First head gasket job

First head gasket job - problems

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Crystal - 16 Apr 2006 23:17 GMT

I'm doing a head gasket on a 1990 honda prelude 2.0S. Also I'm replacing
the water pump and timing belt. I'm following the helms manual but it's not
much help.

The head gasket on this car is blown. After taking off the valve cover I
see lots of runny fluid mixed with the oil. I'm guessing this is coolant.
I'm also going to assume that a lot of this has gotten into the cylinders.
will this affect anything like the rings, walls or pistons? Am I wasting my
time replacing the gasket or what? Everything inside the head looks
alright. It's not too bad. There's no rust really. All is good except for
the milkshake crap flowing around everywhere.

Also, the helms manual says that all of this work can be done without
taking the engine out of the car. I think that's total BS. The first thing
I had to do (to get to the timing belt) was to remove the right side engine
mount, power steering pump, cruise control actuator, alternator and AC
compressor. It sounds easy, but it's not really. I had to practically
invent my own ways to remove all this crap because it was so jam-packed
inside the engine compartment. The power steering tensioner was impossible
to get to. Everything is arranged TIGHT in this car. I've found ways to get
around it by just removing the pumps and sliding the belt off. I had to
remove the bracket to get the AC compressor out of the engine compartment.
I have no idea how I'm going to get all of this stuff back in.

Next problem, the intake manifold. The helms manual says to remove the two
lower intake manifold mounting nuts. Easier said than done. Unless you have
ghost hands that can pass thru solid objects you'd have to completely
disassemble the carbeurator. Am I not seeing something or is Helms very
blunt?

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John - 17 Apr 2006 02:26 GMT

If I understand which bolts the manual is talking about, you'd have to raise
the front end of the car and reach the mounting bolts from underneath.

good luck

> I'm doing a head gasket on a 1990 honda prelude 2.0S. Also I'm replacing
> the water pump and timing belt. I'm following the helms manual but it's not
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> disassemble the carbeurator. Am I not seeing something or is Helms very
> blunt?

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Crystal - 17 Apr 2006 02:31 GMT

> If I understand which bolts the manual is talking about, you'd have to
> raise the front end of the car and reach the mounting bolts from
[quoted text clipped - 42 lines]
>> disassemble the carbeurator. Am I not seeing something or is Helms
>> very blunt?

The front end of the car is raised. The manifold can't be reached from
under the car. There's too much in the way. And the carbeurator is too
big to even get your hands (much less a tool) down to the mounting nuts
from up top. I am considering removing the whole carbeurator assembly
(headache).

The manifold on this particular engine is very small and low profile.
Not like the newer B or D series fuel-injected motors. The carbeurator
protruding from it is HUGE though, and it's crawling with hoses.

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SoCalMike - 17 Apr 2006 03:10 GMT

> The manifold on this particular engine is very small and low profile.
> Not like the newer B or D series fuel-injected motors. The carbeurator
> protruding from it is HUGE though, and it's crawling with hoses.

which is gonna be another problem. label everything well, and take a
bunch of digital pix.

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Crystal - 17 Apr 2006 03:05 GMT

> blah blah blah snip

If you check out this picture you'll see my frustration. On the right of
the head is the carbeurator and air cleaner, and a jungle of hoses. Not
possible to get to the intake manifold mounting nuts without taking all
that crap out first.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/xdeathxbloomsx/90preludejob.jpg

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SoCalMike - 17 Apr 2006 03:09 GMT

> I'm doing a head gasket on a 1990 honda prelude 2.0S. Also I'm replacing
> the water pump and timing belt. I'm following the helms manual but it's not
> much help.
>
> The head gasket on this car is blown. After taking off the valve cover I
> see lots of runny fluid mixed with the oil. I'm guessing this is coolant.

its santorum :)

oil/water/coolant froth.

> I'm also going to assume that a lot of this has gotten into the cylinders.
> will this affect anything like the rings, walls or pistons? Am I wasting my
> time replacing the gasket or what? Everything inside the head looks
> alright. It's not too bad. There's no rust really. All is good except for
> the milkshake crap flowing around everywhere.

once the heads off, youre going to clean everything up. an oil change
will be required too.

> Next problem, the intake manifold. The helms manual says to remove the two
> lower intake manifold mounting nuts. Easier said than done. Unless you have
> ghost hands that can pass thru solid objects you'd have to completely
> disassemble the carbeurator. Am I not seeing something or is Helms very
> blunt?

my helm manual is pretty descriptive. step by step, even.

it helps to have several different sets of wrenches, including s-shaped
(obstruction), crowsfoot, offset, closed, open, etc... harbor freight is
a great place if theres one near ya.

i look at it like a game of golf... you need the right "club" to hit the
ball where you want.

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