Hi all, how hot is it here in Vic at the moment.....OMG
Anyway looks like the missus has done a head gasket this morning, split a radiator hose, kept driving and hey presto. I am going to attempt the replacement gasket myself but just want to know if there are any do's and dont's for this job.

One thing i'm thinking off is getting the head checked for cracks and then reconditioned, good move? I guess i'm even assuming it's only the gasket at this stage but it could be the head as well. Any easy tell tale signs the head has got a crack?

Cheers, Daz.

one way on how to replace a head gasket

read the second post

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40090

Yep i did actually see that and intend of using it....Ta
Also found some other informative stuff, i think i should be ok.

Do some checks just to save you time and this crappy weather lol before you ripp head off.

Replace the hose and fill up the radiator and see how it runs. Sister inlaw just did her radiator couple of weeks back and she drove it home. I just replaced the radiator and filled her up and it was ok.

get a radiator place to do an 'o2' test. that will tell you if there if exhaust gas is present in the cooling system and therefor a blown/cracked head of head gasket.
test takes less than a minute and should be free or around $10

get a radiator place to do an 'o2' test. that will tell you if there if exhaust gas is present in the cooling system and therefor a blown/cracked head of head gasket.
test takes less than a minute and should be free or around $10

Might be better still to get a monoxide (CO) test not an oxygen test (o2)

As stated above though, I would refill it, repair the hose and while there replace all of them as one has gone, how old are the rest.

If blown you NEED to get the head done as they do warp and crack. If you are in the NE subs, I can recommend a great place to take the head as well

Thats right.. very common for chambers 2 and 3 to crack right in the middle of inlet and ext valve seats

After pulling the head off i could see i wasn't blown, point taken above and i have learned something here which is the important part i guess! Anyway took the gasket and head round the corner to a mechanic and he advised me that although it wasn't completely blown and that it still would have run ok he suggested that it still looked a little dicey and given that the car was ran without any water in it (cooked) the head probably needed to be checked anyway. I sort of enjoyed tinkering on the weekend actually. Had a couple of mates over, a couple of beers, took my time, yeah we did some boy's stuff. lol

One problem though, when i pulled that gear of the end of the cam i dropped a flat washer down where the timing chain goes to the crankshaft or whatever it goes to. I pulled the bolt off and got the spring washer but didn't notice what seemed to be a flat washer as well. I looked in the manual and it looks like it's dropped into the sump, now i then rang someone who knows someone etc etc who's a mechanic and they said to leave it. ????? I was going to pull the sump off to get it? Is is wise to leave it there? My gut says get it out.

Anyway thanks for all the advice.

Cheers, Daz.

Last thing you want is a washer in the oil pump... should probably take the sump off and get it out.

THere are worse things you can have in your sump, have pulled sumps off before and found bits of tensioner etc there, they do no harm AS LONG AS YOU ARE SURE IT IS IN THE SUMP AND NOT JAMMED SOMEWHERE NEAR THE CHAIN

If you want to, take the sump off, if you do not get this one you will need a new one anyway. You could try a magnet in the sump from on top and see if you can pick it up.

Putting the head back on tonight i came across a problem.

When i was taking the head off i found one of the bolts holding the head to the block was almost finger tight, anyway i took it out had a look at the thread and it looked ok and thought nothing more of it. Frankly i didn't think any of them where tight enough. However putting it back in i have found that it is stripped in the block, i can't even get it past the first stage of torquing it. Now i cant be sure if this head has been done before but i have only has the car for 2 years. Apart from someone over tightening could this happen any other way? All the others are OK!

What are my options here?

Cheers, Daz.

Used a helicoil or recoil if you like, what a waste of money. $100 for a tap and some stainless coils OMG and then $19 for the drill bit. And it didn't work to a point, the coil ended up stripping the bolt, it was in straight the coil/tap size was right. I am not a mechanic but i am a tradie and know how to use tools. Anyway i got it done in the end and it's up and running better than ever now, and i saved $500 - $600 in labor, plus i would have paid through the bum for a mechanic to fix the stripped thread in the block.

Thanks for your help and the information on this site, (how to's), was excellent.

Cheers, Darren.