Head gaskets...

[IndianaVX]

Well, it looks like I have a bad head gasket. I am wondering if I should try and tackle this myself? I am kinda good under the hood, but not fantastic.
I am methodical, neat, and paciant when I work on the truck,
But not sure if that is enough to do the job right.
Any input from you guys? This would definatly be the deepest
I've tore into this engine.

[jdm monkey]

Its easy you can do it without taking the engine out.

[PK]

If you have a torque wrench, and know how to use it, the rest is easy.
Just be methodical and lay the parts out as you remove them.
And be ultra clean with the engine internals.

Good luck.

PK

[Ldub]

Also, go over (and over) the timing belt "how to"...if the heads come off, guess what else has to come off first...:naughty:

:luck:...:_wrench:...:thumbup:

Also, I've heard here & there that our head bolts are the "stretchy" kind, & new ones should be used every time the heads come off.

[IndianaVX]

Also, I've heard here & there that our head bolts are the "stretchy" kind, & new ones should be used every time the heads come off.[/QUOTE]

Now THAT'S the kind of stuff I need to know, and am afraid of doing wrong...
I only want to do this once!
Thanks Larry!
And thanks to the rest of you too!:yeso:
From the manual, it sounds like the toughest part is getting to the left side innermost bolt. Seems you have to take the tire off, remove heatshield from exhaust manifold, remove engine hanger(?) not sure what it is, but I guess I may find out!

[IndianaVX]

Merlin is still the man!
Just so you know, as of today's date, a full set of head gaskets from
Isuzu are $350.00, with the discount $297.56!
Dub, you are correct, NEVER reuse the head bolts!
Instead...... List price for each head bolt, $7.91 with our discount, $6.72!
Or $107.00 for all of them.
So $405.08 total for gasket set and bolts.

Question there is a tool, J-24239-01, cylinder head bolt wrench.
Anyone know if this is nesissary to buy, or can I use something else. In the book it looks like a hex extension for a torque wrench . I forgot to ask Merlin for cost, but was looking to see if I had to?
Looks like I will begin teardown on Thursday evening. I will take plenty of pictures and try to do a write up for it also.
It looks like the actual heAd removal is less complicated than the head covers!
Got to study barts timing PDF a few more times, and decide on if I am going to try and replace the seals in the cams also.....they come with the gasket set too.
Keep anything you can cross, crossed for me!:winko:

EDIT the cost of the head bolt wrench is 58.00. it is a socket according to the saleslady. IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE?

[IndianaVX]

is there an alternative to buying the special cylinder bolt head wrench??
as mentioned in my edit above, 58 bucks for a socket????:confused:
looking for an alternative....

thanks

[Dmitrikr]

is there an alternative to buying the special cylinder bolt head wrench??
as mentioned in my edit above, 58 bucks for a socket????:confused:
looking for an alternative....

thanks

borrow it at nearest garage/ machine shop for a day:grino:

[Buffy]

If I remember correctly I used a 10mm allen socket to remove mine. I would advise you use an excellent quality socket and make sure it is seated into the bolt all the way. The last thing you want to do is round out the insides of the bolt head. It is easy to do if you are not careful as those bolts are in there!

[IndianaVX]

Started Friday night on my tear down. This is not for faint of heart.
It really slays me how terrible the shop manual is, (although helpful)
So anyway, I had the engine torn down to having the CH covers off late
Friday night.
They were full of coolant/oil goop.....
Saturday, got started on removing the exhaust. It is now sunday night
Left tonight with manifold separated from downpope, and separated at both joints by muffler.
I am hoping that I did no damage to tranny when I followed
The manuals instructions on removing the crossmember(3rd)!
It dropped about 4" when I unbolted the four bolts. ( I unbolted the other side and left 2 of the bolts threaded in.
I think I can remove the heads now with the manifolds attached????
Also following Barts timing belt how to, I did real well till I removed the tensioner. Bart talked about the cams "snapping" to 12 o clock.
Mine snapped to 930 on the passenger side, and 330 on driver side.
Have to look into this some more.
Now, I turned all of the cams and crank with the belt on till
everything lined up( several times)
When I take the heads off, will I lose the setting on them? I shouldn't , right?
This is a frustrating project, I start making progress, then have to remove the power steering pump, but to do that, you have to take ac compressor loose, to do that, etc, etc.....
My questions are these.......
---Will a seafoam/oil treatment clean up the goop from the crank? I can clean up the heads after I get them off.
---did I hurt the tranny with the movement I caused?
---can I get the heads off with manifolds attached? Getting that heatshield off the riverside manifold is a real booger. Not the bolts,that was easy, trying to wiggle it out I the booger.
Something else frustrating, isuzu sells their head gasket set as "all the gaskets tou need to do a HG replacement."
There are other gaskets that are needed that do not come with the set. I assume that there are some in the power steering pump, which I rmove tomorrow, there is an o ring for the cooling line under the trottlebody, the exhaust gaskets on down pipes. All this stuff MUST come off to remove the heads. Sorry, rant over.
Thanks for all help and advice, this is a challenge that I feel good about,
but, man......it's a slow going!
---

