crazymac680

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.

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😂

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.

I started my head gasket repair today. Thought it might help someone to document my success or failure😂

Yes that was a thought I had too. Waterpumps on autodoc from only £18-£50. I'd be as well changing it for piece of mind. A radiator. Belt. Head gasket kit. Stretch bolts. Thermostat. It's adding up but it's all pretty cheap. Thanks

Yes thats right. I'm seeing them on autodoc for £35. Thanks

Thanks for that. I thought that would be the case. I've got a great place for doing the skim so that will be an easy bit. Anything else you would recommend I do while I'm there? I'm thinking chain tensioner? Maybe I'll put a new radiator and hoses in too. Thanks

2002 2.4ltr Hi. Unfortunately my head gasket has gone. I had a coolant leak and the temp went up. I was pretty certain that I noticed early but I can't be certain that it didn't overheat the day before when the wife was driving. Has anyone managed to fix the head gasket without removing the engine? The facebook group thinks I'm better to replace the engine but that seems extreme to me. Thanks for any advice