Head Gasket is Blown

[mrledee]

Hello everyone,

I have a friend with a 99' Galant who has a blown head gasket (a mechanic told him). He doesn't know much about cars, and I have some knowledge and I was planning to take it apart this weekend and see how bad it is. I've done automotive work before, and I've helped someone replace a headgasket on a V6, but never on an I4. I understand that basically the entire top of the engine has to come off, and one of my main concerns is the timing belt (I have never replaced a timing belt or timed an I4 engine).

I just wanted to see if anyone could provide me with some tips to make this project a little smoother for me (pics, videos, experiences, etc).

Thanks in advance

[galantlvr34]

here is a link for doing the timing belt.
https://www.thegalantcenter.org/show...ht=timing+belt

[galantlvr34]

here is another thread that might help you out.
https://www.thegalantcenter.org/show...ht=head+gasket

[gnaunited]

Here are a couple of pics to let you know just how much has to come off:

https://www.thegalantcenter.org/show...8&postcount=18

[shortdogg2k05]

Timing a 4 cylinder is not hard at all just match up all timing marks.

[mrledee]

Thanks everyone for the info you have already supplied me with, it has been extremely helpful so far.

Okay, so I began to take the engine apart...I drained and flushed the cooling system, jacked it up and removed all the accessory belts and the timing belt covers. So this is how far I got.



I was looking in the shop manual (Haynes) and it doesn't describe how to remove the main bolt and gear that holds on the timing belt so I can get to the other belt in the back. I have all the timing marks lined up (I think). The only one I'm not sure about is the one on the main gear. I couldn't find what I thought was the timing mark for the main gear and I circled what I thought could be possible timing marks. Currently, every other mark is lined up (cam, oil pump, and balance shaft).

Can anyone give me some advise on how to proceed? I don't want to take off the belt unless I am 100% sure everything is correct.

Thanks again

[gnaunited]

The timing mark is the notch on the plate behind it, so you do have it lined up correctly.. To remove the sprocket, you have to remove the crankshaft bolt, but in order to do so you have to stop the crankshaft from turning. If you do not have the tool from mitsu or a set of air tools:

Remove the flywheel inspection plate (bottom of engine, facing toward transmission), I believe it to be 2 screws (facing up) and 2ish bolts into the transmission. Take it off and you will see the flywheel. I used a flat head screw driver, "locked" it into one of the teeth, and used it as a wedge so the flywheel would be unable to turn. Make sure you do so in the correct direction, as in put the screwdriver in a place where it can not turn counter-clockwise.

From there try and break the bolt loose. After that you might need a pulley / crankshaft puller. I used a steering wheel puller from Autozone. Once you take it off you will see that there is a notch so that it and the plate behind it only go on one way. Then you can change out the balance shaft belt.

[gnaunited]

Also, when I took my covers off for the first time, it was just as greasy as yours, except mine also has copious amounts of shredded timing belt all over. I would douse the entire area with degreaser and clean it off so that the new timing belt (I am assuming you are doing it) will last longer.

[mrledee]

Thanks, I thought the notch on the back plate was the timing mark for the crankshaft. The only thing I thought was weird was that in the shop manual it shows the position of the mark on the crank being in time around the 9 o'clock position. The manual says there should be some kind of mark on the block in the 9 o'clock position.

[gnaunited]

[mrledee]

Hello again,

Thanks for all of the great info. So, I've had the cylinder head pressure checked, and my new gaskets and cylinder head bolts are coming in the mail tomorrow. I've been doing a lot of reading concerning the torque specifications, and I can't really get a consistent answer across different websites I've found.

Can anyone here give me their recommended torque specifications and the tightening/loosening sequence of the bolts?


Thanks a lot!

[gtx]

For the correct torquing sequence and specs download the Factory Service Manual here. That's the one to go by.

[mko]

dont forget to align the balance shafts

[mrledee]

Well I finally got everything hooked back up and I tried to fire it up yesterday. After a little effort and engine starter, it cranked up! I ran it for about 45 mins, and I ran it today for about 3 hours. I don't see any leaks of any kind (water, oil, etc).

The only thing that I need to address is when the car is in park and idling, it seems to increase and decrease the RPM (it idles around 900, and it will hover between 1200 and 700. When I try to turn on the AC, the car dies. When I go to put it in gear to go forward or reverse, it idles very low and I'm sure if I was to hit the gas hard it would probably shut off.

I was reading the Haynes book on the car and I saw a part called a Idle Air Control (IAC) valve/motor. After reading a description of what it does, I am convinced that this is the part I need to replace. This part cost around $200, and before I go to buy it I wanted to see if anyone here had an opinion if I should suspect this part or maybe something else.

Thanks again everyone

[gnaunited]

I would check for vacuum leaks or hoses that are not hooked up. Failing that I would go to a junkyard and look for the replacement part first.

[Stewi]

Yeah check over all the vacuum lines and stuff first, chances are you forgot to connect something. Also, 8g's are notorious for the intake manifold cracking underneath at the welds to the throttle body flange, check that as well but its probably just a vacuum line or wire thats not connected to a sensor.

[galantlvr34]

yeah it could be the iac does it seem like it is doing an idle surge,increasing idle decreasing idle and if it doesnt catch you have to give it gas to stop it from stalling.Ebay usually has the iac for a good price.i would check the vacuum lines to like mentioned above,make sure they arent cracked and check the ones on the throttle body to.

[mrledee]

Okay, so I put in new spark plugs, cleaned the IAC, MAF and throttle body, and put new gas with fuel injector cleaner and it now works a lot better! I can turn on the AC and the engine increases the idle like it is suppose to!

Thanks a lot for your help everyone. Now for the new problem...


Up to this point, I have just been running the car in the driveway, occasionally backing up and going forward, since the car doesn't have any tags or insurance yet. I've probably run the car for a grand total of 15 hours since I fixed it. Today when I was revving the engine, I noticed some white smoke coming from the exhaust. I'm starting to wonder if the new gasket is failing already. I had the cylinder head pressure checked and resurfaced at the machine shop, installed a new head gasket and torqued all bolts to specs. If the new gasket is failing, I'm trying to understand why. I don't want to redo the job and have the same thing happen all over again if there is something I can do differently.

Any suggestions?

[gnaunited]

It could be everything resealing itself, or as was in my case, a valve stem seal blew. I ended taking the car back to the same shop (drove this time) and they redid the seals and problem solved. If you can I would post a video, those tend to help out a lot with these things.

[Stewi]

Easiest thing to do is a compression test and a cylinder leakdown test, if you have a cylinder leaking down you can isolate it. Also if it was a valve stem seal, the smoke would be a bluish color since its burning oil. Is the white smoke constant? I know if I leave my car for a week without starting it, alot of moisture builds up in the exhaust and it will blow white smoke for about 10-15 minutes and once its fully warmed up, it will go away.