[CarFreek]

Im pulling the head on my 85 tonite to do valve seals and gasket refresh-Ive got OE Toyota Head Gasket-Thanx Shawn-OE valve seals and all the paper and rubber-Ive got all my tools together and cleaners for the cleanup-Got my Haynes and Tsrm-Anything I should look out for in particular?-All ive got for spring compressors is a C clamp or small spring compressor-Should I rent one? Already had apart once a while ago, so I know how to get apart, any major fubars ahead during assembly? Thanx Folks, In advance-Mike

 

[jbrody44]

i used a cheapo spring compressor from sears, it was like 10-15 bucks, it worked fine for me, it is the type that has a threaded rad in the middle. I did a light porting on the exhaust ports and lapped the valves also when I had my head off, you might want to consider doing the same.

 

[CarFreek]

Yeah, got the "Dremel" out and bought the little suction cup for the valves-Even bringing home Dial indicators and Micrometers from work-Gonna do all the fussy little measurements TSRM shows :roll:

 

[Junkie]

I have a spring compressor also,come borrow it.Let me know what ese you need. 8)

 

[jbrody44]

Sounds like you are good to go to me. You will love the way your ride runs with the fresh head!

 

[CarFreek]

Well-Got down to Intake Manifold and Timing cover tonite-Having trouble with Intake-All bolts are off-But shes on there good-Might have to yank head with Manifold on-I also managed to break VSV Plastic nipple-VSV on Vacuum Pipe subassembly-Also grounded battery to engine w/breaker bar-lucky to be alive- -No Juice at all-Hope I didnt melt something-

 

[Junkie]

I'll have those trinket pieces on one of the core probably Mike.Have 2 almost complete cores in the grage right now. :roll:

Probably blew the fusable links in the main under hood fuse bow,I think I have a couple spares of those also.

SEE YA

 

[trdmkii]

man my engine has 147000 thousand miles and i have major valve seal issues, i'm loosing oil internally only....lol 1qt every like 750 miles or so, its annoying and stinky. I really don't have another car to drive and don't really want to do a head gasket replacement if i don't have to. Should i just go ahead and do the headgasket and all upper seals for the future or should i just used some air to keep valves in place and replace the valve seals?

 

[jbrody44]

I never tried it without removing the head, but the Haynes shows a way to do it by stuffing some rope into the head to hold the valve up instead of compressed air. Sounds like a cool idea, but those little keepers that hold the spring in place are a bitch to find when the fly off even in the shop, couldn't imagine dropping one in the engine bay.

 

[CarFreek]

All Done :lol: (?)-R&R Issues-1.Take out Battery-Could have saved me 2-3 HRS 2.Little Plastic pieces-All those little pieces are fragile after 20yrs-Try not to break um-Another 1-2 hrs 3.Take all belts off-Chewed up power steering belt turning crank to TDC :roll: -Another hr. 4-Valve keepers-Lost 2 of them even tho I was using magnet -Found em after extensive work area search-(Imagine me and my neighbors searching driveway for contacts)-Another hr 5.I was not prepared for amount of carbon-be ready for 1/4- 1/2 inch thick deposits :shock: - ran out of cleaner and used up 2 wire brushes 6. Timing Belt-Manuals are vague-Took two hours to get hang of it-Set to TDC-Take up slack by moving intake cam back to TDC-Same w exhaust-Nother couple of hours- 7. Parts-Toyota fubared my parts order :shock: -I trusted them and didnt find out til Friday I had wrong parts-Also, check paper gasket fit-My Tank gasket was 1/8 inch off one of the holes that bolt still is not in-8. EGR NUT-Nuff said. 9. Timing-Manual forgets about spiral gear not going in straight-so set one tooth off :idea: -Another hour- All told I could have been done in about 10 Hrs overall instead of 20+. Gonna take her for first extended drive tonite and then retorque- If it wasnt for Mister Pease :multi: (Unashamed Nix99 Plug) loaning me his spring compressor Id still be out there-Buy Borrow or steal one!!!!!!- Mike P

 

[CarFreek]

Hey guys-I cant imagine working on this head while still in car-#%$^&)&^ Valve keepers are guaranteed to go down cylinder hole-Oh yeah, While your timing It make sure plug wires are connected-Twice it wouldnt fire when I was POSITIVE it was at TDC or close-both times removing the distributor with cap had pulled one off-Every time my car doent start after I work on it-I always assume the worse!Was positive Id hurt the motor!

 

[CarFreek]

Alright-Got home and car fired right up-but temp gauge doesnt work and check engine lite comes on-Code 52-Knock sensor-Both wires are part of harness by fuel rail-I guess when I was putting dist in I disconnected water sender wire-Knock sensor still connected-Hmmm-Pushed in on connector- Drove(!!) car for about 15 miles-shut it down-fired it up-no codes-sat in driveway for 5 mins idling-hit gas-NO BLUE MOSQUITO CLOUD! Ill try to curb my enthusiasm until breakin period is over-Mike P

 

[CarFreek]

Got a 1000 miles on head rebuild-still no smoke(!!!), but its a little noisier than before-think I have a stuck/bad lifter-runs great for 200,000 miles young-Any of the rest of you mosquito foggers-DO IT-Mike P

 

[trdmkii]

i definitly need to do it, mine is not severly bad but they keep talking about emission testing here soon but i'll wait till i loose too much oil or get sick of it.........i'm lazy..

 

[85TurboMKII]

i did all my valve seals on my 6M with the head on. the engine was not in car but the head was on. no rope needed in cylinders. just put each cylinder at TDC using the rachet extention method. life is good. took about a half hour.

Hey guys-I cant imagine working on this head while still in car-#%$^&)&^ Valve keepers are guaranteed to go down cylinder hole-Oh yeah, While your timing It make sure plug wires are connected-Twice it wouldnt fire when I was POSITIVE it was at TDC or close-both times removing the distributor with cap had pulled one off-Every time my car doent start after I work on it-I always assume the worse!Was positive Id hurt the motor!

 

[suprathepeg]

I did the valve stem seals with the head on the block in the car and it was pretty easy. It would have taken us about 4-5 hours but I didn't have all of the seals I needed and we lost a keeper to who knows where. Otherwise if you have all of you parts ready it is a relatively easy/quick job.

 

[MK2Racer]

How much did the whole process cost you?

 

[suprathepeg]

Hard to remember now but I think about 200CDN or about 140.00 USD. Could be less but that seems right when you incorporate doing a oil change etc. PS don't use synthetic right after the job wait one oil change. DOn't know why but the mechanic said.