yumpasta

Hello all. I had a blown head gasket and I decided to replace it myself, having very little mechanical experience but the wonders of the internet and a service manual to help me out. I managed to get the head off and damn what a feat that was . I will be getting a pressure test done on the head and get it checked for straightness and milling if needed.

This is what the engine block (or whatever its called), looked after I pulled the head. I was wondering how I should go about cleaning it? I'm assuming a normal one wouldn't look like this? Coolant/oil everywhere? Is there supposed to be coolant in the linings around the cylinders? Thanks for your help.

ezone

That's the block.
The cylinder head is the big chunk you pulled off the top of it.

Coolant?Yes.
Oil? No.
Oil inside the cooling system can rot the rubber parts from the inside out. Bad.
Oil dumps everywhere when you pull a head off. Kinda hard to avoid it.



Oil floats on top of water (coolant). You can float it out.....but try to avoid getting any of it going into the cylinders and the oil return holes.

I'd use a suction pump and suck the oil off the top of the coolant, blot the oil with towels, whatever. Then fill the jacket with water and float the rest of the oil out. Oil residue will tend to stick to the sides though.

You could pull the water pump off and flush it out. Then use brake cleaner to wash the oil out of the water jacket and out the water pump hole.

I actually may use a combination of any/all of these, depending on what all is getting done at the same time.



DAWN takes grease out of your way too. LOL


No matter what you do, make sure to thoroughly drain the oil and change it before you fire it up. Then change it again right away after you have had it running. Maybe change oil again in 20 miles. You do NOT want antifreeze mixed in the oil, it trashes bearings in a hurry.
Oil is cheap. Engines are not cheap.

yumpasta

ezone, thank you very much for your reply. i will be going off this when i go to clean the block. i'm sure itll also be a good future reference for others as i was unable to find a thread on how to clean this (or perhaps its simple common knowledge that i don't have )

a few other questions.. i have a felpro headgasket kit set linked here http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...pro_15780397-p and i could not find a list of stuff that i received. attached and pictured below are the parts that i'm not sure of what the hell they are. not pictured is a set of valve stem seals, the head gasket, and intake gasket/exhaust gasket. i was wondering if anyone could assist me in determining what they are. also, whatever gasket is on the bottom right seems to have a small tear, should i fix this or will it be fine for whatever its application is?

yumpasta

doing some cleaning right now. been putting water in as you suggested and floating the oil out. i noticed theres quite a bit of deposit on the jacket wall (is that the right term?), is that normal? also should i be doing any cleaning inside the cylinder, like cleaning off the walls? or should i just leave that be.

ezone

Brake cleaner will wash the oil residue, but you still have to get it OUT of the jacket area once the residue is washed downward.

Other people might think I'm **** about cleaning. Some people would have slapped it all back together the way it was.


Remove the garbage from the cylinders and cylinder walls. Wipe and cover exposed cylinder walls with a fingerfull of motor oil so they don't rust.

The one gasket is junk. That will be a vacuum leak if you install it.
Take the entire set back, see what the parts store will do for you.



FEL-PRO huh? Read this thread, this has a disaster that involved that brand...(but we still don't really know the true cause of the failure yet.)
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/2...mpression.html
Some of the stuff you probably won't figure out unless you tear the head completely apart.

Wasn't there a list on the back of the box?

Check the Felpro company website?



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ezone

1) F if I know.
2) valve cover bolt seals
3) cam seal
4) spark plug tube seals, and maybe rocker stand seals, can't tell what else
lone ring- distributor O ring
uhhhhh6 probably for the EGR distribution area on the intake, if equipped.
7 throttle body gasket