ive never done it before and i got a good deal on a car with a bad head gasket.any tips on changing one? what do i have to do to not mess the timing up?

 

getting a good deal on a car with a bad head gasket is.... well stupid in my opinion, I mean that problem could have been there a while and the head could have warped. anyways... you have to disconnect all of the misc items connecting to the head, and the head bolts etc, and get the motor to Top dead center, im sure there are writeups for this all over the place if you search

 

yeah id have to agree with krisfnbs u dunno what couldve happened!ive had a blown head gasket b4 total loss just grab another motor!lol

 

Some advice, dont get cheap *** headbolts. Get ARP's or OEM ones. When you get the head off take it to your local head and cylinder shop and have them check it out. Worse comes to worse it's warped. But I don't think it's going to be more than about 60 bucks for them to resurface and clean that **** up. Good luck get someone to help you out, your looking at a decent size job on your hands.

 

Make sure you have a torque wrench and breaker bar for the head bolts. Set cylinder one to TDC on the compression stroke. I had bought a car with a blown headgasket a couple months back, fixed it and now it runs like a champ. you should check the oil, it could have water or antifreeze in it from the blown head gasket.

 

ya first thing check if it really is a blown headgasket. i bought a 94 integra ls with a blown head gasket, paid 47 buks at kragen for the gasket and had it running in two hours. still runs like a champion!!! so for the head gasket this is how i go about doing it...
1. put car on jack stands drain coolent, remove rad hoses,
2.disconect all electical plugs to anything connected the cylender head
3 unhook fuel line, return line, and vaccum hoses that attach to the intake maninifold
4.unbolt the headder and remove from engine bay
5.remove the valve cover, and upper timing belt cover,loosed belt tensioner
6. unbolt cam caps, remove cams,
7. break loose the head bolts starting at the top midle then criss crossing out.
8. clean head and block very very good.
9. add new head gasket and go in reverse order.

 

Someone said that the OEM headbolts can be reused since they aren't the stretch type. It's still not a bad idea, but let's just say that OP wanted to just have the engine running until he gets a DOHC swap later this year or couldn't get ahold of new bolts in time...

 

jus make sure if u do put a new headgsket on make sure u clean all the old gasket off

 

ya im not too worried about the head being warped cause i could just get it resurfaced, ad if i had to i have a spare z6 head in my garage =].my dad is gonna help me out so i should be allright. the only thing is how do i get the timing right?

 

valve or ignition timing.

 

both

 

^^^awesome awesome! I was searching for a simple 12 3 steps on how to change a blown head gasket! Good job