How hard to change head gasket?

[Dustin Imports]

I found a clean ass white hatch for reeeeeeeeeeeeal cheap 100-200 bucks

needs head gasket

worth the pain?

I want a hatch

Drew

[Justin86]

Get it! All you have to do is drain the radiator and remove the top ratiator hose. Pull valve cover and take out head bolts. Then rig up a captration to lift the head and intake about 6in. This way you don't have to remove all the vacum hoses and a bunch of other crap. Clean the area real good where the new headgasket goes then lower the head and put everthing back together. Make sure you put the head bolts in the correct order.
helps to have an extra hand, time about 1hr.

[Dustin Imports]

Originally posted by Justin86
Get it! All you have to do is drain the radiator and remove the top ratiator hose. Pull valve cover and take out head bolts. Then rig up a captration to lift the head and intake about 6in. This way you don't have to remove all the vacum hoses and a bunch of other crap. Clean the area real good where the new headgasket goes then lower the head and put everthing back together. Make sure you put the head bolts in the correct order.
helps to have an extra hand, time about 1hr.

sounds good, i just called and they still ahve it..

needs a little paint (chipped) but no fading.

plus i just got AAA gold..so free tow.

head gasket use sealant..?

head bolts correct order..? like order i remove them..or thers a diff order?

[Justin86]

Get a new head gasket $20-30 at dealer.
The headbolts need to be removed and tighted in a certain order to help prevent warping of the head. Look in the manual it shows how. To tighten the bolts 50lbs/tq start with the middle and work out.
digram below for tighening. Each # repesents all 10 holes and the # will tell you which to torque to 50lbs/tq. First get all the bolts snug then go over them with a torque wrench. When you take the bolts off start at #10.
10/6/1/3/7
8/4/2/5/9

[blok2400]

Yeah if its that easy your saving so much money. My dad spent 1700 to get new head gasket on his Diamante. Good find man.

[3G Jester]

also do it when the engine is COOL/cold. DONT do it while its in the slightest bit warm. our blocks are cast iron but our heads are still aluminum and will warp if hot when removed. so just do it right and when its cool. you wont have to deal with a resurfacing or anything.

also...do you have to do anything with the valves? mmm i spent 50 bucks on my gasket from the dealer.

[Justin86]

Yea I forgot about is being the engine COLD, beside you don't want to burn you hand. Trust me a have a big scar on my hand when it got burned. $50 for the head gasket, rip off. You can get an complete gasket set for the whole engine for $50 on ebay.

[danronian]

I really wouldnt trust a no name head gasket. Considering many honda head gaskets last over 200K mi., I would go honda for $20 bucks more. Even most reputable aftermarket headgaskets are called "crap" by the performance world so instead of searching to find the only good off brand head gasket out of all the ones available, just go honda for the piece of mind.

[3G Jester]

thats what i did

[Dustin Imports]

going to look at her tonite...was busy all weekend...new babys are crazy.

clean white ahtch...little chipped paint but hell, can't beat the price.

:pimp:

[Chadroper]

It took me about 4 hours to change my headgasket, water pump, timing belt, and the valve cover gasket, adjust the valves, and the camshaft seal.

[Dustin Imports]

sounds like jsut a gasket wont take long, another 3gee for the stable

[rdn]

Originally posted by Chadroper
It took me about 4 hours to change my headgasket, water pump, timing belt, and the valve cover gasket, adjust the valves, and the camshaft seal.

seems like you guys are the kings!! it took me 2 days to swap the head!!! ....and the (new) camseal is still leaking

[Chadroper]

its a little more involved than that. You have to remove the water pump, remove a bolt on the metal pipe that goes into the pump, timing belt, exhaust manifold, EGR tube, air suction tube, all water hoses, power steering pump, AC compressor belt, water pump/ alternator belt, distrubitor, drivers side engine mount, and the power steering hoses. You can get a brand new head for about $400. I would just go ahead and spend another 400 and just replace the entire head.

[POS carb]

#1 it is not as easy as it sounds
#2 it is worth it though, as long as that is the only problem

you need to disconnect the exhaust and the intake manifolds which are the most time-consuming parts, also yea you should drain the coolant. once the head is off it should be sent to a shop to check/correct warping as well as check for leaks, you should replace all the head bolts, and make sure you have a torque wrench.
Also removing all these parts is going to break some gaskets, get a "Top-end" kit, not just the head gasket.

once it is on you also have to set the cam and ignition timing. This can be done by eye and should be checked later with a timing light

[Rendon LX-i]

So i have oil coming out of the gasket on the side of the disturbuter i have to change it.I know i have to but Im in taking a class and its auto and they have a comp with a program that tells u EVERYTHING to fix shit on your car. Will it says i have to disconet ALOT of shit. Im worryed. Dont want to runien my car. And i have help from the teacher and all. Got all the Tools needed. But How u take this shit off. I read the thread But im just making sure. What are the touqe Specs on Head Bolts. Thanks guys

[BITESIZE]

Plan on at least 2 days......so you can do it right. It is not as easy as everyone says. It's well worth the time spent. Plus it is fun!!!

[it's paid for]

What are the touqe Specs on Head Bolts.

According to my Haynes manual, it's 40-42 (this is for a 2G, I'm assuming the cheaper 3G's would be about the same ).

Plan on at least 2 days......so you can do it right. It is not as easy as everyone says. It's well worth the time spent. Plus it is fun!!!

Two days? Is that two days of spare time after work & stuff?

Fun?

. . . um . . . off the top of my head, I can only think of 893,226,491,337 things that I'd consider fun . . . and in that list, first-time head gasket replacement was considered but still wasn't included in my idea of "fun" . . . I appreciate your enthusiasm, but fun? . . . c'mon . . . fun is jumping the tabletop just right with your KX250 . . . fun is sliding your car in a turn and controlling how it breaks and then hooks up again . . . fun is when you're in the middle of a SRV riff and you just go out on your own and make something up that you feel and even if nobody in the crowd "got it" you did and you smile really big inside and just keep playin' . . . fun is when you get upset with your coworker but you don't show it because he's a TOTAL crack head and you go by WalMart during your lunch break and buy an article of women's undergarments and come back to the office and while he's away from his desk you get his car keys and go out back, open his passenger door & put the "unmentionable" between the seat and the door so he doesn't see it when he gets in his car but when he goes to pick up his wife later that afternoon, as she's stepping into the car, she'll see the obvious bright-red shiny fabric and start asking questions and he'll come back with that "I have no idea" look on his face but it'll be real and she won't believe him and his weekend will be ruined and you think to yourself that was the best $3.81 I've ever spent in my life . . .

. . . yeah . . . fun can be really fun . . . :super: