I'm the guy who posted the other day about my blown engine in my '86 4x4
pickup. The head gasket went and it got driven a while after that. The
engine is undoubtably damaged to some extent, but several folks suggested
that i at least try just opening things up and putting a new head gasket in
there and see what happens, since that's cheap. Frankly, I don't care if it
burns some oil; it's a farm truck and is done doing commutes or other major
miles. If I could get another 10K miles out of it, that'd be GREAT. That'd
be years of what I use it for.
How hard is it to do a head gasket? I have a lot of tools and should have
time and weather on my side this summer. I've done a fair amount of
shadetree wrenchin' in my day but never been that deep into an engine. I'm
guessing you pull the manifolds and throttle body stuff off of there, take
off the valve cover, and there are some bolts that bolt the head to the
block?
What should I be out there PB-blasting or Liquid-Wrenching ahead of time
<g>?
-jeff
NissTech - 11 Mar 2005 01:55 GMT
if you have never done one before it can be a pain in the a.s.
In fact, even with 30 years experience as a technician and 17 of them with
Nissan , head gasket jobs are still a pain in the a.s
> I'm the guy who posted the other day about my blown engine in my '86 4x4
> pickup. The head gasket went and it got driven a while after that. The
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> -jeff
speedy - 15 Mar 2005 16:56 GMT
> I'm
> guessing you pull the manifolds and throttle body stuff off of there, take
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> -jeff
Of course spray all the fasteners on the exhaust side. The intake side
wont be rusty but can still be corroded.
Leave the intake hooked up in the vehicle so you wont mix up connectors
and hoses.
Important: When you get the head off, you MUST check it for warpage.
Aluminum heads warp vry often. If you dont fix that your head gasket
wont seal.
Even though you should replace the heads bolts too, you can probably get
away without it. (I did, but donr cry if one breaks while torquing) Also
clean off the head bolts and run a tap through the bolt holes. Spend $7
for some ARP fastener lube or you can also use never seize. This is
important to get accurate torque.
Have fun!
-Pete