whitewaterrunner

Hi all, Am a newbie to the forum and also relatively new to DIY car repair! To set the scene ..i have a 96 honda accord 2.2 lit 4-cyl engine and the car has 175K miles on it and was running fine till last week when i think i blew the cyl head gasket. The radiator had a leak and was leaking coolant and the engine ran hot for a bit without me noticing. I didnt feel like investing 1.6-1.8K to repair radiator/hoses/thermostat and then the head gasket..so i got the radiator parts and this weekend put in a new radiator, new hoses and a new thermostat. I started up the engine and it runs fine and gets to idling speed..but if i press the gas at that point..it revs up and then shuts down..NOW..here is my question..is this also an indication of blown cyl head gasket or have i done something wrong in installing the radiator!..the hoses feel warm to the touch..so i feel there must be coolant flowing..also when i shut off the engine..there was a wee bit of smoke coming near the intake manifold or so..i think i am going to go ahead with the head gasket replacement..but just wanted to make sure thats the only thing wrong here!!..thanks for bearing with me..and would love to hear any responses!!..regds ,shyam.

F22hb

Are you replacing the hg yourself? If so make sure and check the valves and springs and get the head surfaced. Alot of people overlook the valvespings, but I've noticed after overheating before, the springs had lost around 20lbs compared to some off a fresher motor.

whitewaterrunner

Thanks f22hb..i was planning on getting the head resurfaced and getting a valve job done while i am at it! Are the valve springs covered by the valve job or is that a separate thing..thanks again, shyam.

whitewaterrunner

Hello all..just another follow up question..should i be buying just the head gasket

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/199...ad_gasket.html

or the head gasket set

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/199...asket_set.html

Thanks again, shyam.

F22hb

Definitely are going to want the kit. Go through and replace any of the gaskets/seals that come in that kit and you will be ok, looks like it even comes with valve stem seals, make sure and give those to the shop when they do the valve job. Hopefully thats a good gasket set. As for the valve springs, if they do a valve job, it wouldn't take them more than a minute to check a couple valve springs, I forget what they should be or at least how low is acceptable but the shop should be able to look that up. Just mention it when you go to get it done.

whitewaterrunner

Hello all, So after considering my options i decided to embark on a head gasket replacement job myself. I purchased a head gasket set from partsgeek.com for about $150. I started working on it yesterday and will post pictures as i progress so i can get tips/info on things that i should/should not be doing!. My first steps as usual...disconnect negative battery terminal, drain coolant. The next step was to disconnect the intake air pipe from the intake plenum. That out of the way, i proceeded to remove the spark plugs from the engine (after purchasing a spark plug wrench!), and move the spark plug wires out of the way. I then set about aligning the piston of cylinder #1 with TDC which i managed to do by turning the crankshaft till the marker lined up with the single notch on the crankshaft pulley (as opposed to the set of 3 notches also on the same pulley..thanks to a thread about removing timing belt on this site for that info!). I took the cap off the distributor and made sure that at this angle location of the crankshaft, the rotor contact surface was pointing towards the #1 spark plug wire! Previous to this i had jacked up the car on jack stands. The next thing i did was to get the heat shield of the exhaust manifold off. I then tried unsuccesfully for the next couple hours to remove the exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifold. After a lot of WD-40 and something called thread penetrating oil..the three bolts on the pipe still refused to budge an inch!! I was starting to lose hope of getting anything done at this point..so i thought i'd come back and tackle this problem later..if need be!!..I am not yet sure the manifold has to come off to get the cylinder head off.
The next thing i did was take off the bolts on the exhaust flange and the bolt holding the exhaust manifold to a brace. Removing these bolts makes it possible to move the manifold a few millimeters back and forth but it cant be taken off unless i take the exhaust pipe off the manifold.
I proceeded to loosen the nuts/washers holding down the valve cover. This after disconnecting the PCV hose and the hose going into the intake manifold. Then i proceeded to tap the valve cover around with a hammer till i could get it off! So far ..so good.. My next steps are to proceed with removing the timing belt/power steering belt and alternator. I should be able to post the pics tomorrow.!!

whitewaterrunner

some pics..

whitewaterrunner

more pics...

whitewaterrunner

and more pics...

whitewaterrunner

still more pics...

whitewaterrunner

So..continuing on the DIY weeknd honda repair!!..i started taking off more parts to get access to the cylinder head. The first thing to get out was the power steering pump/belt..followed by the distributor w/belt. I had still not gotten three really tough bolts off the exhaust manifold and was wondering what to do about it..till i followed the exhaust manifold downstream where i saw a flange connection that had two screws on it which would serve the purpose and allow me to swing the manifold out of the way of the studs connecting it to the cylinder head. Having gotten these two bolts out..i was able to clear the exhaust manifold out of the way. I then took out the distributor cap and rotor after making some careful markings so that i could realign them later. This is the point when i got to taking out the bolt holding the crankshaft pulley on to the crankshaft which would take two full days of fooling around before it finally gave way to my efforts. I bought a 240 ft-lb impact gun to aid me in the process although it finally came out by putting enough leverage using a breaker bar aided by a 5' pipe. I had to buy a special honda pulley holding tool for this job which would keep the pulley in place while i unscrewed the bolt. I researched this thoroughly and seems like in most cases the best method to get this nut out is by leverage; unless you have a really powerful impact gun unlike mine. In cases where the crankshaft spins clockwise (not in the case of 96 accords!)..this could also be achieved by bumping the starter while holding the pulley as this would unscrew the nut! Once i'd gotten the bolt off..i took the pulley off the crankshaft..all the while making careful markings on belts and teeth to make sure i put it back on right! I then moved the jack under the engine and raised it up a few inches with a slab of wood between the jack and the oil splash container. I then proceeded to take out the left engine mount screws and the bracket. Then, i started getting the bolts off the upper and lower timing belt covers. Having done this i then moved the idler pulley till i could pull the balance shaft belt off. I put an allen wrench into the engine access port that would keep the balance shaft from rotation while working on the engine. I then proceeded to get the timing belt off. The next thing to do was to get the rocker assembly off..there are about 18 bolts to undo here in the right sequence till the spring pressure is relieved. With the rocker arm assembly out of the way..i proceeded to lift the camshaft (still connected to the sprocket!) out of the way. I had finally gotten to the cylinder head bolts! I started removing them..again in the right sequence..to prevent any warpage of the head..After the bolts were out i tried to move the cylinder head when i realised that there were three more bolts on the intake manifold (way in the back..and in really wretched locations!)..that needed to be taken out before i could lift the head off! To get access to these bolts i had to take out a good bit of the intake system..including..the fuel rail w/injectors..the throttle body assembly..the accelerator cable assembly..the thermostat assembly! Finally i was able to get all the bolts out..while taking out the last one..i realised that the bolt was actually sheared!..but did manage to take it off. Finally after about 60 hours of labor i was able to get the cylinder head off !!! I inspected the gasket and to my surprise found it to be in good condition. I was expecting it to be damaged or destroyed since that was what all the mechanics had suggested!! On closer inspection of the head..i found that the part of the head near the intake manifold that had the sheared off bolt was excessively blackened as compared to the rest of teh head! So could this have been an intake manifold failure and not a head gasket failure!! Either ways since i'd come this far..i have presently given the head to a machine shop to get pressure tested..resurfaced..have the sheared bolt replaced..and get the valve seals replaced. I am going to replace the head gasket with a new one and start putting things together again..and hope fully the engine shall run again!!! Have more pics from the driveway project!!

shifterkart1990

thanks that was really helpful but i have one question can i reuse my old head bolt