924Board.org

[epsylon]

how hard is it to remove the head and replace the head gasket? is it as simple as following a haynes 924 manual. what needs to be removed in order to get to the head studs? is there a procedure/write up somewhere online that i can look at? should i go with one of those new copper gaskets or just get a OEM replacment?

[wdb]

I would suggest trying to loosen and retorque the head bolts first . I had 2 loose head bolts that made me think the gasket was blown . got the head off and the gasket was fine . replaced it anyway cause I was in there . I thik porsche recommends retorqueing every 30 K miles .a few people have had trouble with the copper gaskets leaking.

[epsylon]

i will definately try that first. do i have to remove more then just the valve cover to get to the head bolts ( cam shaft ect )?

[steve]

its not that hard to remove the head if you have a engine lifting crane or cherry picker. there are 8 or 10 head bolts underneath the valve cover they are allen key. once you take those out you can hook up a chain to the bracets already on the intake. after you have the chain in place the whole thing can come up (head, intake, everything) only thing you have to watch out for are cooling hoses. there are some short ones that are a pain to put back on if you lift everything up too high. when i changed my head gasket i didn't lift it more than 2 inches. just enough to slide the old one out and slide the new one in. be careful when you set the head back down you have to make sure that the head gasket is alined properly.

hope this helps

[epsylon]

i will be renting a engine hoist/cherry picker if i decide to do this. simply lifting it 2" and sliding out the bad gasket sounds like the way to go with minimal impact on other components. i know that the belts will have to go what else needs to be diconnected? i don't want to put any unwanted stress on something that is left connected. fuel lines/injectors, cooling system hoses, ect. about how long on average is this repair if all goes as expected?

[Smoothie]

I'd think you'd want to completely remove the head to have access to clean the surface of the head and block before fitting a new gasket. No?

For just retorqueing the head bolts, you have access by just removing the valve cover.

[gohim]

Engine Hoist?

What For?

The cylinder head doesn't weight that much.

To get the head off the block, all you have to do is remove the timing belt, unbolt the intake manifold, pull the distributor, disconnect the oil pressure sender, and the water temperature sender, disconnect the collector from the exhaust manifold, the fuel lines, throttle linkange and a few electrical cables.

Porsche ONLY RECOMMENDS retorquing the head bolts on schedule for the earlier engines. When Porsche changes the head bolts (ithink the originals were 12-point and the newer ones are 6-point), they did away with the head retorque schedule. Porsche recommends switching from the old style to the new style bolts when servicing the head and/or block.

If you have the early style head bolts, or your car has a slight head gasket leak, I guess you could try retorquing the head bolts before you replace the head gasket, but once the head gasket is already leaking, you are better off replacing it, and switching to the new bolts, or Raceware headstuds.

[epsylon]

well i was just going to lift it up just enough to swap gaskets as was suggested earlier, use a hoist to hold it up during the swap. so you recommend that i completely pull the head. either way it doesn't sound too difficult of a job, even for a first time DIYer. i will have a friend with me but he has only worked on domestics ( Firebirds/Trans Ams/Cameros ).

[wdb]

if you remove the head its a good idea to use masking tape and a marker to tag everything. so all the vacuum lines and different length screws go back exactly where they came from.

[Diesel]

Look, if you've got the head 2" off the deck, you might as well take it off and do it right. Clean the surface well. Straight edge it and use a feeler gauge to check for warping. Now is a good time to clean the carbon off the piston crowns(no more pinging!). If the job is worth doing, it's worth doing right.

[numbers]

I'm with Dan. I would never do a head gasket without pulling the head, and cleaning the mating surfaces, as well as checking everything out on the head. If it blew once, and you just stick another one in, you will be redoing it shortly. Head gaskets are not something that fails with age. They only fail because of something else, like loose headbolts or warped head or block. You need to find and correct the problem that caused the gasket to fail.

[gohim]

When you disconnect the intake manifold, you don't have to take it off of the car, just pull it away from the head, then you don't have to disconnect the stuff on the intake manifold, and that save alot of time.

And don't try to unbolt the exhaust manifold from the head. Take the exhaust manifold off at the collector. Some of the nuts are hard to reach and it is much easier to deal with the rounded off and seized nuts, and stripped out stud holes, with the head off of the block.

[PORSCHEV]

Hate to sound like an A-hole...but you un-experienced guys that plan to change your head gaskets SHOULDN'T. By reading your posts I shudder at your questions. Pay an experienced mechanic ....and watch him. Also ask lots of questions.

Others that have done so already...carry on.

[Richard]

Yes. remove the head to clean up bits of gasket stuck to it. Check for warpage. How about a valve inspection? Pull a few valves, intake and exhaust, and see how they look. A quick hand lapping with compound may refresh the sealing surfaces for many thousands of miles. Or maybe you need more serious work.Also a good time to check for guide wear. Also repace the valve stem seals. Look, I'm not trying to cause trouble here, but it is silly to pull a head and just plunk it back on again. Unless of course you know for a fact that it is perfect. Just bad economy.

Yes, some of the guys have had trouble with copper headgaskets but I believe they may have installed them incorrectly. There are special compounds, or aluminum or copper paint that they need to be sprayed with. You are also allowed to use very small amounts of RTV silicone around the coolant passages. Go see http://www.headgasket.com for everything and more you ever wanted to know about copper headgaskets.

[wdb]

the whole point of this site is to teach each other from our knowledge ,expierience, and mistakes. replacing a head gasket is not that difficult as long as you have a guide (manual ) and pay close attention to the details . marking where all the parts go .you can do that by a few means ,masking tape,baggies and a maker. a video camera , lay things out in order as you take them off , then put them back in reverse order. there are impotant details like cam timming. if you do this job start to finnish in one day you can just mark the crank and cam positions and when you put them back line up the marks , or use the factory markings and a degree wheel .head gaskets can fail due to metal fatigue . the metal and other materials in the gasket deteriorate over the years .the head bolts stretch a little under tension for a decade. the aluminum that the head bolts are in contact with deform under the compression. these things lower the amount of pressure on the gasket to allow a little pressurized gasses or water to migrate past the gasket . some times if you catch it early before serious damage is done to the gasket you can just tighten the bolts and fix the leaking gaskets. if you have the time energy and money, rebuild the whole motor . if your short any of these replace the head gasket correctly by the book cleaning every part and replacing worn items , if your really short of either time energy or money try just tightening the head bolts and see if that fixes the problem.loosen then retorque the head bolts . some people remove the hood (bonnet ) when replacing the head gasket for easier access and better light. dont let the hood slide into the windshield .

[ This Message was edited by: wdb on 2002-08-03 13:57 ]