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[Tezray]

...On my headgasket replacement! Should have the heads off tomorrow and tbh it's all gone fairly well so far. I'm not really looking forward to removing the engine lift bracket or PAS pump tomorrow, but hey ho. Here's a pic of it's current state;



I spent some of today degreasing the plenum and throttle body, they were bloody filthy! I'm just trying to decide wether or not to replace the oil cooler whilst i've got her stripped down....any thoughts? If i don't replace it i'll put some fresh sealer around it. I'll also be fitting a new thermostat while i'm at it.

Once all this is done and she's back up and running again, it's xe flywheel time  

Terry

[Martin_1962]

I would do the oil cooler, thermostat, water pump while in this state

[Marks DTM Calib]

Oil cooler kit can be got for about 60-70 quid plus the sealant (if you struggle, PM me and I will post one to you).

It looks like you have a valley leak anyway (traces of pink).

One option that helps make the thermostat change a bit cheaper is to buy a 2.0 one and swap the insert over, then use the original gasket with some of the oil cooler cover gunk on it to help it seal.

The bolt for the lifting bracket/stat bridge pipe/dipstick tube is not so bad, get it moving with an open ended spanner first (I know its a torx bolt but it can be done) then with a bit of wiggling of the above you shoudl be able to uncrew it with your fingers.

Dont unbolt the stat yet as you need to get the bridge pipe out, to do this requires a pry bar or similar to ease it out (it can be dam tight)

[markey mark]

while your in there might as well do it bud !!

[nixoro]

While access is good best to do it whilst your there, covers all possible future problems then.  

[Tezray]

Thanks for the advice people  

I should change the cooler really, i'm just struggling on funds at the moment   But i probably will......And i may go for the 2.0 stat, but depends if there's enough of a price difference to warrant the hassle.

Wasn't as succesfull as i hoped today, but i've got the drivers head off and will be attacking the passenger tomorrow. The headgasket blew on the middle cylinder (number 3?), but otherwise looks in ok shape after covering 158k! Afew pics;





The metal coolant pipe that runs behind the drivers had was a complete break ass! And the oil cooler pipes that go into the block weren't a lot of fun either  :exclamation But got there in the end.....

*EDIT* I've been meaning to ask a question but keep forgetting! After my 600 mile 'run-in' how important is it to re-torque the head bolts? As it's a mamouth job (because the cams have to be removed) i'd rather not do it......The haynes book says to torque them to 25NM, then rotate (in sequence) by 90 degree's 4 times, then finally by 15 degree's.
Could i just initially torque them to 27NM and then do the rotating stages? Thus if/when the head bolts stretch by a few thou, they should hopefully be near the 25NM as required? Sounds like a plan to me, but any thoughts on this? I suppose the extra torque could up the risk of cracking the head or the bolts may just stretch to the same extent anway? Or by me tightening them up more i'm just causing unnecessary force/pressure?

I'd just really like not to strip the engine down again and have to have it re-timed  :-/

[nixoro]

Not that I am a pro on the subject and what you have done so far looks impressive.

If it was me I would probably follow the haynes as the risk of messing it up is too high with the Head stretch bolts I guess there would be a risk of over torquing and the things snapping, not good.

HTH

[Tezray]

That is a very good point and i do want to do everything perfectly, it just seems like such an ar5e having to strip everything down again! I haven't read what the haynes says on refitting yet, i'm just going off some information given to me by someone on 'the old forum' lol

Anywho, got the heads off! Passenger side was definately easier than the drivers side, just messier! Pic of how it looks now;



I shall commence work on the heads ASAP  

One thing happened when removing one of the 3 earth's that run to the back of the head though, the bolt sheared on the middle earth   Would it be possible to just bolt this down with one of the other earth's? Or should they be seperate? Because drilling out the sheared thread is not an option dut to space constraints.....

[nixoro]

you're on a mission, am I right in thinking the oil cooler is the part smack bang in the middle.

You might be lucky, and the haynes may say torque down just the once.

Dont know what to suggest for the earth cables but good luck in getting it sussed.

