Had a few posts about losing coolant and what turned out to be exhaust bubbles in the expansion tank. Went and replaced the head gasket. Job was involved but not overly complicated. Used PB Blaster rust eater and it worked like a charm on the exhaust bolts, I was able to reuse them all. I kept the exhaust manifold on the head but left the intake manifold in the car. The intake manifold bolts were the hardest to get at, used combinations of socket extension and u-joint. A magnet on a stick is a must to get the bolts back in for reassembly. I did not touch the alternator or the upper motor mount. Was able to get the tensioner with open ended wrench from wheel well. I used a bungy cord to attach the chain to the hood, worked great. Only hitch I had for the entire job was when I torqued the intake manifold. Had every bolt back in the car and broke the top center IM bolt at only 16ftlbs. Talk about frustrating. Was fortunate enough to have the bolt stick out 1/4" of the head, but still had to remove all IM bolts a 2nd time to grab the stud with plyers.

Found that my '97 aero had the new style head bolts, loose washer under the head. I replaced them with a bolt from eeuroparts that are identicle to the old style, no washer #5955794. I used the old torque numbers and was really surprised how much it takes to turn that last 1/4 turn.

If you have the time, this job is a great way to save some money. $45(gasket) + $36(head bolts). Compared to $1000-1500 to have it done.

posted by 168.159.19...

PICS

• head gasket -update-, sully, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 08:28:58 <-- Viewing This Message
  • Re: head gasket leak concern, BobS, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 19:42:40
  • Re: head gasket leak concern, BobS, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 19:40:40
  • Re: head bolt torque, BobS, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 18:37:16
    • Re: head bolt torque, sully, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 19:28:48
      • funny, stevec, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 21:29:52
        • Re: Bolt torque and style, BobS, Fri, 9 Apr 2004 08:16:49
          • Re: Bolt torque and style, steveC, Fri, 9 Apr 2004 14:24:21
  • Re: head gasket -update-, deeph8, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 11:47:08
  • Excellent pics..., Joe98, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 09:34:04
  • intake manifold torque, steveC, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 09:15:20
    • Re: intake manifold torque, sully, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 09:50:46
      • thanks for the clarification n/m, steveC, Thu, 8 Apr 2004 11:20:57

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