Head Gasket Repair

[(o)(o)]

I'm totally new to Hondas and a newbie on this board, so I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered before. I did look around the help and faq's before posting, so please bear with me.
I recently got a totally stock 95 Civic EX (D16Z6) automatic coupe with a blown head gasket. The previous owner reports the car overheated last summer, and it blew the head gasket then. It was repaired (i don't have details yet as of who fixed it, and how). Anyways, the car began to get hot on him again about 3 weeks ago, but he turned it off before the temp. needle got too high. The head gasket still blew.

I already bought the head gasket, valve cover gasket, int/exh manifold gaskets, and the timing belt, all from Honda. I have disconnected both the intake and exhaust manifold off the head. Q: How do I loosen the timing belt tensioner? Do I need to remove the driver side motor mount to replace the t-belt? Is it necessary to mill the head? How much milling is too much? What's the proper loosening head bolt sequence? Do I need to buy new head bolts too? How many pounds of torque should I put on the head bolts? What's the proper sequence? Does the forum have a favorite Honda dealer to get parts from? Anything else I should know?

An AC question, too: If I turn the AC button on with the engine off and the ignition on, are BOTH (rad and condenser) cooling fans supposed to kick on, or only one?

Thanks to all, and sorry about the long, rambling message.

(o)(o)

 

[pills_PMD]

i'll try to answer as much as i remember...

you should not need to remove the motor mount to get at the tensioner ... i took my front left wheel off. hoist it up and move the splash guard... easy access.

in the articles section i wrote a short tightening sequence for b series.. i imagine it is similar, but its been like 2-3 years since i took apart a d series so i dont remember exactly what the sequence was.
Everyone will recommend that ou get new head bolts.. probably tell you to get ARP head studs. I have seen people reuse them without problems.. in fact i dont remember a single case where reusing the head bolts caused any problems, but to be on the safe side.. new ones aren't that expensive. the torque specs i forget, but it will be a two stage tightening sequence.. honda recommends that you mill no more than .005" but people do more to get a little bump in compression.. my head is milled .020"

if you just want to resurface it go aout. .005" or so

 

[xj0hnx]

www.helmsinc.com

Invest in a manual before doing work like this.

 

[xj0hnx]

Originally posted by pills_PMD@Apr 30 2004, 11:12 PM


you should not need to remove the motor mount to get at the tensioner ...

But he does to replace the timing belt.

 

[MikeBergy]

yep, you gotta pull the drivers side mount to replace the timing belt. To loosen up the tensioner, just loosen the bolt holding it using a open end wrench, i think its 14mm. stretch the spring on the tensioner as much as possible, then tighten up the bolt again so you can get the belt off of the cam gear.

 

[pills_PMD]

guess i misread.. obviously you can't slip a belt over a motor mount while it is still connected...

unless you are david copperfield or some shit

 

[(o)(o)]

Originally posted by MikeBergy@Apr 30 2004, 05:24 PM
yep, you gotta pull the drivers side mount to replace the timing belt. To loosen up the tensioner, just loosen the bolt holding it using a open end wrench, i think its 14mm. stretch the spring on the tensioner as much as possible, then tighten up the bolt again so you can get the belt off of the cam gear.

I'm having no luck in pulling the lower timing belt cover. All the access. belts are off. I removed the driver side motor mount, and according to the Chilton manual, the engine would have to be supported by a jack to keep it from dropping too much. I'm assuming that once the engine drops, I can remove the t-belt cover off. Well, this engine is not dropping at all. What am I doing wrong here? I also removed the bolts on a U-shaped motor mount located under the drifver side frame rail. Still the engine won't drop. A friend suggested I cut the t-belt, which would hopefully allow me to pull the head, which is what I'm trying to do here. Doing that won't solve the problem, as I'll have to deal with it to install the new belt. Any advice on how to remove the t-belt cover? Thanks to all.

(o)(o)

PS: Anyone in Phoenix, AZ wants to lend a hand, in exchange for some cash?

 

[B16]

Originally posted by pills_PMD@Apr 30 2004, 02:12 PM
Everyone will recommend that ou get new head bolts.. probably tell you to get ARP head studs. I have seen people reuse them without problems.. in fact i dont remember a single case where reusing the head bolts caused any problems, but to be on the safe side.. new ones aren't that expensive.

me
snapped one when re-torquing, i'll never again reuse oem honda head bolts, that was such a nightmare getting the rest of it out of the block.

 

[(o)(o)]

Got new Honda headbolts already. I'm not going this far only to have one of them break or go loose on me later. I'm not doing this again, if I can help it.

