head gasket replacement

[kego]

i have searched for topics.

so i think i blew my head gasket. but to be sure i'm going to pull the head anyway. so i have the 1.6 engine. what will i need to know going in to this project?

will cyl 1 need to be tdc?
torque specs?
things to replace/clean while i'm down there?

thank guys

[Ryan]

Na man, easy peasy.

No interference. Mark the belt with all gears if you're reusing it.

Head bolts are 12mm 12point. Reusable I believe.

How many miles on the motor? its nice to buy an ebay waterpump kit, that has almost everything you need. Do you have a SOHC or DOHC?

Torque specs can be found:

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/index.php?folder=/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kego]

okay well what do you mean mark the "gears"? i will be reusing belt

well the speedo was broke when i bought it so there is no telling how many miles are really on it. it said 139k and i estimate i have put 5k on it so i guess at least as far as i know it has 144k and its sohc... is there a walkthrough for this job?

[Ryan]

Take a marker of some sort and make a line across each gear and the belt, so you can line them up later when you put it back on.

Have you done the tbelt recently? If its original, I'd replace it... thats alot of K.

I have owned and swapped in that motor once, and out twice... so I'll give you whatever of a walkthrough I can think of...

Start the car and unplug the fuel pump (clip beneath rear seat)

Take off the neg battery terminal. Drain the coolant (bigish phillips passenger side of rad)

Its your call if you want to take the intake manifold off, if you can do it, then do, but I think its a royal pain so I just leave it on. IF you take it off, you need a new gasket most likely. If you leave it on, you need to take off all coolant lines, all vac lines...

Take off the exhaust manifold. You'll need a new gasket.

loosen the alternator and PS pump. The belts should just come off.

Take off the passenger side wheel and splash sheild around the wheel well.

Remove the timing belt cover. The top portion comes off, and beneath it is one more bolt for the bottom section. Remove the waterpump pully. Its kinda hard, you need a ratchet and a wrench (both 10mm) put the closed end of the wrench around one bolt, and loosen another with the ratchet. When 2 are loose, put the open end of the wrench on a loose bolt, and hold it against another while you loosen the last bolt, like a lever. (Or I suppose you could loosen them when the belt is tight around alternator and crank to provide resistance, thats probably a better idea)

Crank should have enough resistance that you can just unbolt it. You don't need to remove that big bolt. The pully and spacers should just come off now.

Loosen the tensioner bolt. The T belt should slip off now.

Make sure what you left on the head isn't attatched to the car in any way. (throttle cable, hoses, electrical clips, ground wires, fuel hoses (mark which is which, lots of guys mess that up and the car won't start)...)

You can now remove the head. Remove the valvecover. Using a 12mm 12 point socket, release each bolt by turning it maybe 1/4 turn. Do this in the order specified in the manual. Remove them gradually, 1/4 turn at a time untill all are loose. In the front drivers side, at the bottom of the head, you'll see a little ledge between the head and block. Stick a big prybar in there and crack them apart. Take it out.

Clean both the head surface and the block surface well. The two(I think) alignment pins come out. I used carb cleaner and a long utility knife blade. Make sure NOT to round out any edges, especially the cylinders. All edges must remain at 90º.

a scuff pad like scotch brite works well as a finishing touch. Make sure not to drop anything down into the cyls, espically anything metal. Blow them out with pressureized air if you can before you reassemble.

Nows a good time to do the waterpump if you're going to do that as well.

Assembly is reverse... remeber to lightly oil the bolt threads and seat faces or they won't be torque properly.

Its here in the manual too, but without words.

Getting the T belt off - http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... B1-012.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; plus the next few pages have notes...

I don't recall if you need to remove the big bolt to get the belt entirely off. I guess you can leave it hanging too if you're not replacing it.

The head gasket page - http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... B1-016.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - plus the next few pages

Thats it, the picture to my words.

[SuperK]

I just did my DOHC, if you're having a smoking problem and there's NO oil in the coolant or vice versa, you're going to want to explore other options.

While you're digging in the engine, I'd suggest a few ideas.

1. Get a gasket kit. They're average of 50 on ebay.

This is beneficial because you're moving/removing seals, it's best to replace them.
It costs on average 60 US dollars to take the head in and have the valve seals replaced. This is highly recommended I think. It takes another 10-ish to have them clean, vacuum test and surface test the head, which is important.

2. Once you "Inspect" the original head gasket, pay attention. If it's intact, there's no blow, or leakage from the head gasket, it's very possible the head gasket was good BUT it doesn't matter, you HAVE to replace it now!

3. inspect cylinder walls, and how well the piston is seating. if the piston is tight and doesn't budge, and there's no "ovaling" (not to be confused with ovulating) of the cylinder walls, this is good. Stuff stuff in the cylinder holes to keep junk at minimum.

4. Replace, replace replace!


Timing belt, is it in GREAT condition? No? replace it.
Water pump, just replace it!
Alternator/PS belt?
tensioners?

Basically anything that's "bearing" related, or belt related, or seal related, if it's there, replace it!

5. Head gasket good? Still burning oil like a thirsty camel? Consider doing a ring job while you're in there. It's easy!

Rent a piston compressor and a ring expander (or buy them, 10 dollars each I think)
remove the oil pan, and the "main support bearing" right above the oil pan.
once you're at the crank, remove the connecting rod bearings (and replace, they're liike 20 for the set)
pull the piston from the top, clean, remove rings, clean grooves, install new rings, put the piston back exactly like it was to begin with.
pull anothe rpiston, repeat
turn crank till the other two pistons are up, remove, clean, repeat.

seal the main support and oil pan with fresh new rtv silicone sealant. it takes a bit of sealant.

[kego]

thanks guys maybe this should be stickyed?