I more or less gave up on trying the find a complete procedure in one spot from beginning to end on doing the head gaskets,......so I'm sort of winging it now,.......just trying to put bits of what I have read here and there in the RAVE to use.

I've removed the A/C compressor, alternator,...and I think that I need to remove the entire brackets that those both sit on in before attempting to remove the intake and/or valve covers??

Can anyone confirm?

Can anyone tell me if there is a COMPLETE beginning to end procedure for redoing the head gaskets without having to hop all around on the RAVE????

I've yet to even determine WHERE the procedure begins......everything I find that I think might be related appears to be a "mid-process". On it now for 2 or 3 hours and only have the compressor and alternator off.............thought this was supposed to take 5 hours for the complete remove and replace procedure.?????

And how do I get the cooling fan off without a special tool? (or do I need to bother)

I'm feeling frustrated,.....Im a pretty good wrench,....if I have a good roadmap for the procedure.

Maybe I need a Clymer or Haynes manual....would that be better?

Brian in Cedar Park.

 

Start at 12-2-14 Gasket - cylinder head - LH which, for me, is page 169

The first step tells you:

1. Remove inlet manifold gasket.
go to MANIFOLDS AND EXHAUST SYSTEMS - V8, REPAIRS, Gasket - inlet manifold - lower. which is 30-2-10 or page 445 in my copy.

The easiest way is to print out the pages you need, there's about 10 of them covering the manifolds and another 10 covering the heads and maybe half a dozen more depending on if you have SAI or not.

 

Good grief, rave is easy to follow and pretty clear for tear down and assembly.... it's like paint by numbers. Print the relevant pages (not the whole dang thing) and keep them next to you while you follow the steps.

 

Send me your number and I'll call and walk your thru it.

 

I've got to agree with this.

There is nothing convoluted about Rave. It's a pretty decent shop manual.

If you can't follow instructions that are laid out that way, you really out to seriously consider whether you are detail oriented enough to do this job properly. Sounds like you're going to und up with a bunch of under and over torqued fasteners and a box of "spare parts".

 

After you get into it for a bit it all starts to come apart quicker...

Take a look at this guys tear down as it has pictures that may help you....This guys site should be a sticky as it does help... and yes sometimes the rave is a bit confusing ........

Engine Refresh (top end) « PaulP38A.com

 

Well, a big part of the problem was not recognising that the pointing fingers were actually active links. I was having to go back to the index to find each referred to section then manually find that section. But beyond that,.....its STILL convoluted and here is what I am referring to by "Convoluted":

If I start at page 169 "Gasket-Cylinder head-LH. Step one is to remove inlet gasket,...but to find the procedure for that,...you have to go to "Remove inlet manifold gasket", which is page 445, but when you get there,....it says on step one "Remove both rocker covers,...but to find that procedure,...you have to go back to page 174; "gasket rocker cover"......BUT, when you get there...............the first step is to go to page 450 for "Gasket, inlet manifold upper" which starts with removing the battery ground,...then wants you to go to the "Remove Bonnet" section to see how to remove the hood (Why are we removing the hood???) before moving on to actually upper intake removal procedure. From that point,....the procedure for removing the intake and all the related on top is very straight forward............then I just have to remember how to get back to where the hell this all started.

Sorry boys, but I see that as unecessary convolution.

I've restored a number of cars over the years,......some were ground up restos but granted,....always older cars (Austin Healeys, Alfas, early Mercedes, BMW, Porsche etc. ....but again always older cars where you could see where everything was,...and frankly, didnt need a shop manual for the dismantle............just some torque specs for re-assembly. I've been rebulding cars since I was 15.....I'm 60 now,...so Know my way around a wrench and Have certainly read my share of shop manuals..............but...admittedly, do occasionally have a left over fastener (who hasnt??).

Mike, thanks for the offer, I've made some more progress since I posted, but still could use a brief verbal on how to proceed. I'll PM you my number.

Brian

 

So I just removed the upper intake in my 99 last night to inspect the spark plug wires and coils (I know, people talk about doing it without removing the upper intake, but it didn't take to long to remove it) Anyway, I saw the part about removing the hood too. I have no idea why they said that.

 

Excellent! Now THAT's what I call a well done procedure !!!!!

 

Mike, I just reviewed the procedure that the link was provided for......I think I'll be OK following it. I'll shoot you a PM if I get stuck (maybe on re-assembly after I get the head work done).

Brian