A couple of questions for those who truly know how to work on cars: 1. What is a good mechanics forum to ask a question? I know there are not a lot of mechanics on this BBS. 2. When repairing a blown head gasket on an engine, should you always do both sides, even if only one side is showing damage? The pros are that you won't have to go back into the engine a second time should the other side go out. The cons...price, plus why disturb a part of the engine that is not showing any trouble? Here's a pic of the inside of the rocker arm covers...one side shows definite water emulsion mixed with oil, but the other side is water free: Any suggestions?
How old is the car? Mileage? I would always lean towards replacing both while you are in there. You usually can get the gaskets in a set, so the cost should be negligible.
yeah, its best to go ahead and do both if you need to do one. Especially so if paying someone else to do it. No sense paying double labor when the other one goes out(and it will, its just a matter of time).
1996 Chevy Berretta, 90,000 miles. I'm doing the work. Price difference is $50 for one side, or $150 for the kit. But the biggest issue is the work...the front head (the one with the problem) is easy to access, while the back one is going to be a pain to remove.
what kind of car is it? there are many sites dedicated to specific vehicle make/model such as Fordtruckworld.com, forums.vintage-mustang.com etc...... I have found those 2 sites very helpful, I know there are many others. Good luck with the head gasket, I blew one in my Tarus many years ago...that car was never the same after that.
yeah thats a chore ...i was figuring if you were doing the work yourself it was not a transverse mounted engine .....you might have to pull the engine to get to the back head if only it was a truck it would be much easier
don't do it if it's not easily accessible. that said, how's your compression? If I were taking a engiine head off (yes, I've done it plenty of times, not just a geek 'puter dude who dresses gay), I'd consider not just changing the head gasket, but taking the head(s) to a machinist for new valve gaskets and refurbishing to regain original compression. It's surprisingly not that much money, imo, if you take the heads off yourself. glad you asked about website forums. I was just about to ask the very same thing. I'm considering trying to fix an automatic window problem in a 4Runner. They are going out slowly, working periodically, so I figure it's an electrical problem in the doors (bad connections?). I hate the idea of taking door panels off...and this might be over my head, anyhow, or a long time with a schematic.
I've read a dozen sites, and have gotten 6 answers to say do both sides, and six answers that say just do one side. I'm still confused. (Mango says hi. He and I went to watch my daughter's volleyball game on Tuesday, and he asked about you. I should see him again next Tuesday.)
You are doing it yourself on a transverse v6...forget what I said before. Just do the side that needs it. Would it be the best idea to go ahead and do both(and get the head surface cleaned up like hp mentions)? yeah, it would...if it were me and I had money to pay someone to do it...Id do both...but you arent losing out by doing the one now and worrying about the other later.
I asked my uncle, who is an auto mechanic, and he stated he would do both but he was honest and said that the only reason he would do both is because of the labor charges. I asked what if he was doing it for himself and not for work and he said he would still do both just because he knows what he is doing and although time consuming it makes sense to do both and get it over with. He said you can do the easier of the two and then pay a professional for the harder one but you'll probably still pay a nice sum just for labor charges. Don't see you around here that much anymore Behad. If you want to get in the NFL Survivor I started the thread in the correct forum.
I'm about two thirds thru the disassemble, still have the intake manifold to take off, then the heads. I'll decide at that time whether to take the back head off or not. I'm leaning towards doing both sides. I don't want to waste another weekend having to redo this again. LilPun, I saw your thread. I'm waiting till closer to the start of the season to make my pick.
Agree 100%. Behad, You are going to beat yourself up trying to get that back head off, only to find that you are going to have to pull the engine, or at least, drop it to get that head off.
I admittedly have never done a head job on that model, but if you are lucky you *might* get the needed room in the back by loosening up the motor mounts and have someone tilt the engine forward...you probably wont get much clearance but in the back every little bit helps. You probably already know this, just stating it in case it comes in handy.
90% of the work is getting to the heads. Not taking them off. I realize the surface prep and it being transverse sucks, but you can also take the heads apart and check them out. Have them milled down to get them flat or get the valve seals replaced if it is burning a little oil. These machining opertations are cheap to have done but the results are basically a new topend. Can you even buy just ONE head gasket? How much does that save you? 30 bucks? Also make sure you heads are not cracked or anything. Clean them and look them over really well. Even if you see the gasket is obviously to blame when you look at it make sure it didn;t overheat the head and crack or warp it.