[Ascinder]

I still cant believe that the headgaskets cost that much. And for the price of the torque to yield(stretchy) bolts, I would seriously have looked into some ARPs. A head gasket set for the GM motor I am installing runs $30. Are the VX's gaskets made of gold or something:confused:

[IndianaVX]

The gaskets alone I think were 75 bucks a piece, but I can't remember if that was from Merlin, or from a parts store. I got a whole set with valve cover gaskets, valve guides (?!?), thermostat gasket, exhaust gaskets(at head) and a couple others. The bolts, yeah, I know, I just really wanted to do it right in every way I could.

[IndianaVX]

Driver side head off tonight! It had been off a couple of years ago.
Cylinders were full of coolant.
I had the plan of having the passenger side out tonight, all I had to do was
take the head bolts out.....yeah right!
I think this head is still from bolted down from the factory cause those bolts are TIGHT!!! I am scared to death of breaking a bolt off in the head.
Also found out that #2 piston is at the bottom of it's stroke, which means I
should have went one more revolution on the crank. Crap!

Anyone have an opinion on turning the crank one more time, and the cams, each, two times??? Gotta think about this one....

[RickOKC]

They were full of coolant/oil goop.....
Saturday, got started on removing the exhaust. It is now sunday night
Left tonight with manifold separated from downpope, and separated at both joints by muffler.

For those trying to imagine what a Vehicross "down Pope" looks like:

http://members.cox.net/radamsokc/downpope.jpg
Image of VX with a sunroof stolen from VCAMILO.

[IndianaVX]

:laughing:

that pope is one cool dude, he be down!


if i left all the autocorrections this phone wants to use, nothing would make sense! gotta figure out how to shut that item off.

[Marlin]

You don't have to touch the AC stuff to get the pwr steering pump out. I did mine last winter through the drivers side wheel well. No problems, would be easier with the tire off, but I did it with th tire on...FWIW

[IndianaVX]

Marlin
Yes, you are right! I took the wheel off, took heatshield off
Removed PS pump from the bracket and then took head bolts out
and wiggled the head out with PS pump Bracket and exhaust manifold
attached.

[IndianaVX]

Got passengerside head back on tonight!
Snow started flying, and had to get home. Sucks that it's snowing, and I'm driving an s-10 pickup and having a vehicross stuck in my brothers garage.

Does it mean anything if there is oil in the bottom of the head bolt hole?
Driverside top front bolt hole had an inch of oil in it.
I dipped a long wd-40 nozzle in there, wiped off, dipped, wiped,
Till I couldnt get anymore on the nozzle, then brake cleaned the hole.
Will see what is left in there tomorrow night.
Bolts are supposed to go in dry, just didnt know where the oil came from.

[IndianaVX]

I did something to the tranny. It is Downshifting really hard 3rd to 2nd and then 2nd to 1st.
I know what I did, just don't know what I may have done.
When taking apart the exhaust, the manual said to remove the third crossmember. So I start undoing bolts on the crossmember wondering what will hold the transmission up if I take the off?
Well I had a jack under it, and undid the bolts , then realized the jack wast tight, and it sank a good inch before I was able to tighten it. So I put bolts back in a bit, because I now had some clearance I needed.
So last night raised the tranny back up and bolted everything up tight (I am missing one of the bolts under the skid plate) and I finished the last of the reassembly, hooked up the battery,
And the truck fired right up, (I got video!)
So tonight I took it for a short drive. It is still smoking, and downshifts hard

Anythoghts on what I put in a bind when I jacked the tranny back up, or what I may have broke? It upshifts fine, and wasn't having any abnormal shifting before this project. It has to be IMO from me moving the tranny?

