Head gasket change A20A4

[truenoteno]

Hey guys,
I have an Accord SI A20A4, the car overheats and has low (lower) compression on 1 cylinder. I have diagnosed a broken head gasket.

I am unsure as to how I go about taking the cylinder head off.( know the basic prinicples, like TDC, loosen bolts in order, torque wrench specs etc.)
I dont have much expirience with FWD engines, I've taken the air intake off a pulsar 88 before but thats about it.

I have read about a guy who removed his cylinder head with the air intake still attached to the head but that was a different engine(still a honda though) ,the accord I have has wires and crap everywhere so its probably best to separate the head from the air intake before removing the head

Main q is, how do i go about removing the lower row of bolts under the air intake ?? On the pulsar i worked on, I ended up disconnecting a plastic pipe(cooling system) that ran parallel with the head, so i could fit a spanner in there to loosen the air intake bolts. Is it similar with the A20A4 ? Also I think I may have to remove the coolant pump and alternator aswell (grr).

The air intake manifold also seems to be bolted to another mount attached to the firewall.


It is no economically viable for me to pay for this to be fixed by a pro mechanic.

I know its an old engine, (runs very smoothly though, just overheats) byt some1 here has to know how to do it !!!!
Any tips would be greatly appreciated !!!

[shadou]

Pro mechanic, it's good and shows you have knowledge diagnosising a problem with your car, but for god sakes if you are not confident in pulling and reassembling the head which may/may not require machining then by all means do NOT attempt at any cost, in the end if something gets ****ed it's gonna cost you a shit load more than getting a pro to fix it for you.

[Drew]

You need to resurface the cylinder head and block before you reassemble it otherwise it will probably just leak again...

What are the compression numbers on the cylinder? Is the car loosing oil or coolant? or are the two being mixed?

[truenoteno]

You need to resurface the cylinder head and block before you reassemble it otherwise it will probably just leak again...

What are the compression numbers on the cylinder? Is the car loosing oil or coolant? or are the two being mixed?

Yeah i know i have to clean the 2 surfaces before i place another gasket. and check for warping etc.
I bought the car knowing it had a problem, the seller said his mechanic diagnosed a broken head gasket aswell, I checked the compression myself to confirm this.

The car leaks coolant, my hand gets extremely moist when i hold it at the exhaust. I was just asking if anyone has done it before incase there is an easy way("easy" is a term used loosely here lol).

[Drew]

So have you check the compression yourself?

I've done many head gaskets; there is never really an easy way of doing it... You either do it right or cut corners and pay for it later

[truenoteno]

So have you check the compression yourself?

I've done many head gaskets; there is never really an easy way of doing it... You either do it right or cut corners and pay for it later

Yes i have checked it myself, have you changed a head gasket for a A20A4 ??
If so can you remember what you did ?

[Drew]

What were the numbers...

[truenoteno]

What were the numbers...

cylinder 1, 4bar, then the other cylinders were 7,7,7 bar.
The numbers arent of my concern right now, all im after are peoples methods for taking off the head, like whether to leave the intake attached to the head when removing etc. Someone here must have taken the head of 1 of these who can give some tips n advice.

[shadou]

I haven't done one on a A20a4 engine, I'm assuming it's a n/a horizontal four cylinder. You do not need to take the intake manifold off to remove the head, but will need to come off if the head requires machining. Basically you will have the head and the intake manifold attached and all other things that get in the way removed which (basing on a pulsar not a a20a4). In the end there's many ways people do it, I usually do it my way cos I've adopted a routine to help me memorise.

[truenoteno]

Ok, the head is off now.
I had to take off the exhaust header, power steering, loosen alternator along with 100 other hoses, which is all recorded on 1 very messy diagram on a whiteboard lol.
I also had to take out the oil filter from below to reach the bolts under the intake.
I have taken photos all for your enjoyment lol, I also have a few q's for the pro's out there too.

I couldnt really find any cracks in the gasket itself, it may have cracks in the head (or worse block). I guess cleaning the gasket should reveal any noticable cracks if any.


Observations:
The piston with the lowest compression had the most carbon deposits.

After removing the head, on some parts of the mating surface, a few layers of the gasket have been fused onto the top of the block, thats the silver/greyish portions in the photo. Is that where the leak could have been coming from ??. The healtiest cylinder didnt have any greyish layers fused around it.

Why has only 1 exhaust valve opened ?? Shouldn't there be 2 open like cylinder 1 & 3 or 2 & 4 or something ?? (Cam is at the top dead center postion)

Here are the pics:
http://www.geocities.com/truenoteno/100_0131.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/truenoteno/100_0132.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/truenoteno/100_0133.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/truenoteno/100_0134.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/truenoteno/100_0135.jpg

[shadou]

pics don't work and it's perfectly normal for parts of the gasket to have fused to the head and block surfaces. Any coolant in the cylinders?

[truenoteno]

pics don't work and it's perfectly normal for parts of the gasket to have fused to the head and block surfaces. Any coolant in the cylinders?

Yeah coolant was in the cylinders, except for cylinder 4,(the best cylinder). im fixing the pics now, im using geocities as a host, i take it thats not the conventional method for storing pics on the net .....

[Rice_4_life]

don't think there is any other way for coolant to get into the cylinder unless it's blown the gasket and/or warped the surfaces. get it machined, check if the block surface also requires machining and replace with a new gasket, oh and be sure to have it clean as a whistle before putting the gasket and head back on.

[ECU-MAN]

the coolant is in the cylinders because when you loosen the head coolant leaks from the water jackets into the bore.

if you had coolant like that in the bore then the head was on as normal you would get hydrolock in the moring when you go to start it.

a20a4 heads are a peaice of piss to do. make sure you get the head machined coz its gonna be warmed for sure at that age. check the deck with a straight edge.

[shadou]

you should have driven it for a bit the night before then leave it so it will hydro lock then just take a light and look into the spark plug holes to see if coolant is in the cylinders.

[Riviera]

'not hijacking thread just had the same problem and providing images'


ive had that problem and just got mine back together last weekend well my dad did it all


my head was warped
blocked jackets
fused gasket
all the usual lol

got the head resurfaced and welded in one spot because of corrosion between cylinders 2 and 3

valves reseated

Heres Some Images For The Ones Who Havnt Seen It After 240K-kms

Before

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture156.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture155.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture154.jpg

After

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture200.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture197.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture202.jpg

Block

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture113.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/Riviera001/Picture125.jpg