I got the 4 bolts that hold the exhaust manifold shroud in place on my 90 civic 1.5L. But I cannot get the shroud itself to come up and out. It's in a very tight spot and it looks like the fan is in the way.

Is there some trick to this? I thought after taking the 4 bolts out this thing should just come up and out?

 

you can remove the fan itself to make it easier to get to the other bolts...!!!

 

Is that really necessary? Must more than those 4 bolts come off and be removed before I can get this thing out of there? I really don't want to have to tear into it much further just to remove this stupid shroud.

 

The fan takes all of 30seconds to remove, two 10mm and unplug the electrical connector. BAM your life just got easier.

 

It looks harder than that to me. Here's a picture. Exactly what bolts am I supposed to remove? The intake tube is right above the thing for starters. And there is a lot of stuff that's around the fan. Two bolts and the connector off to the right (not in the picture) and that fan is still not just going to pop right out of there. Things are in the way.

http://tinypic.com/r/2h30oqt/6

 

take off the plastic tube on top of the radiator and the ac fan and take them off and you should be good to go...this is childs play and is no where near as challenging as changing the headgasket...!!!

 

Dont be shocked to find a nice crack looking up at you on the exhaust manifold.

 

It probably took me about 15-20 minutes just to get the lower most bolt off. Without knowing the fan needs to come out first I was fighting trying to get a ratchet on there. I must've dropped the wrench about 10x. Everything is just crammed in so tight on this car.

Regardless, the fan obviously needs to come out. It's more than just two 10mm bolts. It takes 3 to get the intake tube out of the way. There is also a connector down on the right side and some other tubing that is secured to the radiator fan shroud. All naturally in very tight places that I will probably need to use some snips to get them out of there.

It's getting dark out so I had to give up for now. I put everything back in and maybe I'll try again next weekend now that I know it's gonna take more than just 4 bolts on the shroud for that piece to come out.

 

When I said 2 bolts I was under the impression you had an aftermarket intake which frees up a lot of room for working on things. And if you think its tight under the hood of an EF, try changing the plugs/wires on a 93 Cavalier V6, my knuckles hate me right now.

 

Since I don't need the shroud is there any reason I can't just use some tin snips and cut the thing out of there? It's going into the trash can anyway. And yes I realize the fan isn't that hard to get out of there. The toughest part is the plastic electrical connector that's buried in there. It's hard for me to get my hands around in this car because of the clearances.

A lot of this boils down to familiarity. People that have taken this stuff apart before know what they are getting into. What needs to come out first, etc..

 

v6 cavalier whaaa???

 

sooo why exactly are you removing the heat shield from the exhaust mani in the first place?

 

Working on one of these makes me miss working on my EF. Riptide, Civic's have more then ample room to work around then most other cars, hell the engines are barelybigger then a sewing machine. Don't hack it off with snips dude, I bet you it will be harder/more aggravating then taking that fan off anyways.

 

ahh yes..forgot lol buut who puts wire loom on a hood prop? lol

 

The shroud is coming out because I want to get a better look at a possible head gasket leak in the area of the exhaust headers. I can see the fluids coming from above and to the right of the block heater. But the shroud is kinda in the way.

As for how easy this car is to work on I can tell you there is a lot more room to stick hands and move around on my mustang. It's no comparison. This car is a serious bitch. To get the alternator out you have to move the axle FFS it's ridiculous.

 

header..x1 and if you suspect a leaking head gasket are there any other signs? white exhaust smoke? bogging? fluctuating idle? and i sure hope you dont plan to fix the gasket yourself...since the heat shield has yet to come off