Damn. Head gasket gone

[bobhalliday]

Well, I'll be setting aside all of Sunday for it, and the car can if neccesary stay under the car port all week to be tinkered with. Help me with my brain here. I need gasket, gasket sealant, torque wrench, anything else out of the ordinary?

Hi Sam.
Many years ago I had to do one on a BX and bought an Angle Torque Tool, I can just barely remember how it works but if you need it you can borrow it. all it is is a dial set in degree's with a half inch drive female fitting on the top with a male drive for the relevant sockets on the other side of the dial, it's a Sykes-Pickavant MOTORQ 700. If you need the loan of it send your address to bobhalliday@live.co.uk.
The water pumps are available on Ebay for under £40.00 and are easy to do except the old gasket can be difficult to scrape off, and you need some decent gasket goo on the new one. If you don't do the pump the new belt could put added strain on the old one and cause it to leak. There are one or two excellent posts in the old forum about the 2.1 head job.
Bob

[robertmnorton]

Hi Peter, refresh my ailing memory,i don't remember removing the cam carrier on my second head gasket change,seem to recall lifting the head off complete or am i confused with some other head job? 8 years ago now,definitely on the first one - learning curve.Also Sam,will submit a file into "self help" showing what to check and rework criteria,can't upload in this section.The laminated steel gasket was fitted as standard on production line after rp6867 on XUD BTE P8C engines.
robertm

[Peter.N.]

Hi Robert

Its some time since I did mine, and my detail memory only lasts about a week, but I don't think I would have removed anything unnecesaraly. Mr haynes says you have to remove it, not that you can believe everything he says, if you want to machine the head it would have to come off anyway. If you are doing it with the engine in situ, the inlet manifold causes considerable obstruction and I don't think you would be able to remove the head with the cam carrier. Someone who has done it more recently would probably know the full answer - we are waiting...

Peter

[robertmnorton]

Hi Peter, yes the inlet and exhaust manifold took some finger jiggling and the reason i dropped the bottom engine support and wedged a 4" wooden block between engine block and bulkhead.This enabled much better access to both manifolds bolts.I'm sure the head/cam carrier came off as a oner?Bug****it!Just can't remember.Hope someone else can.
robertm

[Peter.N.]

If you took the manifolds off you'r a very brave man, I had difficulty in getting the bolts undone with the head off!

[colinxm]

When I did my headgasket I did remove the cam carrier, this was necessary for me to skim the head. The head wasn't warped and didn't need skimming when measured but the engine wasn't cooked and the head bolts were slackened off in sequence and a little at a time. I used the steel laminate head gasket and new head bolts with (tempting fate) no further problems.
Change the water pump while it's all in bits, I didn't and guess what started to pee itself a short while later, a good idea is to replace the cam belt and tensioner at the same time too, you'll then sleep happier knowing when it was done last

Good luck Colin.P

[SamWise]

Lack of getting the parts on time prevented me from attempting this last weekend, so I've taken a tilt at it today. Got the battery disconnected, and the cooling system drained down, then came to remove the timing belt cover. After looking at it for 15 mins, I cannot see how to remove the first bolt (Haynes shows the job being done with the engine out) without removing an engine mount. I can see that I'm out of my depth on this one. I could do the job on a Triumph Herald, I reckon, and I'd stand a fighting chance on a BX, but I'm an idiot to try to do my first head gasket on this car.

Therefore, car is for sale, with head gasket and rocker cover gasket, to whoever reckons they CAN do the job.

[jonathan_dyane]

Sorry to hear that Sam.

[SamWise]

Well, ultimately your advice was good Jonathan. It all looks straightforward enough in the Haynes, and if I could get the head off, I think I'd have been ok. Having done that on another Citroen, I felt reasoably confident, but I was wrong to! Better to sell it as is than dismantle it badly and never get it back together.

[Peter.N.]

What car is it Sam?