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first day into removing the head and the engine itself...ran into a couple problems, first the bolts undlying the intake manifold? how did you guys reach those? even with the exhaust off it looks impossible..and for the head bolts themselves. are they 12mm 12point? and would a 1/2in drive be suitable for that? been kinda hard findin something thatll fit and i dont wana strip em. thnx ill keep you guys posted
Jon

yea 12 mm 12 point not 1/2" thats closer to s 13... got ,y 12 mm 12 point at a napa so good luck....

remove the head and intake manifold as 1.
The only bolts you should have to get are bolts on the back of the block for the intake manifold support.

k kool thnx guys, we finished gettin it off today but no blown head gasket. some weird stuff though, got oil in the intake and exhaust manifolds. i got some pics tell me what u think...


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oh and another thing that kinda plagued my dad and i...the head bolts, two of them were totally drenched with engine oil and the other 6 were perfectly clean except for the top. very odd.

piston rings maybe?

i dont know about the bolts..

but valve seals

my valve seals went and it looked almost identical to that. had some oil in the intake but more so in the exhaust manifold.

what would happen is on cold startups my oil would leak through the seals... burn in the engine and get in the manifolds. then after the engine warmed up the seals would expand and no more leaking during driving.

so basically im lookin at head/valve work...what was ur compression before u found this out Winglebeast? i was getting 120, 80, 90, 110.

wish i could help, i didnt do any compression tests. but from yours its obvious all pistons are experienceing the same effects. so that alone would make me guess its a fatigue type incident, not just a small blow-by in one cylinder

all i knew is that i was burning oil, and that it would stop after a min or so of driving. my friend hinted that my problem sounded like valve seals. so i ripped my head off, looked at the head gasket just to make sure, then took it to the shop and asked them to replace the seals...presto

if i were you i would replace the valve seals, you already have the head off the engine. although i cant tell from your pictures, if you do have the engine out of the car get new piston rings just to cover your bases

ahh ok gotcha, well i already drained the oil and in the morning im takin off the pan to get to the pistons. ill post more pics of what i find. do the pistons look like their in good condition? or no? thnx for ur help though

Bumpysbro wrote: do the pistons look like their in good condition? or no?

Well, they deffinately have oil burnt on them... hard to tell from the pics. From the top they look like crap but most of that will probably wipe off. Hard to tell from the pic. Get a pic of the crank if you can. And of the piston itself out of the engine if possible. Are the tops all chopped up and scratched or are they in decent condition?

well found something else today as well, my head gasket had coolant passageways blocked...like its all clogged up from gunk and crap fromt head i guess. 4 or 5 holes were pluged up. but i drained the oil and about to take the pan off then get to the pistons. wish me luck

how did you guys go about gettin the 4th piston out? did u drop the middle part of the block? cuz the way im lookin at it right now theres just 3 pistons visible and the 4th is hidden? that stupid Main Bearing Support Plate is in the way. lol

well this really sux, i finally get all the bolts except those 2 stared bolts holdin up the bottom piece of the block and their stripped? wtf? i guess the lady who had this car before me must of did some bad work or the mechanic messed it up...guess im on my way to autozone and gonna try that easyout thing. hope it works if not ima be pissed.

if not, swap in a BP!

Bochek