I am sure someone else will be able to advise.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Oil cooler is in the middle

Dont worry about stripping it down to re-torque the bolts, haynes is, yet again wrong! I suspect its a hang over from the old 4 pot 8 valve days......

You will be fine just bolting the earth cables to one of the remaining studs.

Looking good!

[Tezray]

Thanks peeps  

Very usefull info as usual! New thermo and oil cooler will hopefully sort my valley leak. Will be ordering those 2+head gasket set tomorrow from autovaux. Only £91+VAT from autovaux for (i presume) the genuine kit and head bolts. Heads will be getting crack tested and hopefully all will be fine, if so they'll be skimmed (and hopefully acid dipped if available).

I managed to spill power steering fluid all over my aircon compressor/pump today as well.....Should i just clean it up with engine degreaser, like gunk?

All the pistons and bores appear to be in great condition! The passenger head gasket however appeared to be on it's way out very soon....It was in worse condition than the drivers bank! With the exception of the break between water jacket and combustion chamber  

Thanks for your help  

[v6man54deg Geffd]

You don't have to re-torque the cylinder heads - thats only on the old asbestos head gaskets (never used on V6 engine)- and the torque is 25NM and 3x 90 degrees(not 4) - thats 3 times round from the center working out. the 15 degrees is a tolerance.
The coolant inlet pipe is much easier to remove if you remove the 2-4-6 head first -this gives you much more access to the 2 E10 bolts  I know for some unknown reason the TIS (and probably the haynes) instructs you to remove the 1-3-5 head first - but that is just 'dangle berries'. (I built the engine so know when I read utter 'dangle berries')
also if you wait (too late now) till both heads are off - the heat exchanger & oil pipes are very easy to remove.
You can use the same grey sealant to re-seal the vent housing (rear of the 1-3-5 head) good idea to clean that out at this stage.

remember to use new washers on the oil pipes (4 off) and new dowty washers on the water bridge.

...On my headgasket replacement! Should have the heads off tomorrow and tbh it's all gone fairly well so far. I'm not really looking forward to removing the engine lift bracket or PAS pump tomorrow, but hey ho. Here's a pic of it's current state;



I spent some of today degreasing the plenum and throttle body, they were bloody filthy! I'm just trying to decide wether or not to replace the oil cooler whilst i've got her stripped down....any thoughts? If i don't replace it i'll put some fresh sealer around it. I'll also be fitting a new thermostat while i'm at it.

Once all this is done and she's back up and running again, it's xe flywheel time  

Terry

[Tezray]

Thanks for that, i'll just torque it up the once then! Makes my life a whole lot easier!

Good point about the coolant inlet pipe too, i wish i had removed the passenger head first really, but at the time the drivers one appeared to be the easier one....But i will fit the drivers head back on first i think.

Just been cleaning stuff up today like the coolant pipes, cam followers and removed the exhaust manifolds (no sheared studs!!). Thanks to mark on the 2.0 thermo tip, just removed the stat from the 2.0 housing and swapped the new one into my housing

One thing i'm not sure on is my cams....They're all rusted up and i'm not sure wether i should clean them up with engine degreaser/white spirit? Seems like a good idea to me, but thought i'd see what you think.

While everything's apart i'm going to replace the oil cooler. However i'm also considering replacing the dispac, but funds are very low atm. It was running perfectly before the headgasket, so is it really worth it? How much is a new one? About £90? It'd save me a lot of hassle if it will die on me in the future, but are they fairly robust if kept dry?

Cheers  

[Marks DTM Calib]

The cams are rusted up?

Try some T-cut or similar, they are hardened so it can only be surface rust.....


I wouldn't worry about the dis pack, they are not to hard to change using the 'DTM' method any way.

[Tezray]

Yes it's just surface rust, which infact proved quite usefull because i took pictures of each cam and it's position before i removed them. Then when i removed them i got the passenger head cams mixed up so i just referred to my pictures and the markings on the cams

What exactly is the 'DTM' method though?? Hopefully not lifting the engine out to gain access lol

I was going to heat wrap the exhaust manifolds, but i didn't realise what a crap shape they are and i'm not sure i'll be able to  :-?