Changing head gaskets - HELP

[slvr00gt]

I am in process of replacing leaking head gasket. I am down to last two items before heads can come off: exhaust manifold and timing chain.

1) Manuals recommend special tools, such as camshaft positioning tool and crankshaft holding tool to keep things in place when chain is off. Do I really need it?
Where can I get it?

2) Accessing some of the exhaust manifold bolts seems tricky. Any tips? Can I do it without lifting engine up a bit?

Thanks!

 

[Mustang9668]

You don't have to unbolt the manifolds, you can pull the manifolds off with them attached to the heads. It makes it alot easier

 

[5spd GT]

Yeah, just pull the heads up with the manifolds connected. Of course undo the H-pipe to manifold bolts...

You will need to pull the timing cover to make sure the headgasket swap goes smoothly. You then just need to retime the engine...

 

[slvr00gt]

Yeah, just pull the heads up with the manifolds connected. Of course undo the H-pipe to manifold bolts...

You will need to pull the timing cover to make sure the headgasket swap goes smoothly. You then just need to retime the engine...

Ha! Thanks for the tip! That is nice if I can just pull the heads with manifolds! Reaching those bolts looked painful!

Two tools the manual recommends should hold crankshaft and camshaft in place while the chain is out and therefore eliminate the need for later retiming. Do you think it is easier to retime the engine afterwards then bother trying to find those tools?

 

[r3dn3ck]

just use some paint marks on the links and sprockets and set the crank to the safe position (all slugs below the deck.... I think the keyway on the crank points about 10 o'clock there) as long as the paint marks line up on assembly it'll be a non-issue. Make sure and mark the chain and sprocket at the cam and the crank. It's not possible to reassemble wrong if you do it like that and no special tools but a balancer puller.

 

[5spd GT]

I think you can rent the tool at your local ford dealership, I would give them a call, if you have one near-by...

This way, you do not need to remove your balancer, some front accessories, timing cover, and stock position.

 

[5.0 con-vert]

I just finished this on my 5.4L F-150. As everyone says, the manifold come off with the heads no problem. When I took the TC cover off, I marked on a piece of cardboard where the notches on the gears were. When I put it all back together, I just set the gears there and attached the chain. There was some tension on the one pulley and I had to roll it back until I got the chain back on it.

As far as the timing goes, the computer will reset the timing so you don't have to mess with that. It wasn't so bad. I had rotten manifolds though, had to put on headers...

 

[screamin gt]

It's not possible to reassemble wrong if you do it like that and no special tools but a balancer puller.

yes it is, I put one cam 180 off because theres 2 positions the cam sprocket will line up with the marks on the chain. just be sure that both cam marks are in the same relative position, not exact, but close. the gears on the crank have a keyway so they cannot be wrong. if you lose your marks on the chains they can be found by laying the chain in half, and marking the 2 opposite links.

I think you can rent the tool at your local ford dealership, I would give them a call, if you have one near-by...

This way, you do not need to remove your balancer, some front accessories, timing cover, and stock position.

the balance pulley has to come off to get the timing cover off, as someone else said you will need a puller for that.


also what I did was set up the cams with the CS keyway in the non interference position, which I believe is 9 o'clock. that way you can turn your cams all you want and the valves will never touch anything. make sure your in that position when you take off the chains if your not using cam positioning tools.

 

[5spd GT]

the balance pulley has to come off to get the timing cover off, as someone else said you will need a puller for that.

Right, but I thought the point of the cam holding tool was so you didn't have to remove your balancer/timing cover...

The 'tool' I was talking about was the cam timing holding tool...

Not the balancer tool...

 

[mogs01gt]

The crank shaft positioning tool does make it go easier.

 

[slvr00gt]

Got the car started today after changing head gasket/clutch ( and all other gaskets). It took me four months!
Things got slowed down when I broke power steering pressure pipe. Also, I broke and had to replace EGR return tube. That tube was fused into the exhaust manifold. Also, I broke couple of bolts.
Additionally I got slowed "a bit" by the house that we found, bought and moved into while I was working on the car

Main lesson: To do this work, I should have yanked the engine out! It would have saved me time and aggravation!

Still, the car IS RUNNING and I did it myself! It feels good.