Replace head - What minimally needs to be removed?

[Vette76]

Unfortunately, I need to remove my right head on my 02 SOHC V6.

I would like to know what minimally I need to remove to get the head off. The manual says to remove all the rockers and the valve lash adjusters. I'm assuming they recommend that so that all the valves will be in the "up" position so that a valve won't be bent.

At this point in my saga to fix this thing, I don't think it's going to make much of a different, as I expect that there is probably too much 'shrapnel' in my engine when my upper and lower chain tensioner exploded.

I was thinking that if I could just take the head off with the rockers and las adjusters in...and be REALLY careful pulling the head....I'd take my chances if it's possible.

Thanks!

 

[2000StreetRod]

special tool

It takes a special tool to compress the valves in order to remove the cam followers (rockers).

You normally can't rent the tool and it is fairly expensive. Do you need to remove the camshaft from the head for any reason? If so, there is a risk of breaking a camshaft bearing cap when reinstalling the camshaft without first removing the camshaft followers. The danger of removing the head with some of the valves extended is damaging the exposed valves. You can't allow the head to slide sideways on the block when the last head bolts are removed. You can't lay the end down on its face. The camshaft timing slot should be positioned correctly and the crankshaft should be at TDC before installing the head so the valves won't collide with the pistons. You can't rotate the crankshaft when the timing chain is not connected to the camshaft and the head is in place.

Are you sure that you need to remove the head because of the timing chain tensioner failure? There shouldn't be any fragments in the cylinders and you can flush out the particles in the oil galleys by just removing the valve cover. Or did the valves get bent when the tensioner failed?

 

[Vette76]

Thanks Dale, that was my guess but I was hoping for at least ONE easy process!

Unfortunately, I went one too many "turns" on my homemade spring compression tool and didn't see that the valve keepers slipped up above the retaining cap and the valve dropped down into the cylinder. The strange thing here is that my mechanic thought that the Ex might be struggling from a bad head gasket on this side for some time but it didn't seem like that bad of a leak...although any leak between oil and coolant isn't a good thing. So...I guess the unintended benefit here of a dropped valve is that I get the chance to put in a new head gasket whether it needs it or not!

Sounds like I'll make some adjustments to my compression tool to make it better and start all over again...I honestly thought I was going to get away with my original tool design, although I thought it may have had some flaws. Now at least I can refine the tool and make the second time the charm.

Thanks again!

 

[Vette76]

A couple of additional questions:

1. Are the cylinder bolts a "torque to yield" bolt in the sense that they need to be thrown away and not be used once they've been removed?

2. When installing the cylinder head gasket, is any sealant applied to either the block or the cylinder head surface? It's never been my experience to apply sealant when installing a cylinder head gasket but I would hate to get it wrong.

Thanks guys!