (Pictures showing the tightening sequence are everywhere) Just insures you don't warp the heads

-I personally make a cardboard cutout in the shape of each head, marked by passenger or driver side & front to back. Then drill/cut holes for all the head bolts & pushrods in the same location they are on the head, so that you don't lose anything and the pushrods go back in the same order when you reassemble. I just like to keep it organized, can't hurt right?

 

to the contrary, oil will bubble as a result of worn crank bearings, seen it many times.....

 

Brown in your coolant reserve tank is NOT necessarily oil. It could be simple rust stains which are normal-at least for an older coolant system that has not always seen regular coolant changes. If it's oil it will be readily apparent (it doesn't mix with water-has a diff SG).

Water coming out of your tail pipes is also normal, especially at start up. H2O is a product of hydrocarbon combustion (hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water molecules). This water vapor is a component of your exhaust gases and will condense in an exhaust system that hasn't heated up yet. That's why there are water drains on mufflers. Place your hand into the exhaust stream and you can feel the water vapor if you don't believe me.

The puff of smoke at start up is likely oil leaking past your valve seals-pretty common issue and a search will turn up ALL kinds of info.

Please verify you have a blown headgasket before going any further. A bad HG WON'T cause minor problems that are hard to diagnose, at least not for very long.

Your shop teacher can be an excellent resource for you. Even if he's busy find some time to simply ask him for some advice. Car guys, and I'm sure he is one, love to provide opinions, advice and assistance.

 

so what should i start with maybe a complete coolant flush and see what happens?

 

Won't hurt but it'll probably never be completely rust free. If your coolant is bright green the rust stains in your coolant tank may be left over from some other time.

It's important to use the proper mix of coolant, not just for freeze protection, but to increase the pH of the coolant and REDUCE corrosion within the system. Even if no further oxidation is on-going there will always be trace amounts of rust coating most surfaces and showing up as a stain on your coolant tank in the future.

 

yeah the class just ended so i gotta wait 3 monthes :/
idk tho...car seems to run great.

 

ok rechecked the reserve and it appears the brown is just on the walls of the reserve tank.. coolant looks clean. so im thinking that maybe i should just get the valve seals checked

 

Whoa. Imagine that.

Read up on leaking valve seals and you can fix it in an afternoon without costing you any appendages.

 

Apoligies, I didn't mean water I meant coolant, or the "green" water

 

do a compression check to see what you get just for the hell of it, if you get good results and your coolant is clean, and your oil looks good then it should be the valve stem seals. Pretty simple job, rent a valve spring compressor from the part store, pull the rocker, retainer, spring etc.. replace the seal and repeat the process 15 more times lol.

 

I'm in the process of replacing head gaskets. (luckily it's not daily driver so I can take as much time as needed) I pulled off the intake manifold to expose the 7 retangle ports (7 on each side) to find that 2 of the SMALL rectangle ports are clogged, one is fully sealed up with orange/yellow/white crusties, another is halfway clogged with BLACK buildup. Anybody know the reason for either of these?

 

That's nasty stuff built up in the water passageways, I would think that the ports to the rear would be more likely to clog up, since not all manifolds have a rear coolant crossover.

I didn't know there are 7 ports though, I have a manifold right next to me and it only has 6?

 

Apoligies, I meant there are 7 ports total on either side of the engine, 3 small ports 4 large ports, on each side. But for the small ones (I figured they were water ports seeing the color that the metal is on the clear ones) yes tehre are 6 in total.
Next question, as the two ports that ARE clogged are both small ports (one is driver side rear, closest to firewall, completely blocked, other one is passenger side, middle. It is about 1/3 clogged, but all black instead of the yellow/orange/white as the first) When I go to clear them out, how BAD is it for some of that gunk to fall inside the port? obviously some will fall into the port as it is still in the car, Im just wondering if it will ruin the inside of the engine?