crazymac680 Posted December 1 Posted December 1 I started my head gasket repair today. Thought it might help someone to document my success or failure😂
crazymac680 Posted December 1 Author Posted December 1 3 hours work total today. Pretty smooth first day. I did about 2 hours in the morning and about an hour in the evening. The rocket cover was stuck on the stud at the corner. Snapped when I tried to extract it. I just kept working the rocker cover up and down with screwdrivers and it eventually came over the stud. I should have been more patient before attempting to extract it. My other issue was the rotten bolts on the heat shield. I had to grind 3 or the 4 off. I'll extract the rest later. Tomorrow I'll attempt the exhaust manifold if the weather and family give me a chance.
dezufo Posted December 2 Posted December 2 Well done, not something I would fancy doing in this weather 1
crazymac680 Posted December 2 Author Posted December 2 Day 2 went fairly well. Another 1 and half hours tonight. The manifold bolts came off easy. Removed the fuel rail but I haven't been able to remove the fuel pipe coupling. Tried a 3d printed tool but no luck. Tried removing the cylinder shaped thing behind the timing chain. I got the bolt out. Now it rotates, but doesn't pull out. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough? Don't think it's the chain tensioner. Think thats further down. Removed a cable guide bolt from timing chain cover. Tomorrow I'll try and remove the top nuts from air intake. I heard I don't need to remove the bottom bolts. I'll also look at disconnecting the manifold from the Cat. Stress free so far😂
crazymac680 Posted December 8 Author Posted December 8 Day 3. It's been raining all week. Finally nice enough to do something. Took me about 3 hours of frustrating work. Put the front of the car on Axel stands. Out of the 4 bolts I planned to remove. 1 was successful😂 The 2 exhaust bolts just snapped off. Easy access from underneath with the impact gun. 14mm. I'll order new ones 1 exhaust bracket bolt came out without any difficulty. The other rounded with the 14. So I blowtorched it and hammered on a 13. Rounded again. So I decided to cut the bracket with a reciprocal saw. A very awkward job. This is all done from underneath the car. I'll order a new bracket and worry about removing the old another time. Next job is to remove the wheel arch liner and see about getting at the Timing chain cover. I'm really hoping I don't need to remove engine mounts and jack up the engine to get at some of the bolts. 1
Rojie Posted December 8 Posted December 8 52 minutes ago, crazymac680 said: Day 3. It's been raining all week. Finally nice enough to do something. Took me about 3 hours of frustrating work. Put the front of the car on Axel stands. Out of the 4 bolts I planned to remove. 1 was successful😂 The 2 exhaust bolts just snapped off. Easy access from underneath with the impact gun. 14mm. I'll order new ones 1 exhaust bracket bolt came out without any difficulty. The other rounded with the 14. So I blowtorched it and hammered on a 13. Rounded again. So I decided to cut the bracket with a reciprocal saw. A very awkward job. This is all done from underneath the car. I'll order a new bracket and worry about removing the old another time. Next job is to remove the wheel arch liner and see about getting at the Timing chain cover. I'm really hoping I don't need to remove engine mounts and jack up the engine to get at some of the bolts. You have my entire admiration for even tackling this job (especially in your somewhat remote location). 2
crazymac680 Posted December 9 Author Posted December 9 Day 4. Did about 1 hour of mostly frustrating work. Tried to remove tensioning pulley. I hoped for the best but the bolt was too long. I'm going to need to jack the engine up about 2-3inches to get the bolt to clear the chassis. To then start removing the chain cover. Gave up on that job for the night and battled with the 3 hoses on the right side of the head. Got them off eventually. Then I removed the final 2 earth wires from the same side of the engine.
Michael Brown Posted December 10 Posted December 10 You are very brave to entertain doing this job, I hope it all works out fine for you. Looking at the gravel drive might have been an idea to lay a tarp on the ground under the vehicle to retain anything falling off. Nice pictures 2
Rojie Posted December 10 Posted December 10 19 hours ago, Michael Brown said: You are very brave to entertain doing this job, I hope it all works out fine for you. Looking at the gravel drive might have been an idea to lay a tarp on the ground under the vehicle to retain anything falling off. Nice pictures Nice suggestion.
crazymac680 Posted December 10 Author Posted December 10 20 hours ago, Michael Brown said: You are very brave to entertain doing this job, I hope it all works out fine for you. Looking at the gravel drive might have been an idea to lay a tarp on the ground under the vehicle to retain anything falling off. Nice pictures Yes thats a great idea. I've lost many nuts and washers in my drive😂
crazymac680 Posted December 10 Author Posted December 10 (edited) Day 5. 1.5 hours work. Drained the oil. Took the nut off the engine mount under the drivers side of the engine. Put a jack and piece of wood under the sump and jacked it up enough to clear the engine mount. I was then able to remove the bolt on the tensioner and remove the tensioner. I then removed the engine mount as there are bolts behind it to remove the Chain cover. I removed several other chain cover bolts. The most awkward is inside the wheel for the power steering pulley. It's very long and the engine needs to be lowered to get it out. I jammed it on the inside of the car and bend it while lowering the engine😒. I'll order another. Thats me done for the night. Felt like I got a lot done. Might get the cover off tomorrow. Edited December 10 by crazymac680
crazymac680 Posted Saturday at 07:28 PM Author Posted Saturday at 07:28 PM Day 6. 1.5Hours. Removed the pulley. Not sure I needed to. Removed the 4 sump bolts that screw into the bottom of the timing chain cover. Removed the two bolts holding the power steering pump on. This gave me access to the chain cover bolt just behind. Removed the Timing chain tensioner. Easy enough. Just two 10mm nuts. Just done by feel. Can't really see it. I need to remove 2 studs in the in the sump and one stud in the chain cover. I don't have the tool so thats a job for Monday when the shops open.
crazymac680 Posted Sunday at 10:40 PM Author Posted Sunday at 10:40 PM Day 7. 1 hour. Not much luck today. The timing chain cover is still in place. The large stud came out no problem. Number 10 female torx. The 5mm studs on the sump just instantly broke off. I tried to remove the 5mm studs at the top of the timing chain cover. Thinking I could pull the cover up if they were out but they just rounded too. I then tried the two nut method on the top studs but it just pulled the threads. Need to sleep on my next move. I'd like to remove the sump but it's supporting the engine as 2 engine mounts are removed.
crazymac680 Posted Monday at 08:11 PM Author Posted Monday at 08:11 PM Day 8. 30min. Decided to cut the studs off the top of the timing chain cover. Hoping to leave plenty of meat to weld a nut on for removal later. I thought it would allow me to pull the timing chain cover vertically. Pulling the studs out of the oil sump. No luck. Still didn't want to move. I was just about to give up when I gave it a bit more effort with the pry tool down near the timing sensor. I heard a pop and it pulled up. Turns out there was a dowel there. Once it popped out. The chain cover came off easily.
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