head gasket leaking please help

[integraGSRkid]

think my head gasket broke. is it hard to replace?, or is there another way to fix it?? also does it matter if your thermostats air hole is downwars or upwards? will it still work the same?

 

[rockadilla]

well the head gasket really isnt that hard to replace per se if u have some experience...... it took me about 20 hours to do mine the first time, but i could probably do it again now in under 8 because i know how everything works..... but if u take it to a shop they will probably charge u at least 1-1.2k to fix it....
and i have no clue about the thurmastat


LOL look at the ad that popped up for me when i entered this page :rolf:
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[.Cortez]

Rockadilla, please dont tel me your seriouse... 20hrs to pull the head off, new gasket and slap it back on?! 1k to do it at a shop?!

 

[rockadilla]

yeah it took 20 hours cuz i was working in like 1-2 hour increments and i was following instructions that werent that clear or easy to follow lol like i said i could do it a LOT faster now..... and its alot more complecated then just taking off the head and slapping a new gasket on
and yes i got about 5 quotes and the cheapest shop could do it with 10% off for about $1100

 

[.Cortez]

Thats absoutly retarted. Now i'm not an engine guy, and To me, it seems too obviouse to not believe you just take the head off, replace gasket, then touque down the head again no?

 

[rockadilla]

Thats absoutly retarted. Now i'm not an engine guy, and To me, it seems too obviouse to not believe you just take the head off, replace gasket, then touque down the head again no?

well u have to do a lot of other smaller stuff too
heres kinda what i followed to change mine

Cylinder head temperature must be below 100°F.

Before removing the cylinder head check the following:

Inspect the timing belt.

Turn the flywheel so the No. 1 cylinder is at TDC.

Mark all emission hoses before disconnecting them.

Disconnect the negative battery cable.

Drain the cooling system.

Remove the air cleaner:

Remove the air cleaner cover and filter.

Disconnect the hot/cold air intake ducts and remove the air chamber hose.

Remove the air cleaner.

Relieve the fuel pressure by slowly loosening the service bolt on the top of the fuel filter about a turn.


CAUTION

The fuel system may be under pressure and fuel will be sprayed. Be sure to take the appropriate safety and fire precautions.



Disconnect the fuel feed line. Remove the vacuum hose, breather hose and air intake hose.

Remove the water bypass hose from cylinder head. Remove the charcoal canister hose from the throttle body.

Remove the brake booster vacuum hose from the intake manifold. Remove the fuel return hose. Remove the PCV hose.

Remove the throttle cable from the throttle body. Take care not to bend the cable when removing it. Do not use pliers to remove the cable from the linkage. Always replaced a kinked cable with a new one.

Disconnect the ignition coil connector, TDC and crankshaft/cylinder sensor connector from the distributor.

Remove and tag the spark plug wirers.

Remove the emission control equipment bracket but do not disconnect the emission hoses.

Disconnect the 3 engine harness connectors on the left side of the engine compartment.

Disconnect the engine sub-harness connectors from the cylinder head and intake manifold. The connectors are as follows:

Four injector connectors.

TA sensor connector.

Throttle angle sensor connector.

EGR valve lift sensor; automatic transaxle only.

Ground cable terminal.

TW sensor ground.

Coolant temperature gauge sender terminal.

Oxygen sensor terminal.

EACV connector.

Remove the upper radiator hose and heater inlet hose from the cylinder head.

Remove the power steering belt and power steering pump. Do not disconnect the hoses from the pump.

Raise and safely support the vehicle.

Remove the left front wheel and then remove the left splash shield.

Remove the intake manifold bracket bolts and remove the exhaust manifold upper shroud.

Remove the exhaust manifold bracket. Remove front exhaust pipe and remove the exhaust manifold.

Remove the valve cover and engine ground cable.

Remove the timing belt middle cover. Loosen but do not remove the adjusting bolt and release the timing belt tension. Tighten the bolt to hold the tensioner in the released position.

