Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 14:37:12 GMT From: "Fred W." <Fred.Willsnopsamammyrealbox.com> Subject: Headgasket replacement tips?
I am about to bite the bullet and tear down the engine on my daughter's '93 9000 CSET 2.3 l to do a head gasket replacement. I am fairly confident of my diagnosis: The engine overheated very briefly recently and since then has some peculiar symptoms. If I top up the coolant and run the engine with the pressure cap off the level slowly rises in the tank until it overflows. Then if I let it actually get up to temperature it sucks the tank dry when the thermostat opens up. There also seems to be more than the normal amount of water vapor in the exhaust. The oil is clean and doesn't sizzle if dripped on the hot exhaust manifold so I don't think the gasket is gone between the cooling and oil galleys. Finally, the smoking gun is I did a compression check and Cyl 1 & 4 are at 150psi, Cylinders 2 and 3 only reach 130. The funny thing is none of the cylinders leak-down at all. They hold their maximum pressures just fine for over a minute. I'm thinking I have a small leak in the headgasket between the #2 and 3 jugs which also bleeds exhaust into the cooling system. What I am looking for is any tips or direct experience from people who have actually done this job. I have plenty of manuals to reference (Both Haynes and Popular Mechanics/AllData), but sometimes one little tip can make all the difference. Also, I see the aftermarket places all have Head Gasket kits which include the exhaust, intake and valve cover gaskets. Any real reason I need to replace all of these gaskets or should I just do the Head Gasket and valve cover? I also plan to do some checking under the timing cover to make sure all of the chain guides and sprockets are all up to snuff. TIA, Fred Wills