[Ldub]

I did something to the tranny. It is Downshifting really hard 3rd to 2nd and then 2nd to 1st.
I know what I did, just don't know what I may have done.
When taking apart the exhaust, the manual said to remove the third crossmember. So I start undoing bolts on the crossmember wondering what will hold the transmission up if I take the off?
Well I had a jack under it, and undid the bolts , then realized the jack wast tight, and it sank a good inch before I was able to tighten it. So I put bolts back in a bit, because I now had some clearance I needed.
So last night raised the tranny back up and bolted everything up tight (I am missing one of the bolts under the skid plate) and I finished the last of the reassembly, hooked up the battery,
And the truck fired right up, (I got video!)
So tonight I took it for a short drive. It is still smoking, and downshifts hard

Anythoghts on what I put in a bind when I jacked the tranny back up, or what I may have broke? It upshifts fine, and wasn't having any abnormal shifting before this project. It has to be IMO from me moving the tranny?

Check that part of the wiring harness that's factory connected to the cross memeber...:smilewink

[MSHardeman]

I know this is simplistic, and I really have no idea what I'm talking about, but could it be that the fluid in the transmission shifted while it was in a lowered position and just needs some time to level back out so it will shift normally?

I figure; check the easy (cheap) stuff first.

[Marlin]

I know this is simplistic, and I really have no idea what I'm talking about, but could it be that the fluid in the transmission shifted while it was in a lowered position and just needs some time to level back out so it will shift normally?

I figure; check the easy (cheap) stuff first.

I would say no, based on the fact that I have had my VX tipped front side up, back side up, sideways, and never had a shifting problem. His was only a few inches off, so I doubt it would make much difference? Plus, tranny fluid isn't that thick, it would move fairly quick, especially at 150 degrees or whatever it runs at...

[nfpgasmask]

I'd say check the fluid level, check the connectors, and also check the mode selector. Maybe when it sank it pulled something down to much and messed up the mode switch somehow??? That's all attached to your shift selector and maybe the mode switch cracked or broke or something?

When was the last time you checked/changed the fluid and filter? Might be a good time to do that. Who knows, maybe the tranny issue is just a coincidence.

Bart

[IndianaVX]

something to consider,

the "D" on my dashboard has been out for months. i cleaned the switch underneath the shifter, by the tranny, when it first happened. it was dirty, now its not, and the "D" is still out on the dash. so i figured the bulb must be out. and there was not any odd shifting problems in all that time.

my power mode light has been out for around a month, before this all happened. the winter mode still works fine, and the winter light on the dash works.
the truck feels like it is in power mode, even if the dash light doesnt tell me so. so again, i figured another bulb is burnt.

fluid in tranny was checked this fall, and was right where it should be.
a change and filter has been on my to do list. but i got alot of other list also.......

i just feel like something happened when i lowered the tranny down that bit.:upsetgray

thanks for the input thus far. i cant stand being this close to driving again. the things i was worried about, (timing, timing belt, etc) went so smoothly, and the thing that wasnt really even on the radar, is giving me fits.
thanks again!:yeso:

[IndianaVX]

I'm sure that after having coolant going thru the exhaust, I imagine my pre cat O2 sensors are probably shot. Could they be sending any bad, or no signal to the ECU and making the poor shifts?
I looked at all the electronic plugs, and couldn't find any problems.
Back to the shop manual.........

[IndianaVX]

went to work on the vx again tonight, and replaced both up O2 sensors, checked all along the tranny again for anything loose. transmission is snug and tight to the supports. checked the front driveshaft, and got a little play when i tried to turn it.
so anyway, after i got the O2 sensors on, and reset the puter, i took it for a drive. the truck is spunky again! but i knew there was a stop up ahead, and prepared for "the clunk"..........but it never came! so i drove a bit more, and slowed, and again no clunk! so im supposing that the vx fixed its own problem like others trucks have done. so


bottom line is, im back on the road!!!!



http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/thumbs/IMG_2052.JPG (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0))
i think ii found the problem..........


http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/thumbs/IMG_21601.JPG (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0))

almost all back together! a shout out to buffy who inspired me to do a little cleaning up of the engine compartment. :yeso: thank you buffy!
and thanks to all who put up with my project!

i think i am going to combine my writeup of the intake gasket replacement with a write up of head gasket replacement. looking back, it really wasnt that bad of an ordeal. just alot of wrench turning, hand cramps, and organization!

thanks again!


i dont think i posted those pics right......