 

[ssl2k]

make sure that you take the head and have it machined because the head will be warped from the overheating. if you cna, go and have the block looked at for cracks + to see if the deck is warped. if you make the head end tighter it will blow out on the block side faster.

you might aslo want to look at having your valves done plus getting new seals and stuff for them

 

[CRXNuts]

I did a similar repair about twice in 2 years. As far as I remember, you do not need to remove the driver side motor mount. You will however have to remove the crank pulley. Once the crank pulley is removed, the lower timing belt cover will come off easily. While you are replacing all of those, please replace your water pump. The D15 I have had a dead water pump due to the overheating of the engine block. The bearing were shot. Another good thing to replace while you are this involved is the thermostat.

I remember struggling for 1 week to remove the crank pulley. Then I realized the miracle of the impact wrench with 600 ft-lbs in reverse

Best of luck sir.

 

[ssl2k]

I took my crank pully off today, my extremely weak 90ft-lb impact wrench didn't even touch it....a breaker bar + 4ft cheater bar plus me pulling got it done though...

btw, instead of trying to hold the pully w/ anything just put a punch or long screw-driver through one of the holes. I was kind of worreid about breaking the pully, but it was alright.

nathan

 

[96civyhb]

Well I am going to replace the head on my d- series motor tomm. I have a couple questions for you guys. Do I need to remove the crank pulley because I dont plan on replacing the timin belt because it doesnt need it. Plus I am only trying to get this car to run for a few months till I can buy a motor swap. I will be replacing the head and the head gasket only. I have a haynes manual but want to know how far I need to go. i shouldnt need to take off the motor mount but how do you loosen the tensioner so I can get the belt off the cam???

 

[Arachnid]

you are thread snatching...but anyways, don't bother with taking off your crank pulley...just pull on the timing belt to get that sucker tdc.you'll have to take off two timing belt cover screws though... and the power steering mount bolt, intake mani' comes off and so do all the hoses and such, be sure to get a new headgasket. and once you put a head in be sure to allign it before you put it in...it'll be much easier. then just slip on the timing belt ( oh, hope you didn't mess with that tensioner. you won't have to) slip a few notch into the right handed sprockets of the camgear and turn counter-clockwise...the belt'll just fall into place.

 

[spaceman]

im in az but im in prescott,im moving to pheonix next month,ill help you out...put the motor mount back on before you try to take the crank pulley off,so you dont bend or break the other mounts cuz its gona take some torque to get that cp bolt off..good luck dood

 

[(o)(o)]

Thanks, Space, but I really hope to have this car on the road within a week or so. Only delay so far has been gathering all the info and ballz to tackle the crank pulley. Do get in touch once you're in Phx, maybe I'll see you around the Pavillions on Sat. night.

(o)(o)

 

[(o)(o)]

Thanks to those still following this thread. It's a 95 Civic EX Automatic. I finally took the head off, and was surprised to find a metal head gasket in there. As you'll remember, I got the car for cheap after it overheated on the previous owner. When I got it, it would crank but not start. And it would build pressure in the radiator just from cranking. Also, water in the radiator was going someplace, just from cranking. So I thought it had a blown head gasket. How could this be, being that there's a metall head gaset in there? I found the following engraved on it: P0847143. Anyone has a clue what brand this thing is/was? I searched the net, couldn't find anything. It's in very good shape, not surprising, since it got put in there last October. Anyone ever heard of a metal head gasket blowing?
The machine shop reports the head hadn't been milled since the factory. Maybe that has something to do with it? Don't heads need to be milled and polished to a mirror for a metal head gasket to seal properly?
The machine shop just told me it milled 8 thou off it, and there was no warping and it pressure tested good.
Inside the cooling passages on the block, I found coolant turned to a gel consistency. Have you seen that before? Does age, or heat turn green coolant into gel?
Also, I'm planning on using a soft nylon brush to clean the block deck before installing the Honda head gasket. Anything I should know about that, other than not to nick the surface?
Any tips on installing the head back on? I know about the right sequence to use. I'm using all Honda parts. What lube and how much torque to use on the head bolts?

Thanks to all in advance.

(o)(o)

 

[charleskwinter]

chilton or other...

it's more than just a bible... it saves you time and money by not having to rely on forums and other people floating out in cyber space to direct you. part of being a car mechanic involves reading manuals with time and patients. you learn things and do things properly this way. please, when doing major work or any work to your honda, have a manual nearby. this is not to say that forums are not good. i am getting ready to swap a head and came on here just to see what worked for other people and what didn't. anyway, this is not a slam at all, but just an encouragement to get a manual and read it thoroughly. for anyone who is interested in psychology and how it relates to a mechanic's mentality, check out 'zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance'. beautiful... happy mechanic-ing!

RIP 88 crx si,

Just Bought: 91 crx si - stock!

 

[eg6sir]

i guess you felt it would be appropriate to bring back a 3yr old thread to give your opinion..

 

[eg6sir]

i know.. at least it wasnt a threadjack like the rest are