My astras head gasket - The story begins!

[shavenwookiee]

16/12/2007

Hi guys. For two reasons I thought I'd start a progress thread on my astra. 1) So you guys can get to know me a bit better and 2) So I can utilise all of your wonderful knowledge.

I have very limited mechanical experience and so I'm expecting this to be interesting! As things progress I'll post here and if I run into problems hopefully you guys can help me out.

I became suspicious that my head gasket may be on its way out when my radiator blew. I managed to replace that though, however I've noticed the coolent system getting way too pressurised after hard driving. After getting back home once after a good drive, coolent was pissing out of one of the pipes that leads to the expansion tank!

I did one of those crazy 'block sniffer' tests and the liquid changed colour To save money I didnt buy the official pipet and stuff, but I poured a bit of the liquid into a clear plastic ziplock bag and held it tight around the expension tank while sloshing the fluid around (with the engine running). It went green.

Here is a picture of me next to the car looking all sad:




17/12/07

Right, so I've got myself this beast to get me around!!







Hasn't quite got the stop and go of the coupe, but once its at 2k revs isnt not bad at all. Has some vibration under braking, Occasionally the spanner light comes up when you start the engine and its in desperate need of a clean and some hub caps. May look into sorting some of that if I get a moment.

In other news I called Autovaux and ordered my parts. The bloke seemed friendly and their prices were reasonable. Bits are coming on wednesday!

Another factor is I may be starting a medical trial randomly... I need to decide on that in the next 3 hours... hmmm....



Next steps:

- Buy some female star key sockets

- Start the job!

[RobJenko]

good luck fella! take loads of pics and if you aint sure about something, ask!

[Northampton VAU]

thats a shame, whats the milage mate?

as for the mechanical side of things, we all started out knowing nothing and then learning as we go

[stevenet15]

why buy another car untill this one is fixed? headgasket is not a long job to do even if you need the head skimming that will only take a day or so at a engineers depending how busy thay are. I've rebuilt 2 z20lets so if you need any info or questions pm me, also make sure you put a new waterpump and timing belt on while its all apart

[Nemesis]

Get a few hi-resolution photos as you start taking things apart, this is vital so you remember where breather pipes go, wiring etc... Also make any diagrams or notes to help you.

Finally you may want to get as many small plastic tubs as you can get (yoghurt pots etc...) and a permanent marker. Mark the tubs up for the different nuts/bolts you remove. ie have one for your inlet manifold nuts. It makes things MUCH easier!

Good luck!

[shavenwookiee]

good luck fella! take loads of pics and if you aint sure about something, ask!

Thank man

thats a shame, whats the milage mate?

Coming up to 90k now

why buy another car untill this one is fixed?

My dad is in India right now, so I plan to aqquire his car! lmao

Finally you may want to get as many small plastic tubs as you can get (yoghurt pots etc...) and a permanent marker. Mark the tubs up for the different nuts/bolts you remove. ie have one for your inlet manifold nuts. It makes things MUCH easier!

Good luck!

lol, I'll make sure to swing by sainsburys and get myself some chocolate mouses or something lmao

[shavenwookiee]

Update posted!

Just need some hex sockets and I can begin...

[shavenwookiee]

Right, still waiting on the parts from Autovaux. They were ment to dispatch them yesterday, but I've got a feeling they may well not come for a while due to the christmas rush.

Here's where I am with the engine:



So far I have (Overdetailed for my own benifit):
1: Unplugged air mass meter
2: Unclipped wiring at top of airbox
3: Removed breather pipe attached to crossover (connecting to left connector)
4: Removed airbox top and crossover
5: Removed panel filter
6: Unplugged cable to top of engine
7: Removed plug cover
8: Removed coil pack
9: Removed bottom airbox
10: Removed top cam cover and two bolts holding it
11: Removed top breather hose on right
12: Removed plug and hose from clip on airbox
13: Removed bottom left breather hose
14: Removed plug to right of engine
15: Removed battery

And I've drained the oil and the coolent.

Can anyone tell me what I should be doing next? I was thinking removing the fan, rad and exhaust manifold.

Feel free to laugh at my step by step thing... I dont know many part names!

[alistairolsen]

aquire a haynes manual for the car, i promise it will be the best money you spend.

drain coolant before you forget and fill the bores and oilways with it when you take the head off

remove the boost hose and tophat etc, tape over it to prevent losing stuff into the manifold.

Remove the downpipe from the manifold and exhaust system

You should get away with leaving the rad in id imagine?

