ok, had a small issue last nite, a burst hose rapidly emptied my water system, and b4 i knew it the result was no water and rising engine temps, so i pulled it over and turned it off, now the result is clearly a dead headgasket, iv got a bit of mayo in the oil cap, and a frotthy header tank, and a misfire wiv sum, but not loads, of white smoke frm exhaust. clearly a head gasket id say!!! lol

my issue is low funds means im tackling this job myself, and i have no knowledge of the cvh engine, its a recent upgrade frm my 1.3 ohv engine (startin regret this now!!!!).

is there anything i should look out for in this process, clearly i know iv got to remove evrything attached to the head, so drop off the turbo and exhaust manifold, inlet, etc. the timing side of things is the thing confusing me atm, keeping evything lined up. any tips on doing this wud b greatly received.

also, theres mixed feeling as to whther i shud have head skimmed, some ppl are sayin due to the way it went, and not being run and overheated, head wnt have warped, others saying it must be done every time. ive neva blown a HG b4 so i have no idea. if it needs doing, wheres the best place to go, cost, and wil i need to strip the head bare before this can b dun, ie remove valves and cam and evrythin??? the head itself is a brand new item, only covered 100 miles, if this makes any difference.

any replies would b gr8, and i think its time to go read up on my haynes manual instructions, wish me luck!!!!

 

Good luck cheif it isnt a major job and id always recommend having a min skim done on the head you shouldnt need to remove the valves unless you want to have the head pressure tested just the rockers to allow for the valves to close

 

I've never skimmed a head that in a fast inspection looks ok and never had a problem with it. On the other hand I've never blown a head gasket like that. What you can do first is assure that the cam bearings are still well lined up. There's no point skimming a head if the cam bearings not in line. Unbolt the 8 rockers off. Then remove the timing belt and turn the cam by hand. It should rotate fairly freely and not jam up. If everything's ok, then you can decide if yuo wan't to get it skimmed. It doesn't cost much, but it means a little more work. On the other hand you can use the opportunity and overhaul the head on the same go if you have no idea when that has been done. Checking the exhaust valves is always a good idea at least. Also 3-angle cuts can be done to the valves and seats when the head goes to the machininst anyhow.

 

This is straigh forward enough to do

As said, unbolt all the bits from the head making a note of and wires you unplug so that it will make it easier to put back together.

Once all bits are off, remove the cambelt cover and take a look at the top pulley and you will see there are 5 or 6 holes and in one of the holes is a pointer, turn the engine over using the bottom pulley bolt until the pointer lines up with the dot on the head, (12 o'clock position) now check the bottom pulley and make sure that the nick in the pulley lines up with the marl on the lower plastics, if you cant see it then turn the pulley again until you have both marks lined up.

Once this is done loosen off the 2 bolts that hold the tensioner and then slip the belt off.

Pop the rocker cover off and loosen all the rockers or remove them completly.

Now it is just a case of undoing the head bolts, but there is way you must do this to stop distortion, it is something like the middle 2 first then work your way out to the edges, undo the bolts only a bit at a time to remove the pressure.

So you would nip off the middle 2 and then nip off the bolt to the left of the one nearest the turbo and then to the right of the middle bolt nearest the inlet, (hope this makes sense) and just keep going like this.

Make sure you get new bolts as they are stretch bolts in these.

Take the head to a good machine shop and they should be able to check if it is true or not

Get a haynes book, as this will help loads

Good luck, it is very easy

cheers

Rich