2002 Honda Accord, 75k miles

A few months ago, I replaced the intake manifold gasket, but due to the small amount of space in which to work with underneath the car, I was not able to use a torque wrench and I think the manifold was never torqued down correctly which may have led to a manifold air leak which caused many sensor problems and Check Engine Lights.

So, this time I took the engine cylinder head off with the intake manifold attached to it, and I will replace the intake manifold gasket while the head is removed from the vehicle.

When I removed the cylinder head today, I noticed large amounts (a few tablespoons of oil) sitting on some of the pistons, and I believe oil has also gone down the coolant sleeves next to the cylinders. Also, it seems the engine block head studs used to line up the cylinder head with, are gone, they must have come out and are sitting in the cylinder head or something, I do not see them.

Here is a video I took just now of the engine block:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmfjY0otQ78

QUESTIONS :

1- is it normal for oil to sit in the cylinders when the head has been removed?

2- how exactly do I remove oil from the coolant sleeves, will a coolant/radiator flush later on flush out the entire coolant system?

3- is it possible the engine block alignment studs are sitting in the bottom of the cylinder head?

4- since the head gasket never failed, it is only being replaced to make the intake manifold gasket change easier, is it necessary to bring the cylinder head to a machine shop to have it inspected ?

 

Maybe the valve stem seals are leaking.

I normally run straight water for the start up, drain and refill with the proper coolant.

I don't understand why someone would pull the head because of an intake manifold leak. I'm not sure how I follow that installing the manifold is going to be easier.

 

Your car would be running like total **** if that amount of oil was leaking into your block. Odds are it leaked when you removed the head from the block. Plus you woulda been smelling oil burning like crazy while driving immediately prior to taken apart the head. You can use a commercial turkey baster to remove as much oil as you can. Then just use a towel to get as much as you can. If you get a precision straight edge, a set of feeler gauges, and a helms manual you can measure the head yourself and check if it's out of warpage. But it normally doesn't cost much to resurface anyhow. Now that I see you have only 75k, odds are there's nothing wrong with it yet. A small amount of oil will just burn off when you start up the car btw.

 

i see no one address the studs ur talking about which are actually called dowel pins check the head cuz they tend to get stuck pull em out of the head and place them i there spot on the block to ease alignment later on

 

The cyliner head needs to flat within .002"

The block needs to be flat within .004"

When you pull the heads fluids go everywhere. If there was an oil leak that large, you would be spewing huge amounts of blue smoke. Keep in mind the cylinder head is cast in such a way that oil is retained in a pool underneath the camshaft, and the lobes dip into this oil. Pull the head off, and it'll come spewing out of the oil drains and whatnot.