[shavenwookiee]

aquire a haynes manual for the car, i promise it will be the best money you spend.

I have one but its for the 2.0 N/A hatchback lmao

Maybe I should turn to it for more guidence though....

Cheers for your help.

[shavenwookiee]

So, since last time I have,

16 Removed spark plugs
17 Removed right hand front wheel
18 Removed right hand splash guard
19 Removed auxilary drive belt by undoing tensioner and letting it ping off like a mother****er
20 Supported sump with some jacks and unscrewed 3 mounting bolts and mount
21 Removed 4 small bolts on crankshaft pulley
22 Removed crankshaft pulley
23 Removed lower timing belt cover
24 Slackened tensioner bolt
25 Put tensioner in stop position
26 Tightened tensioner bolt
27 Removed timing belt
28 Unplugged plug near camshaft sprockets
29 Removed cam cover bolts
30 Removed cam cover
31 Depressurised fuel system
32 Removed bOOOOOOSSSTTT pipe
33 Cut random cable tie on wiring box
34 Removed wiring box cover
35 Undid bolt holding metal water hose at front of engine
36 Unclipped hose from metal water pipe
37 removed front transport hooks

So far no real problems. I'll post again when it all goes to ****.

Atm things look like this:

[SteveM]

sweet, good going mate

should be whipping the head off soon no doubt

[shavenwookiee]

sweet, good going mate

should be whipping the head off soon no doubt

Cheers buddy. I'm a bit stuck trying to get off my exhaust manifold though... It'd be easy if there wasnt a turbo in the way.

Does anyone know how to do this? I'm just taking a break right now and hoping when I go back to it I'll have fresh inspiration.

[SteveM]

only played with a turbo Diesel but isn't it something like remove downpipe, remove turbo oil feeds, hoses etc, unbolt turbo from manifold flange, remove manifold ?

if it's awkward placed nuts your having trouble with, try jacking it quite high at the front and attacking it from underneath with a combination of different length extensions

also, make sure you completely cover the manifold studs in wd40 a few times before you come to undo them

[Astra Dan]

Don't automatically get the head skimmed. It's an all too common misconception that you have to skim it everytime it's removed, or just cos the gasket has failed.
If it's simply failed between a water channel and a cylinder, which is sounds like it has, just clean it up and replace the gasket.

[rudd86]

nice to see you remembered to cover up the turbo inlet pipe at an early stage

any mods while its in bits? vxr turb?? lmao

[shavenwookiee]

only played with a turbo Diesel but isn't it something like remove downpipe, remove turbo oil feeds, hoses etc, unbolt turbo from manifold flange, remove manifold ?

if it's awkward placed nuts your having trouble with, try jacking it quite high at the front and attacking it from underneath with a combination of different length extensions

also, make sure you completely cover the manifold studs in wd40 a few times before you come to undo them

Don't automatically get the head skimmed. It's an all too common misconception that you have to skim it everytime it's removed, or just cos the gasket has failed.
If it's simply failed between a water channel and a cylinder, which is sounds like it has, just clean it up and replace the gasket.

Thanks for your advise guys

any mods while its in bits? vxr turb?? lmao

Possibly. If I ever manage to get my manifold off:

How the hell do I remove my manifold??? - Please help

[Nemesis]

For getting the manifold off, you need a selection of extension bars (all lengths) and wobbly joints. This makes getting to the studs/nuts much easier

I know on the C20LET you also have to disconnect the oil feed to get to one of the studs. Do this now as you'll need to do this at some point.

OR...

Leave the manifold on! Just disconnect the pipework from the turbo and the downpipe, and lift it off with teh head

[Dave Dempsey]

Leave the manifold on! Just disconnect the pipework from the turbo and the downpipe, and lift it off with teh head

That would be my prefered option imo. Why piss about with fiddley bolts when the heads coming off anyway, get it off and remove the turbo with better access, no need to make life harder than it has to be.

[Mark_F]

OR...

Leave the manifold on! Just disconnect the pipework from the turbo and the downpipe, and lift it off with teh head

+1!

[shavenwookiee]

cheers guys! Managed to get off the downpipe, hoping to remove head before sun goes down. Fingers crossed.

[shavenwookiee]

Just undone the water reuturn for the turbo and it seems the water has been trying to pass through a literal pinehole to get to the expansion tank!



That cant be good!

[shavenwookiee]

Dont worry! It was a clever optical illusion lmao

[shavenwookiee]

I'm one gay waterpipe away from having the head off!

[Nemesis]

Good progress, keep the updates coming!