head gasket swap

[ss240]

Hey, Has anyone here done the head gasket swap themselves?

I talked to my local mechanic and he said it will run me around $1800CDN to have it done.

I realise the majority of this is labour (of which he said has a booktime of 11hrs).

Is it feasible to do this job myself? As far as I know I take the valve cover off, remove the head and send that in to be machined and tested.

then swap the old gasket with a new one?

[[s3]]

Yea take old one out, put new one in. Simple as that, but it just takes a lot of time.

I think also you need to take off the timing chain and everything associated w/ that.

[yellow_jacket]

It is definetely worth doing yourself. You will need a torque wrench though. The good thing about the timing chain is that if you clock all the gears you don't have to pull the front cover(on the DOHC motors) Just be careful not to let the chain drop once you have removed the idler. Also be very careful not to strip the threads on the idler. All in all it is not that bad to do. Definetely not one of the worst I have done.

[yellow_jacket]

Oh yeah, it should cost you about $200 USD to do yourself if you don't do a valve job(just gaskets, check and plane the head, and fluids) If you decide to have a valve job done, it will raise the price about $250-350 depending on what kind of shape the head is in.

[ss240]

ok... do i need to drain the oil from the engine before i do this?

i'm currently taking off the valve cover... is it ok to take everything off and leave it sitting for a bit until i get the gasket kit?

[IvoryJ30t]

dont need to drain oil.

[yellow_jacket]

ya, drain the oil after everything is put back together, but before you start it. You can leave things apart when you are taking it apart, but it is best to plug holes on the intake. You don't want dirt getting in there. Then when you are putting things back together do the same thing with everything. You don't want to let any dirt get anywhere.

[180fan]

.

[180fan]

don't forget zip ties to hold the chain's in place where they should be relative to the sprockets where ever you can find a place for zip ties to hold together the chain and sprockets. seriously. You'll also need to replace gaskets too, remember the ones that you see flat on, you'll need to replace. oh and don't forget to tighten the head studs in steps, not all at once.