Hey there.
Having g a real hard time using the mobile version of this forum. Can anyone send me in the direction of a sticky for a head gasket replacement please?
Ia the forum not on tapatalk? Is it there under another name?
Thank you
What engine?
Just unscrew it and switch it over for a new one? Prob need to drain the coolant out though and make sure you don't over tighten the bolts when you do it back up again. Also tighten opposite ends so it goes on nice and flat.
There may well be a guide or YouTube video but tbh it's as easy as changing the turbo or suchlike
Top tip: take photos as you go along in case you forget where bits go
If only it was as easy as that,I would love a head gasket where you just unscrew it and switch over. There's timing belts,manifolds,pipework,wiring and other ancilliaries that need removing.
Plus there's new bolts required and specific tightening patterns.
Drat, if the timing belt needs taking off then prob worth replacing that and the water pump and the belt tensioner at the same time perhaps?
It sounds like it could be quite fiddly
Quote from: cravenbiker on February 06, 2022, 09:47:43 AM
Hey there.
Having g a real hard time using the mobile version of this forum. Can anyone send me in the direction of a sticky for a head gasket replacement please?
Ia the forum not on tapatalk? Is it there under another name?
Thank you
TapaTalk got binned during the last server crash but I'll put it back on shortly :)
Quote from: cravenbiker on February 06, 2022, 09:47:43 AM
Hey there.
Having g a real hard time using the mobile version of this forum. Can anyone send me in the direction of a sticky for a head gasket replacement please?
Ia the forum not on tapatalk? Is it there under another name?
Thank you
There doesn't appear to be a sticky post or guide. At least not one I can find. These posts are a bit helpful, though not really a guide
https://www.fordmpv.com/ford-galaxy-vw-sharan-seat-alhambra/tdi-head-gasket-replacement-questuions/msg28331/#msg28331
https://www.fordmpv.com/ford-galaxy-vw-sharan-seat-alhambra/head-gasket-parts-list-pl/msg21219/#msg21219
Quote from: johnnyroper on February 06, 2022, 03:09:27 PM
If only it was as easy as that,I would love a head gasket where you just unscrew it and switch over. There's timing belts,manifolds,pipework,wiring and other ancilliaries that need removing.
Plus there's new bolts required and specific tightening patterns.
Its a pain even if it all comes apart without any bolts needing special attention to get them undone due to the sheer amount of disassembly and reassembly. Not helped by the somewhat cramped engine bay. I've only had the head off a 2.0 petrol in the Galaxy, and that ended up not going back on, but that was enough to put me off wanting to remove the head if it could be avoided doing so. I've had the intake manifold off of the 2.3 and that isn't too bad, though had to go no further into it as yet. Only time a head gasket is likely to be easy is on an ancient side valve type engine where very little needs to come off to remove it (though even those could be a problem actually getting the head off as its likely to have been on there a very long time)
Sorry if I am a bit late on this thread, and I cannot offer any words of technical wisdom to the OP. But Brianh's comments about old side-valve engines reminds me of the time I worked in a garage, all those years ago. I remember helping to remove a cast iron cylinder head from an old Humber Hawk(?). The thing would not budge off the studs, and even running the engine failed to move it. I cannot remember now how the problem was solved, but I suspect it involved violence with a heavy hammer. Perhaps somebody may be able to confirm the story concerning the British Leyland models produced in the seventies with aluminium heads held down on studs, which were impossible to move once corrosion had set in between head and stud. Does anybody know how that problem was solved, if it ever was?
I think the solution was that people stopped buying British Leyland stuff and moved to manufacturers that built engines that didn't have such problems. Then they eventually became Rover.
Quote from: Solentview on April 04, 2022, 01:10:21 PMSorry if I am a bit late on this thread, and I cannot offer any words of technical wisdom to the OP. But Brianh's comments about old side-valve engines reminds me of the time I worked in a garage, all those years ago. I remember helping to remove a cast iron cylinder head from an old Humber Hawk(?). The thing would not budge off the studs, and even running the engine failed to move it. I cannot remember now how the problem was solved, but I suspect it involved violence with a heavy hammer. Perhaps somebody may be able to confirm the story concerning the British Leyland models produced in the seventies with aluminium heads held down on studs, which were impossible to move once corrosion had set in between head and stud. Does anybody know how that problem was solved, if it ever was?
I can recall when someone I know had issues getting the head off a Austin 7 (at least I think it was that, if not it was his Standard Vanguard) I think the solution they ended up using was a combination of bolts through the spark plug holes and some metal plate to lever against the studs. Combine that with some lubrication, and give it some time to work and it eventually gave way. Literally a week or so with regular retightening to take up any slack that had come into it I think it took around a week from start to finish. The kind of job thats fine if you can stick it somewhere out of the way and keep coming back to it.
Head had to come off as depending which one it was, either it had no compression at all (Burnt valves due to running on unleaded petrol) or it had put a con rod through the side of the engine block. I'm fairly sure thinking about it now that it must have been the Vanguard that had to be done on.
If my head gasket goes I'd probably scrap the bugger as it looks a real chore, not least due to the restricted access.
Re the BL heads
The alloy head problems were probably due to galvanic reaction/corrosion between dissimilar metals.
Seen it loads of times on bikes where stuck bolts and studs sheared off rather than shift
A good dollop of dielectric (non conductive)grease helps to keep this at bay