Head gasket project

[jennielee86]

Have a question or two for ya'll
I got this Explorer a week ago knowing it needed a head gasket, well thats all well and good I can do that, however, When we were taking the exhaust manifold off the bolts broke(no surprise there) but when i went to Advance Auto parts the bolts they have listed are almost twice the diameter in size. Does anyone know if this is something I will have to get through a dealer???

Info on the explorer:
2000 Explorer 4.0 OHV Vin X


Thanks for the help and info in advance!!

 

[jennielee86]

Another question, I have never worked on A/C in any vehicle I've owned. If it is completely empty(which i am guessing since when we took off the compressor there was no sound of anything leaking, oh and she said the ac hadnt worked in years) Is it most likely a leak or could it be as simple as the A/c needing charged, and how do i figure all that out?

 

[Thuggsy]

good luck.

most of the part numbers for 95-01 Explorers are wrong. (NAPA/AutoZone/Advance/etc) get used to coming home with the wrong parts.

 

[ponkotsu]

Another question, I have never worked on A/C in any vehicle I've owned. If it is completely empty(which i am guessing since when we took off the compressor there was no sound of anything leaking, oh and she said the ac hadnt worked in years) Is it most likely a leak or could it be as simple as the A/c needing charged, and how do i figure all that out?

If it was empty, 99.9% chance it was leaking. People don't drain their freon on purpose. You can try putting in some of that freon with leak fixer and see what happens.

 

[jennielee86]

Well Thuggsy thanks for the response but if thats the case, did you ever find somewhere that had them right??????
I have been using advance for everything and so far the manifold bolts are the only thign wrong, so is that only your experience then ...

 

[Thuggsy]

Well Thuggsy thanks for the response but if thats the case, did you ever find somewhere that had them right??????
I have been using advance for everything and so far the manifold bolts are the only thign wrong, so is that only your experience then ...

Advance and AutoZone are better at getting it right then NAPA, but noone gets them all right... not even Ford.

just try another store.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

Another question, I have never worked on A/C in any vehicle I've owned. If it is completely empty(which i am guessing since when we took off the compressor there was no sound of anything leaking, oh and she said the ac hadnt worked in years) Is it most likely a leak or could it be as simple as the A/c needing charged, and how do i figure all that out?

There was really no need to open the A/C system for
this job, you can simply unbolt the compressor and
place it to the side.

I'd recommend the Felpro SD (Severe Duty) headgaskets
as a replacement. Don't forget to use new headbolts.

 

[jennielee86]

Well finally found the right manifold bolts hopefully, and i know there was no need to open the a/c system but as we were pretty sure it was empty and checked before we did remove the compressor it makes everything a little bit easier. And Thuggsy the bolts, even though no ones system had them right, a girl at autozone did end up finding them for me thank goodness. Oh well off to bed, gonna start early tomorrow and hopefully finish this proect up by wednesday night at latest. Figure get the rest of the stuff off and then clean everything tomorrow for a shorter day. Thank you guys for the input though, it really is helpful as I have only ever been a DIY mechanic, I was never taught how to do any of this really. Just learning as i go.

 

[rudyj58]

Hey jennielee86 (and all), I am having the same problem I think. If you are talking about the bolts that attach the flange to the exhaust manafold. All the parts stores are saying that the replacement bolt has a nut and spring. The ones that came off, are bolts only and screw into the exhaust manafold. Are these spring ones the standard replacements, will they work allright? Or should I keep looking for the bolts only?

 

[jennielee86]

I was able to find 8mm exhaust bolts at advance that come in a ten pack. They are not exact but will work, they were next to the ones they said would work but dont. Take one with you to match it up but if you get the pack i am talking about they are a lil longer and the thread lengths on wach end are a bit different but they will workThe other thing you can do is get a piece of all thread m8 cut to length and use that but you have to make sure if you do that that it can take the heat that it will be around

 

[jennielee86]

Rudyj I am assuming you have the OHV engine? Make sure to have someone check te heads for cracks!! Do not buy a rebuilt casting either because they are ones with previous cracks someone prolly "welded" for a shoddy repair

 

[jennielee86]

WOW, what a crappy morning, had sent the heads out to be checked only to find one is severly cracked and the other one is starting to like it might be heading the same direction. getting two new castings though and just switching everything. Way too much money that i didnt wanna spend right before the holidays. Oh well