Remove the timing belt from the driven pulleys. Be sure not to crimp or bend the timing belt more then 90 degrees in less then 1 in. (25mm) in diameter.

Remove the camshaft driven pulleys. Loosen all the camshaft holder bolts 1 full turn at a time to release valve spring pressure evenly. Remove the camshaft holder bolts, then remove the camshaft holders, camshafts and rocker arms.


Fig. 3: Cylinder head and valve train-1991-93 Integra 1.8L




Fig. 4: Cylinder head bolt loosening sequence-1991-93 Integra 1.8L




Fig. 5: Cylinder head bolt torque sequence-1991-93 Integra 1.8L




Fig. 6: Cylinder head and valve train-1991-93 Integra 1.7L




Fig. 7: Cylinder head bolt loosening sequence-1991-93 Integra 1.7L




Fig. 8: Cylinder head bolt torque sequence-1991-93 Integra 1.7L



Remove the cylinder head bolts and remove the cylinder head. To prevent warpage, unscrew all the cylinder head bolts in sequence 1/3 turn at a time, repeat this sequence until all the bolts are loosened.

Remove the intake manifold from the cylinder head.

To install:

Use new gaskets and install the intake manifold onto the cylinder head and tighten the nuts in a crisscrosss pattern in 2-3 steps, beginning in the middle. Torque the nuts to 17 ft. lbs. (23 Nm).

Install the cylinder head onto the engine block, after making sure the mating surface was cleaned and a new gasket was installed. Be sure to pay attention to the following points:

Be sure the No. 1 cylinder is at TDC and the camshaft pulley UP mark is on the top before positioning the head in place.

The cylinder head dowel pins and oil control jet must be aligned.

Torque the cylinder head bolts, in 2 progressive steps: First to 22 ft. lbs. (30 Nm), in sequence, then to 61 ft. lbs. (85 Nm), in the same sequence. This sequence is the same as on earlier Integra engines.

Apply engine oil to the cylinder head bolts and washers. Use the longer bolt in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.

Make sure the keyways on the camshafts are facing up. The valve locknuts should be loosened and the adjusting screw backed off before installation. Replace the rocker arms in their original position.

Place the rocker arms on the pivot bolts and the valve stems.

Install the camshafts and the camshaft seals with the open spring side facing in.

Be sure to note the I and E marks that are stamped on the camshaft holders. Do not apply oil to the seal mating surface of the camshaft holders.

Apply a liquid gasket to the head of the mating surfaces of the No. 1 and No. 6 camshaft holders then install them, along with No. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Tighten each bolt 1 turn at a time to insure that the rockers do not bind on the valves.

Torque the camshaft holder bolts and make sure the rocker arms are properly positioned on the valve stems. Start at the center holders and work out towards the ends, torque the bolts to 9 ft. lbs. (12 Nm).

Press in the camshaft seal securely with a suitable seal driver.

Install the keys into their groves in the camshafts. To set the No. 1 piston at TDC, align the holes on the camshaft with the holes in the No. 1 camshaft holders and drive 5.0mm pin punches into the holes.

Push the camshaft pulleys onto the camshafts, then torque the retaining bolts to 27 ft. lbs. (38 Nm).

Install the timing belt and adjust the tension. Install the lower and middle timing belt covers and bolts.

Install the valve cover and engine ground cable.

Install the exhaust manifold and torque the nuts to 23 ft. lbs. (32 Nm). Install the bracket and upper shroud and attach the exhaust pipe.

Install the left front wheel splash shield and the left front wheel. Lower the vehicle.

Install the power steering pump and drive belt.

Reconnect all disconnected electrical connections and vacuum lines.

Reconnect the upper radiator hose and heater inlet hose.

Reinstall the spark plug wires to the spark plugs.

Install the engine ground wire to the valve cover. Reconnect the throttle cable from the throttle body.

