Thread: How to pull the head?

Is there any how tos on how to remove the head on a high-port engine? I need to pull it to check whats causing the lower compression... About how long of a job is it to pull the head? What do I need for taking it apart and putting it back together? Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks guys

lol only since i have nothing better to do right now ill go through a step by step and list the materials and tools you will need to do the job

Tools and materials:

New headgasket
Possibly new intake manifold gasket set (not necessary if they are in good condition when you pull the runners)
Grey Permatex for T-stat and water housings (for use on the coolant pipe on the back of the head)
Scraper to clean material off the block and head, a fine metal bristle wire wheel will be best but you have to be careful not to press to hard to where it eats into the aluminum on the head and block.
New exhaust manifold to head gasket if you dont have a reusable metal one
Possibly new valve cover gasket
10mm socket
12mm socket
14mm socket
10mm hex
Extensions
Flat tip screwdriver
Pliers
14mm wrench
24mm or 1 1/8" socket for crank pulley bolt
1" or 22mm wrench
ft-lb torque wrench
inch-lb torque wrench

Again im gonna assume your car has egr and stuff as well, if you have a jdm motor or jdm intake runners already or have already deleted egr then disreguard. You want to disconnect the battery and possibly remove the intake just to make more room to work.

Step 1: Remove all hoses attached to the valve cover
Step 2: Remove valve cover
Step 3: Put the motor at TDC on the compression stroke on the #1 cylinder by lining up the crank pulley on the 2nd to last mark going from right to left or first mark on the Gspec pulley if you are using that. Make sure the cam lobes for the #1 cylinder are pointing away from each other
Step 4: Remove all vac hoses to egr valves, electrical connections to the injectors, egr temp sensor, and remove fuel rail (dont need to disconnect fuel lines, just leave attached to rail and set off to the side where it wont get in the way) and disconnect throttle cable and remove cable bracket and any other hoses, brackets, throttle body actuating rod, and so on from the intake runners.
Step 5: Remove distributor, coil pack with bracket (not necessary if egr is not present), and remove the 12mm bolts from the thermostat housing to the head and then remove the egr pipe running from the egr valve to the header/manifold
Step 6: Remove the intake runner by removing all the 12mm bolts. Usually you can use a pry bar on the outer edges of the runners and remove them by prying gently until they clear the studs. If it doesnt want to come off nicely you can loosen the bracket to plenum bolts on the left and right side of the plenum. That should give it enough wiggle room to clear. Ive yet to have one that i couldnt get off without loosing the bolts though.
Step 7: Remove oil filter and remove the timing chain tensioner from the head.
Step 8: Remove the camshafts by removing the cam cap bolts starting from the edges and working your way inward, turning the bolts maybe a full turn or two at a time. Start with the intake cam and then do the exhaust cam. You will have slack in the chain so after you remove all the cam caps and be sure to keep them in order where they were as that is very important, lift the cam up and tilt the gear downward to slip the chain off the gear. Dont bother loosening the gear bolts as its not necessary. Note: the dowel pin positions on the cams are at 10 oclock intake and 12 oclock exhaust with 20 chain pins inbetween the dots on the gears. Must be reinstalled the same way with the crank pulley at TDC.
Step 9: Remove the rocker arms and shims from the valvetrain.
Step 10: Remove exhaust manifold from head and slide off the studs. You can keep it connected to the exhaust. May need to remove fans to get more clearance but not necessary.
Step 11: Drain engine coolant from radiator and then remove the drain plug on the front of the block located about 3/4 the way up the block behind where the header was. Pretty obvious 14mm plug.
Step 12: Remove the coolant pipe connection with the coolant temp sensor on it using an extension and 10mm socket. Take a pry to break the silicon loose.
Step 13: Loosen the alternator belt tension and remove the two 12mm bolts holding the bracket to the head
Step 14: Remove the 4 10mm bolts from around the head, two on the front of the head near the motor mount, one under head coolant oulet housing on the corner of the head and one on the right-side front corner of the head
Step 15: Remove the headbolts starting from the outside working your way to the middle.
Step 16: Lift head off the block while guiding the timing chain through and around the chain guides.


Clean the surface of the block and head with a scraper until all old gasket material is off the block and head and nice and smooth. Again a wire wheel on a drill works great and much quicker just be careful with it not to press too hard.

Reassemble in reverse order following torque sequence and torque specs for the head bolts, cam caps, and so on. Can be found in the How to section under general in the engine torque specs thread.

Before you do this though, you know you can determine where your compression is being lost by doing a leakdown test correct? That will tell you whether its the rings or something else like the gasket. If you overheated the car it would be a wise idea to just skip cleaning the head and take it to a machine shop and have it resurfaced and have valve sealing checked by them.

It seems pointless to dissasemble if you dont yet know the cause of your issue. Because if its something you were not expecting then your left without parts and so on and car apart for longer.

Anyways please follow the torque sequences and torque specs found in that thread. The job can be done in a couple hours if you have done them before. For someone that hasnt probably just to remove the head will take you a couple hours taking your time.

ahhh just the guy I was wanting to reply! Thanks a bunch!!!

The car is just my 2nd car and I haven't had it for about 2 months now so having it sitting without being driveable is fine with me. I'm in the process of trying to borrow a leak down tester because if its more than a ~$150 fix, I'm not going to bother. Was trying to sell it for 1k, don't feel like putting 500 for a new engine then selling for 1k... Thank you very much though!

I added a couple more bits and notes to things. So follow the original post if you decide to go through with it.

A leakdown test is simple to perform if you have a compressor and air chuck with either rubber tip or an adapter to screw into the spark plug hole. Must be performed with the cylinder at TDC on the compression stroke to get accurate readings.

Pressurize the cylinder with at least 100-120psi of compressed air. Listen for air escaping from the following places.

Crankcase either out the breather, oil filler cap and so on. If you hear air going into the crankcase you have worn rings, broken ring land or so on.

Bubbles in the cooling system by having the cooling system full and radiator cap removed: if the coolant is bubbling then you have a headgasket leak pushing air into the cooling system

Exhaust: If you hear air wooshing into the exhaust your exhaust valves are not sealing against the seats fully

Intake: If you hear air wooshing into the intake your intake valves are not sealing against the seats fully.

There is a more precise way to do this for healthier engines by pressurizing the cylinder for a period of time and seeing how much pressure is lost from your starting pressure over time. This will give you a % value.

You already know you have low compression so now you just need to find out why.

Again i would suggest doing this before you pull the head.

make life easy an yank the motor first lol

^^^^LOL common, thats no fun.

i made the mistake of not takin the engine out once... never again! i'd rather yank the motor any day an have to put it back in then fight all the cramped spaces an hard to get to shit..

And after all that typing i better get a how to on this one. lol.

Removing any other head is very similar with small exceptions that you can visually see such as with the lowports and ve's you can take the head off with the intake manifold attached by just removing the braces from the bottom of the manifold to the block. Other than that most of the steps are still the same or similar. Most of what needs to be removed is self explanitory if you have any mechanical skills at all.

its the brackets an hoses on the back side of the intake that piss me off.. Well... on a highport.. a ve would be alot easier thats for sure, i took most of them brackets an crap off when i put my motor in.

JDM motors are especially easy to remove the head on. I can have the head off in about 40 minutes. On my car with no powersteering in the way or any of that crap and nice tucked harness, i could have it off in about 30 minutes or less just removing it with the aftermarket intake manifold and turbo manifold still attached.

Full egr basicly stock SR's are kind of a pain because all the hoses are tight and a pain to usually take off. Same goes with all the bolts and crap. It is a pain no doubt but still can easily be done with the motor in the car.