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Begin head gasket change tues


beastpath
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ok am i understanding right?

 

Step 1: loosen rockers

Step 2: Remove heads

Step 3: Put car in N and find TDC

Step 4: Put heads back on

Step 5: Put timing belt on and count teeth

Step 6: Tighten rockers

 

there is only one way to put the cam sprockets on the cams correct?

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mark things as you take them apart. paint.. sharpie pens... etc. The cams are marked L and R and only fit on one way. You need to make sure you know where the marks are. Counting teeth only works if you have your marks located. Before pulling the timing belt, paint things for alignment purposes then, you can line things up when you put things together. Once it's all lined up, toss the old belt and put the new one on (counting teeth of course).

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yea that's good advice...although there are dimples in the timing belt cover which may not line up perfectly but you can count the teeth and it will be right...The crank can be marked to the block as well b/c it's probably not but like I said when i broke my TB there were no marks for the crank so we found TDC on #1 with the heads off and used the "dimples" on the TB cover and counted teeth.

 

if the truck is an auto you may not need to put it in N but if its a MT it will try to roll fwd or backwards as you turn the engine over

 

Get the FSM for a 94 or 95 and read up on it...it'll take you step by step.

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ok lads and ladies I'm starting work on her again today. should be able to get the heads off, clean em up and put em back on, and hopefully most of her together again.

 

is there a way to check the valves are ok without taking apart the head?

 

also is there a way to undo the crank-bolt without touching the flywheel, and without using the starter trick mentioned above? I read there is a place in the front to put a screwdriver, I'm just wondering where?

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only way I know of would have been to run a compression check on each cylinder and know the head gasket was good...other than that the only way I know is to pull them out and give them a visual and take the measurements listed in the FSM

 

I've used an impact on my crank or a breaker bar and hit it over and over (like a manual impact) to get it loose...in fact this is the only way I have ever removed my crank bolts...

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only way I know of would have been to run a compression check on each cylinder and know the head gasket was good...other than that the only way I know is to pull them out and give them a visual and take the measurements listed in the FSM

 

I've used an impact on my crank or a breaker bar and hit it over and over (like a manual impact) to get it loose...in fact this is the only way I have ever removed my crank bolts...

 

 

ok, but what do you use to stop the engine from just turning. as in, most people block the flywheel, but I dont want to remove the starter to get to the flywheel if I can help it. lol.

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some people say to put a screwdriver throught he holes in the cam sprocket to keep everything from turning. Problem there is that you rely on the timing belt to hold everything and that is why you are in there in the first place.

 

If you are going to rely on impact to remove teh crank bolt, make sure your plugs are in because the cylinder compression will help provide resistance from turning when you smack it. Inertia and load -vs- breaker-bar and big hammer. It should come loose. It's only about 95 ft-lbs.

 

I use the screwdriver trick only to remove my cam sprocket bolts

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ok, so how do i do it by moving the starter? lol, cant get it to work any of the other ways.

 

do i just move it forward a few inches and stick the screwdriver in the hole?

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well im stalled again until someone gets home and can brace the header bolts to the connecting pipe while I unbolt them.

 

heres some more pictures:

 

Lots of coolant!

DSC01100.jpg

 

DSC01095.jpg

 

The three on the left are from the passenger side head. Any reason they are more fouled than the others?

DSC01094.jpg

 

The drivers side cam sprocket dimple doesnt line up with the mark. It looks like its a tooth off, but I counted and there are 40 teeth between them so idk whats going on.

 

DSC01098.jpgDSC01099.jpg

Edited by beastpath
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i do nothing to keep the engine from turning over..the impacts are quick and don't apply constant pressure to make the engine turn over

 

the alignment marks on the timing cover look about normal to me and that is why I never rely on them and always just count teeth....if you know #1 is at TDC and the tooth count is right then you're golden

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agreed on the timing marks. A slight nudge counter clockwise and it will line-up fine. There is slop in the alignment depending on how you look at it. As for the plugs, if there is any coolant (or water etc) getting into the cylinder, it will effectively steam clean the internals. Not recommended to do on purpose though.

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oh, ok, that makes sense about the plugs. thats the side the gasket leak was on.

glad its more important to count teeth than have the lines exact, was a little worried for a second.

 

am still stuck at removing the crank bolt. have the starter unplugged and moved forward about 2 inches, but whenever i shove a screwdriver in the teeth it slips out as soon as i turn the crank bolt.

dont have impact unfortunately, so is there a better way to block the flywheel than with a screwdriver?

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you can rotate the flywheen until you see one of the bolts holding the TC. Put a deep socket on it and a couple extensions and put pressure on it to hold the socket on it as it rests against the edge of the opening.

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Ended up just using a longer screwdriver :hide:

 

am about to take the heads off now, taking a break to eat so I can focus on doing the torque sequence right.

 

Id like to get all the coolant out of the heads.

is there a way to clean the heads when they are off?

Edited by beastpath
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Id like to get all the coolant out of the heads.

is there a way to clean the heads when they are off?

 

when you pull the head if the vlave is closed you can dump it out and wipe it with a rag...if the valve is open it will leak everywhere when you break the head loose...other than that I don't think i'd really worry about getting the residue out it'll burn off when it runs next...do be sure to clean the head/block good...I like to use a fine scotch brite on the drill attachment to get all of the gasket residue off after scraping carefully with a straight edged razor

 

other than that tear the head down and take everything to a machine shop and have them run it through the parts cleaner

Edited by unccpathfinder
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when you pull the head if the vlave is closed you can dump it out and wipe it with a rag...if the valve is open it will leak everywhere when you break the head loose...other than that I don't think i'd really worry about getting the residue out it'll burn off when it runs next...do be sure to clean the head/block good...I like to use a fine scotch brite on the drill attachment to get all of the gasket residue off after scraping carefully with a straight edged razor

 

other than that tear the head down and take everything to a machine shop and have them run it through the parts cleaner

 

lol, i think ill take the first option.

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ok. I cleaned the aluminum heads off my dodge by using Easy-Off Max oven cleaner (the non-lye formula) Spray it on, wait 10 minutes, hit it with a brush (toothbrush for the little areas) and hose it off. Reapply any heavy areas if needed. It works wonders but is brutal on the skin so be careful.

 

Before

Img_1156-vi.jpg

 

During (second application)

Img_1158-vi.jpg

 

After

Img_1157-vi.jpg

 

note... the oven cleaner will eat the aluminum so don't leave it on there for a long time and keep it off the head gasket surface

Edited by k9sar
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heres a shot of the passenger side head off. there seems to be a lot of flaky black crud on the piston heads.

 

DSC01107.jpg

 

DSC01108.jpg

The rear piston has most of the crud on it, the others are cleaner.

 

DSC01112.jpg

 

DSC01111.jpg

 

crud is on the underside of the head as you can see too.

 

should i just wipe this off? or is it demonstrative of a bigger problem?

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it's fifteen years old. there's gonna be carbon. Probably a bit of a leak on the one cylinder (probably valve seal).

 

And the cam sprocket bolts are 58 to 65 ft-lbs

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actually the block and heads were remanufactured. so technically they are only a year old.

 

58-65, thanks. they felt a lot tighter. lol

 

oh, also, what is the trick where you pour water in the heads to see what valves are broken?

Edited by beastpath
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never heard of that one but I would imagine that you could pour water in the intake and exhaust ports and see if anything is leaking past the valves.

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