Reinstall the air cleaner assembly and duct work that goes along with it. Reconnect the negative battery cable.

After installation, check to see that all hoses and wires are installed correctly.

Refill the coolant system.

Adjust the valve clearance. Make all other necessary adjustments

It is recommended that after completing the cylinder head removal and installation, the engine oil should be changed.


now if u think ALL that isnt a little time consuming especially when u have no idea where some of the hoses are or u left a electric socket in or u have no idea where certain bolts are that connect stuff.... ur wrong LOL :lol:

 

[Koolass]

That seems like a lot when you type it out. Lol It's not really hard at all. My first time taking the head off my friends LS swapped hatch was about 2-3 weeks ago. Took about an hour and a half. The only thing is just make sure that the number 1 cylinder is at TDC (top dead center) on the intake stroke. Then when you're putting the head back on, before you do so, make sure the crank is at TDC. You'll see the marks, but to move the crank, you'll probably wanna take off the drivers side wheel. After you get the head on put the head at TDC too, then double check everything.

Everything else like taking hoses and wires harnesses off, is just a given. That's just the REALLY important stuff.

Oh and make sure you flush the coolant. You don't want coolant on top of your pistons....ask me why...Lol I forgot and had to clean it up. Lol

 

[integraGSRkid]

thanks alot guys i will print all this out and give it a try if my head gasket is really blown. i apreciate it

 

[teggygrl08]

^check and make sure before you do this please. i had a shop try and tell me mine was cracked when it was just my vtec solenoid gasket leaking. have you checked all your gaskets? valve cover, cam seal, distributor o-ring, etc.?? do you have the obvious symptoms of a blown hg?? milky brown residue under the oil cap, white smoke out of the exhaust, is your heat working properly or does it smell like antifreeze? i checked all of this before figuring out it was actually a small 8$ gasket and i bitched out the shop.

 

[integraGSRkid]

^check and make sure before you do this please. i had a shop try and tell me mine was cracked when it was just my vtec solenoid gasket leaking. have you checked all your gaskets? valve cover, cam seal, distributor o-ring, etc.?? do you have the obvious symptoms of a blown hg?? milky brown residue under the oil cap, white smoke out of the exhaust, is your heat working properly or does it smell like antifreeze? i checked all of this before figuring out it was actually a small 8$ gasket and i bitched out the shop.

wow thanks man yeah i dont have that milky stuff or smoke eather. i just keep losing antifreeze and between the head and block i find antyfrezze but i havent checked if it just might be driping down to there.

 

[Koolass]

Yea..word..check all your coolant lines, everything you can think of. My friend's ls swapped hatch was leaking coolant around where the head and block meet, but it was just a small coolant line that comes off the water outlet cover that popped off...I forgot about that until now.

 

[integraGSRkid]

Yea..word..check all your coolant lines, everything you can think of. My friend's ls swapped hatch was leaking coolant around where the head and block meet, but it was just a small coolant line that comes off the water outlet cover that popped off...I forgot about that until now.

oh really, so wheres that water outlet located at? in the block? or is it just like a regular hose. sorry if i sond stupid im just trying to figure out where it is cus that sounds just like whats happening to mine

 

[tstock34]

removing head and doing head gasket job.

I just finished taking off the head on my gsr and it took me maybe an hour and a half to 2 hours and I was working super slow... I am going to slep on the head gasket and put everything back together and it will probably be a tatal of 4 hours... and this is the first time I have done this by myself...

 

[BlackDC2]

guys do you not must to resurface head and block before applying the new head gasket??? This looks very fishy to me to be honest....

 

[SpooledupRacing]

Head gasket job takes at max 3-4 hours going slow...

as for resurfacing no.. but u should take a TRUE strait edge and make sure the surface is true.. if it is not u will need to have the head resurfaced...

Make sure you buy a QUALITY head gasket kit and not a felpro cheapie...

Good luck and keep us updated!