anyone ever replaced their head gaskets?

[explorermike94]

Hey everybody I might have to replace my head gaskets soon on my 94 I have some problems which I was told might be the gaskets going. Has anyone ever done this themselves and how hard is it? I am a mechanic so I am capable just I would like to know what im getting into before i get started. also is there anything i need to look out ofr or replace while im in there? thanks for the help guys

Mike

 

[Maniak]

It actually isn't that hard, just stuff to get out of the way, like Alternator+bracket, A/C + bracket etc..

basically, you need to pull the exhaust off the heads, get the upper and lower intake manifold off, pull the heads.. pull the rockers and pushrods (make sure you keep them in the correct order, if you swap them around you can cause problems)...

Once you heads are off, you should get them checked. They are known for cracking... They seem to crack between the intake/exhaust valves or along the water jacket.

It is better to check them now instead of putting them back on and finding out that it wasn't the gasket.. it was the head..

It too me 13 hours I belive.. could have been 10, but I was going slow..

~Mark

 

[Sonny]

I did mine on a 351c it was not real hard just time consuming. You just need to be sure and get all the parts, hoses etc. back as they were. And like the other post said be sure to keep your pushrods in the correct order for reinstalling them to the same place they were removed from. Same with all the bolts and such, you need to somehow keep track of where the different length ones go. I think if I had to do it again I would get a digital camera to help with the reinstall of the removed parts.

 

[explorermike94]

what were the symptoms you guys were having with your truck to know it was the head gasket? my truck is having an idling problem. when i start it up sometimes it will run like its missing out on a cylinder but when you get going down the road it straightens up and idles normally. I noticed a huge dip in gas milage when it was doing this to cause it did it all last week now this week its running normally, if it was a head gasket wouldnt it do it all the time? I checked all my plug wires which i put on a couple months ago and I also checked all vacume lines and cant find any leaks. thanks for your help and time everybody.

Mike

 

[Maniak]

Our '92 was "loping" at idle.. and of course failed emisions... (this was at 236k miles)

I did a compression test (I couldn't tell which cylinder was cuasing the problem).. and I found I had very low compression on 2 cylinders... I then put in a little oil in the cylinder then tested again.. and they were still low.. that meant either it was at the head gaskette or higher or I had a hole in the piston (not common)...

when I replaced the head gasket @ around 185k miles.. it was just leaking.. (from the outside of the motor).. it may have been starting to crack, but I was in a hurry (only vehicle at the time).. in retrospec it may have been better to get the heads checked then anyway..

~Mark

 

[stubborn1]

I replaced my heads because I found a small amount of antifreeze in the drain oil from an oil analysis. The vehicle was running fine. Of coarse, I thought I would just be replacing my head gaskets before the heads were off.

Both of my heads were cracked between the intake and exhaust valves on the rear most cylinder.

One note, make sure you get a new set of head bolts because they are "torque sensitive" or whatever they call it.

Good luck.

 

[blakecakes]

I tryed to replace my heads once and found that the exhaust bolts to the heads where not coming out (after braking the 3rd impack socket that is). So the day before you plan to do this I would start soaking the bolts with something (liquid wrench, WD-40, simplegreen, or what ever you've got). Good Luck

Mike