[Grif]

Hrrrm.... waiting for the other shoe to drop on this one... sorry to say.

[IndianaVX]

grif, are you talking about the other head gasket????


http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/thumbs/IMG_2062.JPG (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/IMG_2062.JPG)

[Grif]

grif, are you talking about the other head gasket????


lol..... no. Just a dread fear that the probs are not fixed.

[IndianaVX]

LOL, i am trying to keep a more up beat and positive outlook on the whole thing!:bgwo:

[cwmoser]

...
i think i am going to combine my writeup of the intake gasket replacement with a write up of head gasket replacement. looking back, it really wasnt that bad of an ordeal. just alot of wrench turning, hand cramps, and organization!


I'd like to read your write up on the Intake gasket replacement - do you have it online?

Carl

[IndianaVX]

Carl,
I do not have it finished yet. Haven't had alot of computer time.
But I would be happy to try and answer any questions you may have.
Shoot me a email or pm.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

A long time ago...when I was running my Dueler Revo A/T's with no suspension lift....I was concerned about cross rotating them often to get good tire life.

I jacked my VX up in the driveway using the stock jack under the rear axle with jack-stands and also a floor jack under the crossmember as I needed it on each side.

The moral of the story is that when I was done mine shifted like yours as I drove it down the road. I was scared that I tweaked the frame or trannie so the only thing I could think to do was to reverse-order my jacking procedure to hopefully un-tweak whatever I did....it lead me to believe it worked because it shifted fine afterwards. I always took it to a tire place to cross rotate tires after that...lol.

Now, this is the second set of unidirectional treaded tires so I don't have to cross-rotate them..just fronts to back and vice-versa which means just jacking up one side at a time...no problems with shifting!

Like you...I really don't know exactly what happened to cause the shifting issues...or if it really fixed itself and I just think I did it!

[edwin]

Hey Guys! I know my gaskets need to be replaced, the coolant I keep putting in radiator/reservoir every few days keeps dissapearing! Head gaskets will have to be replaced! Crap! I def can't do this project. I'm in New York, can any one recommend to who/where I can take the car in to get fixed? Really need this info guys! can any one help?
Thanks
Ed 718-408-0412

[rsteinmetz70112]

Just a comment on your tranny problem.

I have not looked at how a VX works but I suspect the kickdown cable was mis adjusted/out of place due to your work. Rechecking everything likely got it back in place.

[IndianaVX]

Well, 3 months from replacing my head gaskets, my driverside cat clogged. I guess all that coolant was just too much. It had 10# of restriction! So if you ever have to replace your headgaskets, you better check the cats, or save your change for some new ones. I got a replacement cat for 250.00, out the door for aftermarket.
So all is now completely well with the vx..... Except for the sonny universal, and window reg cable, and the rear door stay, and
My power drive button.....and.....

[Ldub]

Just a comment on your tranny problem.

I have not looked at how a VX works but I suspect the kickdown cable was mis adjusted/out of place due to your work. Rechecking everything likely got it back in place.

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=6921&highlight=4L30E
:smilewink

[303Foxfire]

Hi there,

I am currently TRYING to replace my head gaskets, yet I have removed every bolt and hose attached to the RH cylinder head (following the manual to the T) and I STILL can't get it off. I thought that it was necessary to unscrew the exhaust manifold head from the cylinder head via the four bolts visible from top view. Are there more underneath or am I missing something? Please help, thank you!

[Mile High VX]

Shop manual says 8 bolts for the exhaust manifold...no diagram to show where they are.

[cudabuyer]

The other 4 bolts are directly underneath the top 4 bolts....or you can just unbolt the exhaust manifold from the down tube and lift off the manifold and cylinder head in one piece still attached to each other....