Iron Duke Head Gasket Replacement

[siguy8]

Hopefully this thread can eventually have everything needed to diagnose and fix a bad head gasket. I didn't see anything else in the Iron Duke thread about it, so here goes...

How I concluded that the head gasket is bad:
-White exhaust whenever it's running
-Car overheats and consumes coolant
-Brownish-white frothy stuff under the oil filler cap and oil is discolored
-Oil went from correct level to overfilled without any added oil (and my coolant level was low regardless of how many times I filled it.)

What I did:
-Drive it as little as possible/not at all
-Drain the oil/coolant mix out and replace with good oil if you need to drive it (I'm poor, so that's how I'm getting it to the shop)

What I need for the job:
-Time/energy/patience
-TSM from the Eagle Nest store! (Print out relevant pages, I printed the whole thing for $80)
-Head Gasket set (about $40 ish)
-Carb spacer to intake manifold gasket and spacer to carb gasket ($15)
-Torque wrench (Probably two for 7 ft*lb up to 92 ft*lb)
-RTV sealant
-Thread sealant/locker
-Carb Cleaner
-Scraper and Brushes
-Normal wrenches and such (Metric and Standard, stupid AMC)
-Masking tape and Sharpie (to label all the dang hoses/tubes)
-Lots of shop towels

Stuff to do while your engine is apart:
-Take the Cylinder Head in to get it inspected/cleaned/re-planed/machined/etc... (I was quoted $110 for all that)
-Replace all the stupid vacuum hoses
-(Optional) Pull off the oil pan and clean it all out
-(Optional) Replace the plastic timing gear (I've heard 130k miles is when it might start to have problems)
-(Optional) Replace the water pump

Other Tidbits:
-Pour oil on the rockers and down the pushrods before you put the valve cover back on
-Refill your coolant and oil before starting it
-To get oil through the engine before starting you can either disconnect the distributor and let the starter turn it over, or get a big socket and turn it over from the front of the fan. I recommend the socket if you've messed with the timing at all since that'll go slower.



I'll add more after I spend tomorrow beginning this project. Let me know if there's anything else I should know, or any other sources I should consult as I go through all this. Specifically, other tools/parts/fluids/things that I might need and what else I should do while I have the engine apart. I'll try to get some interesting pictures and add any helpful tips that the TSM doesn't cover.

Here goes...

[thereverendbill]

make sure the head isn't warped when you take it off or all of that time you put into it is worthless and a waste.   

[siguy8]

What a pain! The TSM doesn't spell out the fact that I have to remove the alternator, but other than that, it's fairly thorough. It took me 8 hours to get the cylinder head off. Hopefully I can get everything back together in that amount of time.

[IowaEagle]

Most repair manuals forget little things like that, some are worse than others.   

[siguy8]

Ah yes, back at it...

I also realized that the TSM doesn't mention taking off the intake manifold. Maybe that one was obvious.

I got my cylinder head checked out and it was cracked. Got a new one and left the shop with a total bill of $276. I highly recommend Ellis Piston Ring in Shreveport, Louisiana. PM me if you want their number. I put the new head on and got the intake manifold on as well, worth noting is that it's very important to have a lot of cleaner (I'm using carb cleaner) and a scraper and some brushes. Compressed air is really nice to have also to clean junk out of the cylinders before you put the head back on. I also noticed that I need to plan to clean out the oil pan and crank case, so I got some cleaner to run through the oil system. I'll do that with the first few minutes I have it running again and then change the oil again. If you're really intense you can pull the oil pan off, but that includes raising the engine and everything according to the TSM, so I'm skipping that.

Hopefully I'll finish up on Saturday.

[siguy8]

Done!

I didn't end up taking any pictures since none are really needed outside of what the TSM gives. Altogether the project was about $4-500 (much better than the $1800 I was estimated for the whole job) even with replacing the cylinder head. I spent about 20 hours working on it. This project is probably one of the best ways to get very very familiar with everything under your hood and it gives you an opportunity to replace all the vacuum lines a little more easily.

I've added everything I can think of to the first post, so it should be just about enough to  get someone through this project.

[IowaEagle]

Had to EGG you for a successful repair.  As you mentioned, the TSM is typically a good starting point, especially to familiarize yourself with the work you are about to do.